Comments

The proof is in the reading — 26 Comments

  1. We use to use prisoners, but recently the courts decided it was cruel and unusual punishment and baned it. Of course in the USA it really doesn’t matter any more very teenagers can read any more so written books will be a dead art form with in a generation or two at the most.

  2. There are members of the security forces whose sole task is to read blogs! Bet you didn’t know that.

  3. Jim C – Is it true that the proof readers were opting for the gas chambers instead? As for the teenagers – they take their lead from their president.

    Grannymar – Hiya stranger! Of course I knew that. They are some of my best commentators. Jim C works for the CIA, but he doesn’t know that I know that

  4. I think I’d be able to withstand your drafts. Send them my way, a I’ll proofread them for you 🙂

    NOTE: I can’t guarantee proper spelling, the odd word my be spelt in American rather than English 🙁

  5. TheChrisD – One thing you will not find in my book is an American spelling. TheChrisD…. You’re fired.

    Stipes – ‘Romcom’ is another one of those ghastly American slang phrases that has crossed the Atlantic. It means Romantic Comedy [as if they couldn’t say or spell the whole thing?].

  6. Kate – As I have said, it isn’t that kind of book. It’s a ‘best of’ coffee table type book [or a toilet book, as our K8 calls it]. The real book is being rewrote.

  7. Ah, the joys, reading for a living! Could be fun. Imagine having to read a Cecelia Ahearne, followed by a John Grisham and then a bio of a politician. Would you be loving the John Grisham coz it came after zzzzzzzzzaheren (sorry but I really did zzzzzzzzz to her first book when I tried to read it), and then hating the politico bio coz it’s got John Grisham to live up to.

    Or, how about reading all three at the same time – plot confusion: government bungling leads ditzy bimbo into the nightmare of terrorist confusion only to be saved by Grisham lawyer hero and they are all live happily ever after?!

  8. I once got a Ross O’Carroll Kelly transcript to proof read, I ended up in hospital with a “Shit induced tumor”.

    Never again.

  9. Charmed – Thank you. You have just given me the outline for my next novel. [I jest!]

    Maxi – If yu had to proof read mine you might end up with ‘Humour induced shit”?

    Baino – I’m not sure whether she meant the book to be read. Paper does have other uses….

  10. Funnily enough, has anyone ever seen Grandad and Cecelia Ahern in the same room at the same time? Could it be…???

  11. Grandad (if that is your real name?), I’m just on a quest for the truth. And I notice you didn’t deny anything!!!

    *backs away from keyboard slowly as vigilantes beat down front door*

  12. NaRocRoc – If you are going to the Blog Awards, I’ll meet you there to prove who I am. You’ll have to buy me a pint by way of apology. I’ll be the young blond at the counter surrounded by FF lick-arses.

  13. Sounds rather familiar. I get quite a few manuscripts and on average I read and edit between 10,000 and 15,000 words a day. Plus the about 5,000 I usually write myself each day, that makes a lot of words.

    But it is important to read a manuscript several times, and have it read by different people. I send a manuscript I consider accepting to four different people to read, and only after I have their reports I make my final decision. In most cases I have a clear feeling for a text, but who says that I am always right? It’s better to take other opinions as well.

    And when the proofs are printed, one needs proofreaders to make sure that there are no mistakes, glitches or typography errors. Happens still too often that some slip through, but one has to make an effort.

    Always annoys me when I find any unspotted errors or glitches in a printed book. Recently I read the new book of a very well-known and popular author, published by one of the biggest companies in the business. And guess what? There is a very bad glitch in it.
    One of the main characters has suddenly a different first name on the final pages of the book. Such an error should never happen, especially not in a book published by a firm with plenty of employees.

    I hope all is going well with your opus now, and I wish you the best of luck. Let me know when it is out. I would be happy to read and review it.

  14. The true horrors of being a proof-reader have occurred to me before. When you think about it, at least 98% of everything ever put down in print is unmitigated shite,so it must be an atrocious job. Yours had better be part of the 2% that isn’t. Because I’ll probably do something stupid like buy a copy.

  15. Welcome Emerald. There is only one thing worse than a bad typo in a book and that is a library book where some smart arse has corrected it with sarcastic comments! Mine is due out mid-January, but I couldn’t possibly inflict it on you. 😉

    Andrew – Mine is one of the .0005%. Of course you are going to buy a copy. You mean you haven’t already ordered it on Amazon?

  16. No, Amazon are a faceless bunch of bastards who are slowly but surely turning the screw on real live bookshops and forcing them out of business. I also need to pick a book up ann sniff it a bit before I decide whether to purchase it or not. If yours doesn’t smell at least faintly of pipe tobacco and old man pissy trousers I’ll probably decide against it.

  17. Yes, hand-written comments in library books are a pain in the … well, you know where.

    We might be able to organise some extra publicity for you and the book (always helps with the sales figures), so maybe you can drop me an e-mail about that when you find the time.

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