That is NOT PC.

[BookBint]

*ring ring*

BB: Hello, BookBint speaking.
DA: This is <Dumbass Author>. I'm ringing about the proofs you sent me.
BB: Ah yes, I hope they got to you ok. Is this about the index?
DA: No it is NOT! I've been looking through the pages and have noticed you have made masses of changes. You can't just change my text like this!

Actually I can, I'm a freaking editor, but that's beside the point.

BB: Oh, I'm sorry you're not happy, what changes are you referring to? I'll bring up the PDF on screen.
DA: Page 149, para 4, the terminology is all wrong!
BB: Oh. Yes well it's not really acceptable to call Native Americans 'Red Indians' anymore...
DA: That's just PC nonsence, my readers will get confused, they'll think I'm talking about white Americans.

This is your first book, it's not like you have a fanbase who will be queuing up for hours to get a copy like it's a new Harry Potter...

BB: Well I'm afraid we can't use that kind of language unless it is a direct quotation...

This went on for twenty-five minutes. He wanted me to change back the word 'coloureds' for African Americans. He wanted Germans in WWII to be 'Jerry' and 'Huns'. He wanted me to undo a rewrite which had changed his previous outline of the Indian Mutiny from a blatantly imperialist rant about how naughty the Indians were to dare to rebel against a country which had inslaved them, to a balanced account.

Seriously, I can't tell, are you racist, plain stupid, or have you time-travelled from the 1830s to make my life a little less pleasant?

[RayvenQ]

You could, politely (to wind him up) point out that if you change it all back to his version, then the chance of it getting published is nil. (Whether that's true or nto it doesn't really matter)

Speaking of Writing, I'd better get back to mine, been delaying it for ages, which doesn't matter much since it is a fanfic.

[PepperElf]

i suspect he assumes "freedom of speech" somehow means others are obliged to actually print the filth he writes.

[tamezin]

From your previous posts, I gather the publishing firm you work for is primarily historical type texts (correct me if I am wrong), if that much of the content was so bad why publish him anyway? Honestly that really doesn't make much sense (though I am sure you have little control over who gets published and who doesn't)

I may not agree with the dude on any of his opinions, but I do believe he has the right to his own voice (as disgusting as that may be), I can always choose not to listen or purchase the trash. Aren't there publishing companies you can go to, to pay for your own publication to be printed? You would think, if he wanted his message to be published in his own voice and tone, then he would utlize one of those resources.

[BookBint]

From your previous posts, I gather the publishing firm you work for is primarily historical type texts (correct me if I am wrong), if that much of the content was so bad why publish him anyway? Honestly that really doesn't make much sense (though I am sure you have little control over who gets published and who doesn't)

The book he has written is actually good history and well researched, it's just that he peppers his writing with rather old-fashioned and sometimes downright offensive terminology. And then argues when you want to change it to something that won't get us letter-bombed...

[HawaiianShirts]

DA: No it is NOT! I've been looking through the pages and have noticed you have made masses of changes. You can't just change my text like this!

Actually I can, I'm a freaking editor, but that's beside the point.

I cannot adequately describe just how much I want your job!

You get to read. You get to help people fix their mistakes. You even get to laugh at the ones who refuse to believe that they've made mistakes.

I'm not much into history, but just about any of the physical or social sciences I could do. Or fiction. I absolutely love editing fiction!

*sigh* I'm jealous.

[BookBint]

I cannot adequately describe just how much I want your job!

You get to read. You get to help people fix their mistakes. You even get to laugh at the ones who refuse to believe that they've made mistakes.

I'm not much into history, but just about any of the physical or social sciences I could do. Or fiction. I absolutely love editing fiction!

*sigh* I'm jealous.

The pay ain't great... But I do love to mock the mentals.

[tropicsgoddess]

The only fan base the asshat author might have (if he's lucky at all to even have a fan base) is the Ku Klux Klan or any other white supremacist groups.

[tamezin]

The book he has written is actually good history and well researched, it's just that he peppers his writing with rather old-fashioned and sometimes downright offensive terminology. And then argues when you want to change it to something that won't get us letter-bombed...

Gotta feel for you ... he is acting like a little kid checking boundaries.

[Andara Bledin]

BB: Oh. Yes well it's not really acceptable to call Native Americans 'Red Indians' anymore...
DA: That's just PC nonsence, my readers will get confused, they'll think I'm talking about white Americans.

Um... he does know that not all indigenous people to the US are "red-skinned", right?

Somewhat off-topic, but a lot of the ones I've met at powwows and such refer to themselves as Indians.

^-.-^

[AnaKhouri]

If it was fiction, depending on the character's point of view, it might be appropriate. But unless you're quoting contemporary letters or such, it is NEVER appropriate to use terms like that in nonfiction! What desert island has he been living on??

[DGoddessChardonnay]

i suspect he assumes "freedom of speech" somehow means others are obliged to actually print the filth he writes.

In that case, he has the option to publish it himself.

Now whether or not he's able to raise enough capital to accomplish that or have anyone interested enough to read it may be a different story.

[PepperElf]

yeah, especially since his language could end up getting the publisher in trouble.

and i am sure there are other companies out there that will be more than happy to specialize in offensive printings. like wherever the hate-groups go when they need to print up something nasty

[Kheldarson]

Hey Bookbint, anyway your company is hiring? The historian in me is screaming that we want that job... ^^

But I'm gonna go with the time-travel option. Because it's far less sad.

[BookstoreEscapee]

The pay ain't great... But I do love to mock the mentals.

I'm jealous too...but I hear ya' on the pay. I used to work for the publishing arm of a non-profit organization. But I didn't get to mock anything...I was proofreading mathematics journal articles...I didn't have the foggiest clue what they were talking about.