👑 What’s stopping me taking a photo of a typo in Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration book – given to 4.5 million primary school children as a keepsake for this historic occasion?
Is it the following sentence from the back matter?
©️ ‘No part of this publication may be reproduced…without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.’
〰️ Is it that I don’t want to prompt debate into the pros and cons of the monarchy and/or the costs/benefits of the Jubilee?
😱 Is it empathy with the editorial team – in that I’d not be keen to see this karma revisited on me?
Can’t it be all of the above?
📢 Yet, here I am, mentioning it.
So, take from this what you will, but here are some objective sentences about this scenario.
🎒 My son brought home a copy of this book from school.
🎓 A team of experts collaborated on the book.
🔎 I spotted there’s a letter missing from the word ‘throughout’.
👍 The meaning of the sentence is unhindered by this blip.
OK? OK.
🙈 Ah, you’ve caught me out…There’s an angle. There’s always an angle.
And I suppose it’s this.
❗ Indie authors: even in major publishing houses’ editorial teams, things are sometimes missed.
Perfection doesn’t exist.
🚩 If you see the promise of perfection from anyone involved in publishing or editorial work, that’s a red flag.
💷 You won’t get that promise from the Big Five publishers – and they’re the ones with money to spend on multiple rounds of editing.
👑 Even with a client as important as the Queen, they’re not going to make that promise.
❗ Be wary if you see this promise from indie publishers or author services providers.
That is all.
😊 As you were.
📩 If you want someone to do a bloomin’ good job proofreading or copyediting your book, connect with me and let’s make that happen.
