Ahem, ahem. It should not be surprising that this blog is #13 regarding the novel, Choir of Cloistered Canaries.
As they say among themselves in the business of writing and printing, “We print our errors.” As such, below is an accounting of the “printing errors” that were not caught by the author and the proofreader(s).
I feel there should be an accounting since I really abhor what has happened to most authors in the current modern editing process. Having started my private-sector experience with the Webster Edition of McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., in the late 1960’s, proofreading was taken seriously; and it required two persons—the one who read and the one who looked at the text. Those days are not afforded today.
Also, punctuation styles are all over the page in printed material. For example, there are eight primary uses for a comma; and its basic purpose is to let the reader know and experience a pause. Often, they are missing in the text or in the wrong places. As for semicolons, they are not interchangeable with a comma or a period; their most common use is to joining two independent clauses without using a coordinating conjunction like and. Another gripe—autocorrect is not always correct. Consequently, it tends to slow down the enjoyment of reading in my humble opinion. All said, now to the errata that has been recently detected when my partner read the book out loud for me.
Printing Errors – Errata
| pp. | LOCATION OF ERROR | ERROR TO CORRECTION |
| 22 | Top of page, line 4 | “plantation-shuddered” is to read “plantation-shuttered” |
| 43 | Para. 8, line 1 | “Kepner-Trego” is to read “Myers-Briggs” |
| 44 | Para. 1, line 1 | “Kepner-Trego” is to read “Myers-Briggs” |
| 85 | Para. 4, line 5 | “German” is to read “Germany” |
| “welfare” is to read “warfare” | ||
| 90 | Top of page, line 1 | “opted an” is to read “opted for an” |
| 100 | Para. 14, line 2 | “how how” is to read “how” |
| 118 | First complete para. 1, line 6 | “far back the” is to read “far back as the” |
| 158 | Para. 3, line 2 | “phosgene. Drew, phosgene” is to read “phosgene. . . . Drew, phosgene” |
| 158 | Para 6, lines 5-6 | “sensory activity of numerous trickling of water falling” is to read “sensory sound activity of trickling water falling into water” |
| 169 | Para 7, line 2 | “she lounged” is to read “she rested” |
| 194 | Para. 2, line 1 | “Bouna sera” is to read “Buona sera” |
| 253 | Para. 11, line 3 | “lumbers” is to read “timbers” |
Editing really matters, but it has become another victim of the internet age where everyone is a writer; and it has taken third place. There are several reasons for this–people have forgotten grammar and punctuation and have forgotten how to write beautifully, impactfully, and meaningfully. In fact, editing is an art. Publishers and writers need to pay for this invaluable commodity. (Sadly, the third-party editor assigned to this novel was not following the Chicago style manual; and I had to cite from such manual, explaining why his or her changes were incorrect. I was hoping not to say this, but it was very distracting and frustrating.)
Armida Nagy Rose Author 