Do you wonder how many people notice small errors? It’s one thing to misspell a word here or there, but what about a consistent misspelling? Or when you use the wrong word entirely?
I know authors and editors all comb through books several times to make sure things are error-free, but I also know sometimes things sneak in at the last moment.
Readers, I hear, mark out the wrong words and spell them correctly if it bothers them. I’m actually not one to do that. I don’t usually mark up books at all. If I read them often they begin to get soft on the bindings. (I’m a paperback sort of girl – I only get hardcovers on sale.) Still, I enjoy the story even if a typo sneaks in. When something becomes riddled with errors it becomes painful to sort out the story, which is why we proofread at all.
The weirdest thing I ran into with books I’ve purchased – I have one book that repeats about 50 pages. I don’t have 50 pages, and I have yet to call the publisher and ask after them. (Shame on me.) I don’t read it often enough to wonder what happened in the missing section, but it intrigued me that the book made it to the shelves that way.
Ransom Noble 
Dr. Tom Bibey said,
21 February 2009 at 08:42
I have been over my book 50 times, and still find small things. The old trick of reading out loud helps. I can’t imagine getting to press with fifty duplicated pages, but I better not laugh; it could still happen.
Due to time constraints, I am not as careful with my blog, but I should be. Thank goodness for readers. They often e-mail me and I am able to make corrections.
drtombibey.wordpress.com
ducksouppitt said,
21 February 2009 at 18:18
Wow the 50 repeated pages is kind of bizarre.
Dawn Embers said,
21 February 2009 at 19:11
I notice errors but am not one to mark up books. I’ll only do that when it’s a book that I have to read for school and the teacher requires us to annotate. Sometimes I want to get the red pen out though, if there are many errors. Working as a copy editor had a small part of causing that though.
Crys said,
22 February 2009 at 07:34
Hehe now I’m going all MPD on you in your blog. Oops! *waves at ducksouppit*