70 Comments
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David J. Sharp's avatar

An err perhaps … but not necessarily an ur err.

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Ian Burdon's avatar

My wife, reading a novel by a 'best-selling' American author, published by a major publishing house that can, one presumes, afford editors, noticed that the story - set in Scotland - spells whisky as whiskey throughout. What to do? What to do?

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David J. Sharp's avatar

And just out of curiosity, why not simply call ALL options Option A? That way, if one option is right you can say, “Well, I *told* you!”

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Paul J. Pastor's avatar

Love this! And as a writer for whom (whomst? Whomsoevereth?) you have kindly caught both public and private copy errors in the past, I will say two things: 1. It is a fearful thing to write for the eye of Dreyer; and 2. “The wounds of a friend are faithful.”

The world is a better-styled place because you are in it!

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

❤️

Imagine writing for the eye of Dreyer when you’re Dreyer! It’s horrible (sometimes)!

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Paul J. Pastor's avatar

But it’s YOUR English!

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

Oh, right.

[smites self on forehead]

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Paul's avatar

Am I supposed to be reading "What do you do?" in my head in the voice of Karl Malden?

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

Well, gosh, I should hope that you’re reading that in Karl’s voice!

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Heather Cawte's avatar

In the Kindle book I am currently reading, when I highlight a word, I am given the chance to report an error to the publisher. I have been doing this quite frequently, as the book is brilliant, but very poorly edited. It deserves better than to be in the state it's currently in, and I do hope the corrections are at least looked at.

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Eric Johnson's avatar

I always want/hope my friends would point out any errors. It’s one of the many ways I learn. Your personalized gratitude at the end of your essays always lifts me up. It’s as genuine as they come. I need to spend some time on my own.

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Kemmer's avatar

The new caption for "The Death of Marat" made me laugh out loud. And Sally's amazing curl reminds me of my daughter's coonhound-mix rescue who, despite legs as long as a new-born colt, manages to imitate a beautiful doughnut perfectly.

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Jessa's avatar

<moved>

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Marvin Waschke's avatar

When an obvious error or solecism in my writing is pointed out to me, I die a small death, a fragment of vigilance I thought I owned perishes.

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

One can’t always be one’s own best editor or proofreader, and I’m sure that we both try our damnedest. I can’t always be peaceful about my mistakes, but I’m better about it than I used to be.

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James Nevius's avatar

To my delight, my screensaver—which matches content based on its own skewed algorithm—brought together these two images.

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

Wow!

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Steve Kempson's avatar

Mlle Corday had no discernible sense of humour.

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

But don’t tell her that!

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Mary Beth Brown's avatar

To borrow from Cat Twitter, Sallie is dropping stellar paw work!

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Joanne's avatar

A Word About... is always in my top 5 favorite parts of any day in which it appears. Also in the top 5 are my adorable and precocious great-niece and great-nephew, so please trust that you are in good company. Rounding out the list are a walk around the lake and baseball.

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

Thank you, Joanne! You’ve made me smile in a very big way!

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docmommaVA's avatar

Uh, oh -- I just subscribed, and the welcome email is asking me to "take a few minutes to answer our New Reader Survey and help us make A Word About... better!". We're barely acquainted -- how can I give notes at this point?? ;-)

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Benjamin Dreyer's avatar

Oh gosh, just, um, tell the survey that I’m perfect, and we’ll be all kinds of good.

(Substack and its mechanisms!)

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Sheila Buff's avatar

Option D: I once ghosted a cookbook for a well-known author, published by a well-known press since assimilated into a much larger well-known press. The author suggested several main dishes as possible cover shots and one was chosen. The text was later found to be running long and several recipes were cut by the in-house editor. After the book was out, it was discovered (not by me or the author) that the cover dish recipe had been deleted. Great consternation at the publisher, resolved by printing up the missing recipe as a handout and assigning an editorial assistant to handle the expected flood of mail from the author's fans. Not a single letter ever arrived.

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Charles Gatlin's avatar

One of my favorite authors, who in the last few years has retired to e-publishing on her own schedule, sets up a space on her Goodreads blog for her readers to discuss the new work and report typos. She’s mostly writing novellas, which after initial electronic publication get published in nice hardback editions from a specialty publisher, and when sufficient wordage has been achieved, further published in hard cover and mass market collections from her original publisher. That seems a friendly way to handle it as well.

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