Tag Archives: mistakes in print

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

Posted on July 7, 2008 | 5 Comments

I finished the first in Jan Karon’s Mitford series, At Home in Mitford, this week.

The books remind me of Lake Wobegon, except Christian.

The story follows the Episcopalian priest (new word for me: rector) in this small Southern town. Father Tim is an avid flower gardener, cook, localvore, lover of Wordsworth. Nothing too huge usually transpires in daily life (although a few big changes do take place), but the characters come alive.

Quite the fun read.

I intended to pick up this first installment at the library, where I’d seen them before, for the 24-hour read-a-thon. But the first book was missing! I was headed to Books on Broadway anyway, so I checked for it there, and they had it. I bought it. (I’ve mentioned this bookstore before, here). I did start reading this book during the read-a-thon, but I didn’t make it all the way through before time expired.

The newspaper in the small town of Mitford (in the Blue Ridge Mountains) is pretty bad — spells a person’s name three different ways in one article. The small-town paper I worked for wasn’t (and isn’t) that bad.

I heard so many recommendations for this series, from people whose book opinions I trust. I’d seen them in the library, time and again, but they spines never seemed interesting. I even glanced at the covers, but I always returned the books to the shelf. Maybe it’s the orange. (And yes, I have been turned off by a book’s cover only to later find, when I actually take the chance, that I’ve skipped over a great read, here for example.)

I’m now on to the second book in the series, this one from the library; I hope to finish it before the books are due back to the library at the end of this week.

→ 5 Comments

Posted in books, fiction, newspapering, review

Tagged , , , ,

Lament for copy editors

Posted on June 24, 2008 | Leave a comment

I couldn’t resist. I saw this at LanguageHat, and had to pass it along.

Apparently Lawrence Downes, of the NY Times, visited the Newseum in D.C. and noticed it held no mention of the “lowly buy exalted copy editor.” Gasp! What followed is his elegy for all task’s practitioners.

It’s a quick, short piece — go read it. I’ll wait.

OK, then. Thank you.

The writer knows the importance of copy editors; he used to be one. Well, so did I. He apparently thinks the job is on the way out, or at least those remaining practitioners will be very few, “artisanal.” His point is that there isn’t really a place for copy editing in online newspapering, where the goal is to get something up, fast, faster than the other guy.

LanguageHat, for his part, says he’ll notice when copy editors disappear. To that, I say thank you. I certainly would. (I’m not ready to concede that all copy editors are going to be out of a job any time soon.)

Editor’s Note: I did notice something a copy editor should have fixed in the article: multiply instead of multiple in the third paragraph from the bottom.)

→ Leave a comment

Posted in journalism, newspapering, writing

Tagged , ,

Elementary, My Dear Watkins by Mindy Starns Clark

Posted on June 15, 2008 | 6 Comments

A silly, fun, quick read, Elementary, My Dear Watkins by Mindy Starns Clark is apparently the third book in the Smart Chick Mystery series.

I purchased the book, along with four others, at a friend’s garage sale yesterday, fully intending to save all of them for the approaching read-a-thon.

I really couldn’t help myself. I looked at the stack — consisting of light reading, mostly mysteries (Clark’s being no exception) — and just had to read this one. Now.

My biggest gripe about this book was a copy-editing miss. The town Jo Tulip, the main character, resides in, is spelled two different ways in the book: Mulberry Glen, and Mulberry Glenn. Ack! I think both spellings were used about the same number of times. I usually manage to read past such flubs, but I had a difficult time ignoring this one.

I dislike reading a book in a series without starting at the beginning of the series. I didn’t realize this was part of a series until right before I started reading it, and by then I didn’t want to give it up. If I had realized before plunking over my quarters, I might not have bought it at all, but I’m glad I did. It was a nice relaxing, happy, fun read for the weekend.

Now back to Cloudstreet!

→ 6 Comments

Posted in books, Christian Fiction, fiction, readathon, review

Tagged , , ,

Typography nazi?

Posted on April 18, 2008 | 4 Comments

I ran across a fun post today, via Language Rules! The post on that rarely used blog linked to Receding Hairline‘s recent post on common typographic errors (rather than grammatical errors) and how to fix them.

I agree with most of his post, with the exception of the part about dashes. Long dashes — as seen here, and otherwise known as em-dashes — are not being replaced with en-dashes (–). And I understand that common usage, for some reason, indicates that dashes should not have spaces around them, but I don’t understand that. The function they serve is separating, rather than connecting, so I intentionally use spaces around em-dashes here. I rarely use en-dashes, reserving them from when a range is needed (such as 1–2), or some similar function.

I also posted a comment objecting to his ellipsis entry. It’s not really that I disagree with what he’s said, but he has committed a usage error. Most of the time, ellipses should be preceded by a space as well as followed by a space, particularly when the three dots are not placed at the end of a complete sentence.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in technology

Tagged , , , ,

Shoddy writing, take 2

Posted on November 21, 2007 | Leave a comment

Not all printing services are created equal and outputs differ in many ways like the level of customization possible, the binding materials and methods will your file be reviewed before printing? The type of paper used, and the quality of the printing itself. (Issues like type of printing device used, its age, on going maintenances, color management process, daily calibrations, skill of the operator and more) Also differ the level of service and support you will get, the shipping method used (resulting in shipping time, tracking ability, reliability), simplicity (no need to open an account), will your product be branded with the supplier brand, and more, All of these factors will eventually translate into the quality of your output and the level of customer experience.

Ack! I don’t even know where to start, if I need to tell you what’s wrong with this paragraph. Feel free, if you’ve got some time.

Here’s the rest of that page. Digi-labs prints cards, photobooks and calendars.

I’ve written before about how a company’s lack of grammar on its website will deter customers. This is just another instance, I guess. I really don’t understand how this gets published, though. Compose the text in a word processor, then look at what’s underlined with those squiggly red and green lines and why. Heck, you’re a company. Someone on staff should be able to compose a few communicative sentences. If this isn’t the case, either hire someone, outsource content editing, or educate your current staff. I’m not asking for high literature, just straightforward, clear communication.

→ Leave a comment

Tagged , , , , , ,

Bad form!

Posted on August 24, 2007 | 1 Comment

I stopped by the eye doctor’s office yesterday to scout out frames and make an appointment for an exam. As I was making the appointment, the clerk handed me a Medical History Questionnaire.

I hate filling out medical history forms, generally. And I’d rather not think about it over the weekend; can’t this wait until my appointment on Monday?

However, I took the form. I started filling it out later in the day. I haven’t completed the form yet, though, because it’s a very poorly designed form.

Forms may be boring to layout or design, but clarity in communication is essential in a form.

I can’t tell if the line for email is wanting my e-dress, my “parent’s” email, my doctor’s email, my parent’s spouse’s email or my spouse’s email. And why does the form ask for my parent’s “information” (with only one line), anyway? (Name is the next line, I’ll guess that’s asking for my parent’s name; this is followed by birth date and Social Security number. So what’s the “information”? And why are we talking about my parents again? Usually such forms, in my experience, ask for a parent’s name and Social only if the patient is a minor. This form has no such stipulation.

Then we get to the medical history part of the form. “Do you currently, or have you ever had any problems in the following areas:” The list, with accompanying check boxes, includes muscle pain, fever, runny nose, diarrhea and constipation. The better question would be, who hasn’t ever had these symptoms. And what does this tell the eye doctor?

The list also includes “loss of vision” and “blurred vision.” Aren’t these usually the reasons people go to the optometrist? Especially since the person I’ll hand the form to already knows, from page one, that I do indeed wear glasses already.

The worst part about this check list, though, beyond the fact that I’m forced to mark Yes even though it’s medically useless, is that I have to explain every Yes.

I think I may return this form incomplete, and voice my concerns about it in person. This form needs to be redone, if not tossed so the new form’s creation isn’t hampered by this idiocy.

→ 1 Comment

Tagged , ,

Save and backup

Posted on May 3, 2007 | 2 Comments

Oh, the woes of a crash!

TechCrunch highlighted Business 2.0′s recent situation. The magazine apparently “inadvertently deleted” the completed June issue from its server, and the backup wasn’t working. Before publication. Although the press deadline will, it seems, be met (or already has been?), this is an embarrassment. A wake-up call, too.

A similar scenario transpired at a newspaper I worked at: On one of our first issues, we had it done, and then it disappeared. Who knows what happened. We reconstructed the whole thing, in a very sleep-deprived state. It was nearly finished, and the computers crashed. It was gone again. We still managed to make it to press, not too much the worse for wear — at least after a couple days of sleep.

The problem with the similarity between these two situations, though, is that my example was on a college newspaper. A professional publication is necessarily held to a higher standard, and each piece needed to produce a professional publication must be professional. It sounds like the IT department messed up. Why wasn’t the backup usable? How do you accidently delete the current issue?

Backup is vital. Later, working at other publications, it was always treated with a high level of respect. It may seem mundane at the time, but automations can help. And it’s worth it. It’s important.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in newspapering, technology

Tagged , ,

How shoddy writing will deter customers

Posted on April 25, 2007 | 4 Comments

Reading Solar Style‘s relatively brief FAQ page — my husband suggested one of the company’s solar cell phone/iPod chargers for his birthday gift — I was turned off on the company. Why? The page contained at least six horrible typos.

Particularly when I’m studying a company I’m not familiar with, this kind of rampant lack of attention to detail is quite off-putting. Can I trust this company with my dollars? Is its warranty reliable? Or is this just a fly-by-night operation?

I’d like to think well of this organization. It’s promoting eco-responsibility, and that’s something I value. But I also don’t want to spend a chunk of money on equipment made by a company with perhaps shoddy workmanship. After all, if Solar Style leadership doesn’t care enough about its image to ensure clean writing (one of the most immediate reflections of its integrity to potential customers), why would I be confident about the quality of the company’s product?

Even though I know my husband would appreciate a solar charger, I doubt he’ll be getting one from me at this point, from this company.

Write well — cleanly, without errors, at least — or if you can’t accomplish this alone, hire qualified help in this field. It’s essential to successful business.

→ 4 Comments

Tagged , , , , , ,