Don't rant if you're wrong...

[BookBint]

Got a very angry email from an author complaining that I had 'significantly altered his text' and that 'I had no right to change anything' without checking with him first. He CCed the email to my epic Uberboss, in a flagrant attempt to get me into trouble. Luckily Uberboss was off work with a man cold, though I'm pretty sure he would have supported my actions... This guy wrote 549 words (yes, I did word count) telling me I didn't know the history and didn't have the authority to change his precious, gold encrusted, straight from the land of unicorns and fairies text.

a) I DO have the authority. That's what editors do. Duh.

b) If you write a history book covering the period 1500-1800 you should bloody well know that:

i) Queen Anne was William III's SISTER-IN-LAW, not his DAUGHTER
ii) The Edict of Nantes was signed in 1598 NOT 1575
iii) It's the Battle of VIGO Bay, not Viggo Bay. Viggo is the hottie who played Aragorn.

When a lowly minion such as myself picks up such basic mistakes, god knows what's still in there! I have no special knowledge of that period, just what I've picked up from previous work, and (let's be honest) wikipedia. The reading public trust you douchebag! Get your facts right!

And don't even start me on the apostrophe usage. Ow. So, in conclusion, do not shout at me if you don't know what you're talking about. So there.

[Akasa]

I promise not to be that way when I get down to writing a real book instead of all these articles I write.

[South Texan]

i) Queen Anne was William III's SISTER-IN-LAW, not his DAUGHTER
ii) The Edict of Nantes was signed in 1598 NOT 1575
iii) It's the Battle of VIGO Bay, not Viggo Bay. Viggo is the hottie who played Aragorn.

Please tell me you responded to his email with these little whoppers. A CYA list of errors never hurts to have around as a quick "shut the F up" tool with this type.

[jjllbb]

He didn't expect the editor to edit. ahahahahahaha

[BookBint]

Please tell me you responded to his email with these little whoppers. A CYA list of errors never hurts to have around as a quick "shut the F up" tool with this type.

I did, but far more gently. But I hope with a certain snide 'ha ha you're a cretin' edge to my prose.

[Nurian]

iii) It's the Battle of VIGO Bay, not Viggo Bay. Viggo is the hottie who played Aragorn.

Sadly, when I read this, I was thinking of The Carpathian.

[LibraryLady]

I feel for you, BookBint.

I think I've posted something like this before but it may need saying again and I hope it will give you a laugh.

Once upon a time in the 1960s, there was a Lady who was a librarian, a curator and an editor. She smoked like a chimney and always had a bottle of booze in her desk drawer but, as Spencer Tracey might say, "She was cherse" at what she could do.

While editing a Festschrift for publication she had to deal with a paper by a Sudanese archaeologist. The paper had an important topic and was written in what the author claimed to be English. Unfortunately, the author's version of English had nothing to do with any known European language. She was struggling with the thing.

A colleague came into her office to ask a question. He was greeted by a blue haze of cigarette smoke and a question.

"Hey, Joe! You got any of that pot stuff you kids smoke?" She held up a glass of amber liquid. "Scotch isn't helping!"

[ArcticChicken]

My Ex's dad is/was an editor. His favorite story about editing is and author who wrote something about a dam that had x dimensions (I can't remember them) and held back "10 thousand gallons if water". The dad's response? "At the stated dimensions, the water would be about on inch deep."

[chainedbarista]

"Hey, Joe! You got any of that pot stuff you kids smoke?" She held up a glass of amber liquid. "Scotch isn't helping!"

literary gold, courtesy of librarylady



too awesome; that could have fit several situations i was stuck with at 'bucks.

[BlaqueKatt]

"Hey, Joe! You got any of that pot stuff you kids smoke?" She held up a glass of amber liquid. "Scotch isn't helping!"

why did my brain turn the library lady into "Maxine"? Did anyone else's brain do that?

[Primer]

why did my brain turn the library lady into "Maxine"? Did anyone else's brain do that?

I saw and heard Audrey Hepburn!