Error in book?

[mavornia]

I was looking at this book in Waterstones today. Surely it should be “in the Blakes’ careful facade” rather than “Blake’s” as written? Would Blake’s ever be acceptable?

Blake in singular

Ahh just re read sorry. Yep totally should be in the Blakes'

Wow you're so right

I wouldn't buy the book in protest

Yes, you’re right - shocking! I’d probably write to the publisher! I emailed the editor of my local paper a while back, when one of their article headers contained a really glaring error. He replied to me, as well!

I’ve found my people! I didn’t buy it and felt I should write a letter of complaint!

Yes, you’re right. Unusual to see errors like that in a blurb! But it’s not a very well written blurb.

Crap writing, typography, and a very basic apostrophe error; are you certain this isn’t self-published?

Well, quite apart from the glaring error, the blurb is badly written and the plot sounds like a mash-up of Saltburn and The Talented Mr Ripley.

It sounds rubbish to boot.

Could I suggest a public book burning, followed by a tar and feathering of both the author and the publisher?

The poor proof-reader probably couldn't read through all that drivel to get to the error.

It's shortlisted for the Waterstones debut fiction prize 2025

An Oxford semicolon in the first paragraph too.

The publisher might be Picador but it looks self-published.

It's 'Sunstruck' by William Rayfet Hunter. Published by Merky Books, an imprint of Penguin in collaboration with the rapper Stormzy, whose new writers' prize it won. Their website and other sites have the same blurb with Blakes' correctly apostrophised. The photo is the dust jacket flap, where it is wrong. Did a designer mistakenly 'correct' it when pasting?

How long is the shortlist?😂

I do happen to know that authors don't always get to write that blurb on the back themselves, but whoever did write it needs a stern dressing-down from someone who knows what they are doing.

The author doesn't usually write the blurb and whoever you're published by they should proofread the book. If it's been corrected in the Kindle copy they're obviously hoping nobody notices the hardback edition.

It's correct on the publisher's website, and in booksellers' descriptions. I wonder if the jacket design is to blame? Copied the blurb and amended it?

No, the jacket designer is not to blame - it will have been an error in the copy sent to the designer that was then missed in the proofing stages. It happens. Ideally it wouldn’t happen, but even proofreaders are only human!

(And most likely the poor editor noticed it as soon as the finished copies came in and is still berating her/himself.)

I’m a proofreader. I don’t usually get sent the blurb to proof! They are usually done in-house.

The semicolons are correct. If you’re going to use semicolons to separate items in a list, you have to use a semicolon before every list item.

Oh dear, I do this.
I write scathing reviews on Amazon about bad syntax, too.

I'm a proofreader and never get sent blurbs. They are sometimes read internally by the marketing team. Unusual to see an error in one though, it should be checked and checked again!

Never mind Picador; if the author does a book signing in Glasgow and the local pedants turn up, they'll be strongly 'inviting' him to pick a windae

It's not Picador. I was distracted by the name on what looks like the spine of a book by a different author.