Do proof readers exist any more?

[stillcrazyafterall]

Not exactly a pedantic post but I know you will understand!

I read. A LOT. I am becoming more and more frustrated and disillusioned with the level of mistakes in books. Printed ones. By big companies. I read one the other week where 'she looked threw the window' I kid you not. I am currently reading ' A Foreign Country' by Charles Cumming. Excellent book, but I got annoyed when the main character 'racked his brains'. FFS this is happening in pretty much every book I read! I think I will start leaving reviews on Amazon and Good Reads with the glaring errors mentioned. Anyone else?

@MoreRainThanAnyYet - oh definitely. I bet it's quite easy to go 'word blind' after a bit. Especially if you've been given a mad deadline.

@MoreRainThanAnyYet my blood pressure has pretty much seen it all and luckily DH and I have separate offices (although I have to visit him to rant occasionally)!

As of five minutes ago:
‘It won’t let me delete text! You can add text but can’t delete it! Arrggggghhhhhh!’

(Goes to ‘Complaints about the new online editing tool’ spreadsheet. Finds about ten people have got there first with this one.)

Yes, they do exist. My husband is a meticulous proof reader and editor.
There are fewer and fewer publishers prepared to pay for the service.

I know of a hilarious FB group full of sub editors past and present. They frequently mock digital output for errors.

They also help each other pub headlines from time to time.

Sadly, with regularity, more and more are put on the redundancy pile.

*pun headlines

A friend of mine has had a book published and I'm reading it at the moment. I can't really get my head around how many people must have read this book before it hit the shops and no one stopped to ask how the man with his hands tied behind his back manages to accept and drink from the bottle of water that someone passes to him.

Are you getting your books on NetGalley? If so, they haven't been proofread - readers get them free of charge and they are meant to leave ratings or reviews.

Most self-published books are not proofread.

Any traditionally published books should go through a proofreading process - they are usually very thorough.

The one that had "threw" in - who published that? It's unforgivable!

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross Are you reading a copy that you paid for? The editor would normally pick that up, but if not the copy-editor should definitely pick it up.

@iklboo

His eyes wondered around the room Broccoli stork Gauged his eyes out

I beta read for a couple of authors and have spotted errors their editors & proofreaders didn't spot.

If you are beta-reading, then surely their editor and proof-reader hasn't had a copy yet?

[quote HollowTalk]@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross Are you reading a copy that you paid for? The editor would normally pick that up, but if not the copy-editor should definitely pick it up.[/quote]
I bought it - the edition I have is the one that's on Amazon/in shops, etc. That's why I'm slightly taken aback by what seems to me to be a fairly glaring error. It's not the only one, either.

This infuriates me. I regularly highlight and report content error on my kindle.
Definitely a big no no on printed text. So annoying!

The answer to your question is: some do and some don't.

I have a self published book currently on the market and have challenged my readers to find a typo. If they do, I will refund the cost of the book plus £10. Nobody has ever claimed the prize.

I was briefly a freelance editor (non fiction) and was paid £1000 to more or less re-write an entire book, which was appallingly written. When it was published I was horrified that they hadn't had it proof read as well. They clearly assumed I was doing it and saved themselves some money.

Proof reading is hard - I don't have the right brain for it (hence not having offered).

I think I spot at least one error in every online piece I read. Anything less than 'broadsheet' is absolutely littered with them.

Just finished Caitlin Moran's latest book and spotting the typos became part of the read! Loved the book but was really surprised at the number of typos.

I think writing and publishing books has become a lot more accessible in recent years, and can be done relatively easily online and via Amazon. But the onus is on the writer to do the proofing and a lot probably can't afford to pay for proof readers if they're just starting out.

I know this because I recently did some proof reading for a friend

Doesn't make it right or less annoying though!

Good God at that van!

I used to go down Kingsland Road on the bus every day for work. There was a shop sign painted loud and proud above a furniture shop "Kingland Office Furniture". Made me wince every time.

I think I spot at least one error in every online piece I read. Anything less than 'broadsheet' is absolutely littered with them.

The Guardian has always been infamous for mistakes, hence its nickname 'The Grauniad'. I don't read it regularly but once came across a motoring piece with 'breaks' instead of 'brakes' throughout. And I also remember DB scratching his head over the crossword.... it turned out that an answer had a spelling mistake in it.

Proofreading is tedious but necessary. I've only ever done it on scientific content - DH's thesis, proofs of papers written by colleagues who have English as a second or third language. But I'm not sure I've ever found a spelling mistake or homonym error - my linguistic corrections are generally more subtle grammar and style improvements. Writing accurately is possible!

I'm hoping that van was deliberate... it's bad enough to be memorable.

@HollowTalk - apparently they have! I thought I'd be kind of 'first line of defence' but a proofreader and editor had already had it. Unless the author's mum & gran were his proofreader and editor .

Ah, I am old, and I was always lead to believe it was wracked, I found this:

As such, “wrack” is often accepted as a variant spelling of the verb form of “rack.” For example, we can say “wracked with pain” as well as “racked with pain.” But keep in mind that “rack” and “wrack” are only interchangeable when used as a verb.

So obviously times are moving on.

I often wonder about situations like the van above, obviously the guy who owns the van didn't do the signage himself, so he has employed an illiterate signwriter ?

I totally understand how Kindle books end up with so many, having published a novel I know it is much harder to proofread on a screen than on a hard copy. I suppose that no longer using proofreaders will inevitably lead to more mistakes and only pedants will care. I know language evolves (see wracked and racked) but surely SaG should still be important?

I saw 'granddad' the other day in a book.

Surely it's 'grandad'?

Printers print what they are told to by the customer - they never proof read and correct errors. The van owner may even have ordered the decals themself online, e.g. on eBay.

The van lettering won't be handpainted on - it'll be on vinyl that is stuck on. The decals can be removed using a hairdryer to soften the adhesive.

I'm not sure I agree about it being harder to proofread on a screen. For one thing there's spellcheck and grammar checkers which can help at the first level. But then if you find something like a homonym mistake you can search the whole document and check for other occurrences.
I think there's less excuse for sloppiness nowadays.