Comments on: Too many errors and typos in Kindle e-books http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:47:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Becky W http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/comment-page-1/#comment-1164412 Becky W Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:22:16 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=25191#comment-1164412 Dan, I agree that there are too many typos in print editions, but the number of typos in Kindle books is sometimes just horrendous. It looks as if some books are simply scanned from print versions with OCR, with all the obvious problems (rn to m, etc) that that causes. I just don't understand why they don't do at least one round of proofing. I would do it for free if I wanted to read the book (it is much less irritating to find an error if you can then correct it), but I guess that would just help accelerate the demise of the professional copy editor. I've seen many posts that mention Kindle books that are reasonably proofread for 2/3 of their length and then suddenly have lots of typos. I've had this experience myself. Any thoughts on why this would be? Dan, I agree that there are too many typos in print editions, but the number of typos in Kindle books is sometimes just horrendous. It looks as if some books are simply scanned from print versions with OCR, with all the obvious problems (rn to m, etc) that that causes. I just don’t understand why they don’t do at least one round of proofing. I would do it for free if I wanted to read the book (it is much less irritating to find an error if you can then correct it), but I guess that would just help accelerate the demise of the professional copy editor.

I’ve seen many posts that mention Kindle books that are reasonably proofread for 2/3 of their length and then suddenly have lots of typos. I’ve had this experience myself. Any thoughts on why this would be?

]]> By: Dan Brookes http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/comment-page-1/#comment-1104131 Dan Brookes Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:11:15 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=25191#comment-1104131 Yes, but it's also true that the typos that appear in many e-books also show up in the printed editions! Publishing houses just aren't putting enough money into their editorial departments, and it shows. Has anyone seen a college level foreign language textbook lately? They're riddled with errors! Yes, but it’s also true that the typos that appear in many e-books also show up in the printed editions! Publishing houses just aren’t putting enough money into their editorial departments, and it shows. Has anyone seen a college level foreign language textbook lately? They’re riddled with errors!

]]> By: Paula B. http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/comment-page-1/#comment-1103476 Paula B. Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:16:56 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=25191#comment-1103476 Maybe if Amazon didn't take so much of the revenue, publishers and authors could afford to take more care in formatting. Maybe if Amazon didn’t take so much of the revenue, publishers and authors could afford to take more care in formatting.

]]> By: Chuck http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/comment-page-1/#comment-1103464 Chuck Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:12:43 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=25191#comment-1103464 Yes, I think it's ironic that the books I enjoy most in terms of formatting and readability on my Sony are ones I've gotten for free from Feed Books -- better than many purchased ones. Yes, I think it’s ironic that the books I enjoy most in terms of formatting and readability on my Sony are ones I’ve gotten for free from Feed Books — better than many purchased ones.

]]> By: Mark http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/cheap-copies-of-the-original/comment-page-1/#comment-1103184 Mark Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:52:14 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=25191#comment-1103184 It's a shame about the typos when the proofed and formatted pirated ebooks actually look and read better than the legally purchased ebooks. I have several ebooks in my collection where I have purchased the legal version and yet read the pirated version because of the horrible typos, mismatched fonts, and poor formatting. The industry is certainly not endearing itself to e-readers... It’s a shame about the typos when the proofed and formatted pirated ebooks actually look and read better than the legally purchased ebooks. I have several ebooks in my collection where I have purchased the legal version and yet read the pirated version because of the horrible typos, mismatched fonts, and poor formatting. The industry is certainly not endearing itself to e-readers…

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