Mistakes in books

[VictoryLap]

Almost every book I've read over the past few years has mistakes in it and it really annoys me! Anyone else?
I could understand if it was someone self publishing an ebook or something but these are Sunday Times Bestsellers etc. And not just one error, but multiple ones throughout.
I don't remember this happening so much several years ago or perhaps I am just more tuned in to it.

There are lots of explanations for this. First, it's almost impossible to produce an entirely error-free book, no matter how many pairs of eyes see it...

Second, big publishers pay relatively poorly - say £20 per hour for copyediting trade fiction - so they may not get the best copyeditors.

Third, the publishing house may be under strict deadlines to get eg paperback books out by a certain date, so they have little time for editing.

Fourth, sometimes they don't mind too much that there are some errors left in; they don't think the errors will spoil the reading experience.

Fifth: not all 'errors' are actually errors. Some may be a matter of preference or house style.

Blurbs are usually written by in-house staff who should be familiar with the story, though...

I'm an editor. I work with a mix of publishers and indie authors.

@nannybeach - are you sure? Your post was riddled with errors...

@VictoryLap

The most recent mistake in the book I'm currently reading (The Dinner Guest) is that they say "sewed his wild oats"

There were a few other errors earlier in the book but I've erased them from my memory.

There must be some quick way of alerting authors or publishing houses to these things.

Spellcheck won't pick up that kind of error. You're right, it should be 'sowed'. But it's only one letter... so relatively early missed.

@HollowTalk

There are a lot of proof copies around. If you buy from a charity shop then it's likely it's a proof copy. I don't understand how a decent publisher can allow mistakes like the ones above. There is such a stringent editing process that it seems almost impossible. I would always write to the editor about errors in a paid book.

I've never seen an ARC copy of a book in a charity shop!!

And how many publishers have you worked with? Staff are usually overworked and budgets for editing and proofreading are low. Staff are usually young, so may have less knowledge of SPaG than you might wish, also less general knowledge to spot errors. Finally, some authors really hate changes being made to their books and if they're successful enough, the publisher panders to them...

Yes but a human reading it should pick it up!

I've got a few proof copies of books - years ago, someone used to flog them where I worked for charity. They're no more error-riddled than sale copies. It's also clear from the covers that they aren't sale copies.

I hoped they might one day be valuable (imagine how much a proof copy of Harry Potter would be worth!) but none of them became particularly well known - a Jake Arnott (He Kills Coppers) is probably the best known one I have.

You’d think all those Americans would pick something up from the actual books?

In mitigation, apparently the early books were Americanised by JKR's American publishers, before she had the clout to put a stop to it. And I wonder how many fic writers have only seen the films, and not read the books.

@EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn

I don't think many writers have a good enough ear for dialogue that they can write a foreign character convincingly, tbh.

And from the sound of it the proofreaders, editors etc aren’t going to pick it up either.

It depends! If they have knowledge of take two cultures involved, what their brief is (what they have been asked to do to the MS), etc.

@StealthPolarBear

Yes but a human reading it should pick it up!

But the thing about editing and proofreading is that it should be invisible - you have no idea how many errors the editor picked up; you just see the ones that remain!

Bridget Jones and Adrian Mole are both stuffed with continuity errors.

@MorrisZapp

Bridget Jones and Adrian Mole are both stuffed with continuity errors.

I noticed a lot in the later Adrian Moles but I think Sue Townsend had lost her sight by then so it was possibly more difficult for her to pick them up. Things don't leap out in the same way if you hear them rather than read them.

I noticed a lot in the later Adrian Moles but I think Sue Townsend had lost her sight by then so it was possibly more difficult for her to pick them up.

And it would be much more difficult to keep all the detail in mind when the books were written over such a long period.

Plus the early ones were written pre-personal computers. She wouldn't have had searchable Word files to work with, unless some were created at a later date.

Just as Americans tend to be bad at writing British characters, British authors are just as bad at capturing Americans. I've been tearing through Eric Ambler's thrillers recently. In "The Care of Time," the ostensibly American narrator keeps talking about piddling little things and buggers and whatnotm and saying "Have you got...?"

There is also a NZ nurse in that awful "Me Before You" who sounds like no Kiwi male I have ever met. I forget the specific inaccuracies, but I think he says something like "That's mint!"

I really like Marian Keyes's variety of characters- Irish, English, American, Australian, Russian etc. I think she takes great pains to get the dialogue right.

@MorrisZapp

Bridget Jones and Adrian Mole are both stuffed with continuity errors.

A copy editor should keep a style sheet, which includes a timeline, character descriptions etc to avoid this happening!

I work in publishing and basic editorial skills seem to be valued less and less. Commissioning editors seem to be hired from other industries or from agencies etc, and don’t always have the full range of skills, so don’t know how to check the work, or know how long it should take and allow enough time for it.

New members is staff aren’t trained well (we used to be sent on expensive courses) and have been stuck at home, so don’t get to see other people’s work as much.

Freelance editing is always pushed for time and seen as a last-minute inconvenience.

Authors make last minute changes in a panic which then get changed at proof stage and aren’t checked properly.

So yes errors creep in.

Nearly every one of Mary Balogh’s historical romances gets the location of the hymen wrong. It’s meant to be covering the external opening to the vagina. She always puts it halfway inside the vagina. It annoyed me at first, now I just expect her heroines to have a wandering hymen.

I can’t remember the name of it but I read a historical novel a few years ago that was praised for its accuracy. One of the characters has an opium addiction, it’s a major part of the story, and the author makes note that it made his pupils very large. It pulled me out of the story. Opioids make pupils much smaller. Pinpoint pupils is one of the telltale signs someone has taken them.

The worst I've encountered was in a non-fiction book, The Isles, by Norman Davies, where the author confuses Daniel O'Connell (important Irish politician) with Daniel O'Donnell (arguably less important Irish crooner). I know it's only one letter away, but the main street in Dublin isn't O'Donnell Street, is it?

That's like saying the Metropolitan Police was founded in 1829 by John Peel.

Perfect analogy!

@DameAlyson

You’d think all those Americans would pick something up from the actual books?

In mitigation, apparently the early books were Americanised by JKR's American publishers, before she had the clout to put a stop to it. And I wonder how many fic writers have only seen the films, and not read the books.

This actually happens quite often. Ian Rankin's earlier Rebus books were Americanized for US readers, even changing the title of Fleshmarket Close to Fleshmarket Alley. I used to order Rankin's books from the UK to avoid this.

This actually happens quite often. Ian Rankin's earlier Rebus books were Americanized for US readers, even changing the title of Fleshmarket Close to Fleshmarket Alley.

Yes, HP and the Philosopher's Stone was changed to HP and the Sorcerer's Stone for the US market.

The comedian Craig Ferguson is an American citizen now. His book is full of Americanisms like 'I used to share an apartment in Glasgow with Peter Capaldi' which I can forgive (just) but whoever let it slip by that he got his first break in 'Edinburgh's Assembly Room' should be banned from publishing forthwith.

And don't get me started on Carlton Hill.

I recently read a book where the main character made a cup of tea, sat to drink the tea, had an argument and stormed out, leaving his coffee to go cold ???
Another one where a character was called Elizabeth but her father always called her Lizzie (a big thing was made of this) - except for once where we had him calling her Ellie?????
I listen to a lot of audio books and pronunciation is a big issue. Also some narrators read sentences badly, pausing in the wrong place can ruin a sentence. That is probably a whole new thread though.

Shame about The Dinner Guest, it is on my to read list, I might not bother.

I have noticed a few mistakes around child birth too.
In Ken Follett's medieval book (I can't remember the title) a mother died during/just after childbirth and the father held the baby to her breast to drink his fill of milk. But milk doesn't come in that soon. It would have been a small bit of colostrum.

Currently reading The Dark . Medic makes reference to a newborn baby needing to take milk or water soon . Babies should NOT drink water - it fills their little tummies but provides no calories