Current Project: Leg Shaving Leads to Trouble
Status: Meh
Last night, instead of sleeping I was combing through hilarious photos and images on a Web site. I know, I know, bad Lisa. But one of them was a romance cover (don't worry, it doesn't show the name or author - I blacked out the bit naming the other author's books). Can you spot the error? Okay, it's kind of obvious with the circles.
As I went to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books I noticed that a crop of this cover is the icon used to comment on their page. My original intent with this post was to find book covers with major errors on them. For my day job, I work a lot with publications, proofing publications - and I'm surprised by the stuff we sometimes miss. But as a reader I think, how in the world could they have missed that? Nice double standard, eh?
Well, I expected to find a treasure trove of sites dedicated to the topic. Did I? NO! Can you believe that? So the topic of this post is evolving midstream.
Sometimes when I'm reading and I spot an error, it instantly pulls me from the story. That doesn't happen all the time, it depends on the type of error. It's impossible to catch all typos in a publication (I believe) especially one as long as a novel. But, it's the ones like incorrect use of then/than or there/their/they're or its/it's that bug me. My biggest pet peeve is ensure/insure. *shudders* Some of those errors are shocking to me, how they crept by so many sets of eyes. But it's also understandable, you just can't catch everything.
What are some glaring errors you've found in books that took you right out of the story? Or can you read past them and not care or notice? Are there any book covers you've seen with big errors? Let's leave out titles and authors, this post isn't meant to point fingers or make people feel bad.
8 comments:
I saw this, too. I had to read the explanation before I spotted the error. Then I couldn't believe I missed it!
Not too long ago I found an error in a big writer's early book. I'm sure it would've been caught if it'd been published today. It was about flipping off the safety on a Glock. No safety to flip, just a subtle two-step pull on the trigger. Would I have spotted this error two years ago? No.
I like your status. lol. I get that.
Isn't is funny the odd things we notice for our interests? I was finishing a book on Saturday night and the hero went in to get a tattoo. The tattoo artist suggested the hero go next door to get a stiff drink. Ummm no. You cannot drink alcohol before a tattoo and certainly a tattoo artist isn't going to recommend you do that!
Isn't "meh" a wonderful word? Covers so much ;)
Lisa, that cover is hilarious! The only cover error I recall wasn't a book cover but the video case for The Little Mermaid. My daughter had won the movie in a coloring contest and the castle illustration on the front has a very, very obvious phallic symbol. I think that VHS cover is a collector's item now.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/2228093740_bf8bce67a4.jpg
In books, the most glaring for me are missing words, usually prepositions, and exchanges of character names. John all of a sudden becomes David and then turns into John again. I hate that.
LOL on the Mermaid cover, Karen. Those irascible Disney artists!
Covers don't get to me anymore unless they are really terrible. I love the one you show. Good heavens, and like Karen, I didn't see it right away. Viva la circles!
Inside a book, I'm with you, crap happens. I'm much more tolerant of a name change -- I think I had one once and they are so very difficult to weed out, esp. in anything written pre word check -- or of a letter being left off a word than I am the wrong word that just highlights poor editing. I did have a heroine dragging herself up to sit on a horse by grabbing his fetlock. It got by me, it got by my editor and the copyeditor, but it didn't get by my horse loving sister. That experience humbled me mightily. I know darn good and well where a fetlock is (by the hoof) I just had a brain glitch and no one caught it.
Meh.
People leaving a house then they all of a sudden appear again in the room. Or a character wearing a dress in one paragraph and pants in the next. And I catch the floating body parts on horses or misnamed saddle parts. ;)
Fun post, Lisa!
Ugh. This is near and dear to me. I found an error in HEAT and it's bugging me to no end. I can't believe I didn't catch this error, but I have a feeling it was changed in copy edits...it HAD to be. And it's not just one error. It's the same error...several times. My mother caught it when she read the book and said, "Yeah, I didn't want to tell you about that." But I'm hoping reader will just skip right over it. Hell, I did. My cp did. My beta readers (at least 3!) My agent did. My editor did. The copy editors did. And yet it's STILL there...
That cover is a real crack-up.
How many hands does it take...yikes!
When I do graphic arts projects, I figure no project is complete until I find at least one mistake after it's printed. Of course, that should be a very small error.
I usually overlook errors in books as long as they are small and if there's only one or two. As others have said, stuff happens. It's when the book has a number of glaring errors that I'll put it down.
Cover errors are funny--unless they are mine. LOL!
Karen, haha I think I still have that VHS cover too. Oh Disney artists...
Alice, what you just said was jibberish to me. I certainly wouldn't have caught it in a book!
Paty, haha! That bugs me too.
Eli, what's the error?!?!? Ruh roh.
Genene, I understand what you mean. There's a certain amount of understanding the reader has to have - but if there are too many errors, then it just feels sloppy.
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