Editorial Response

After our local paper published an epic proofreading fail last week, I sent an email to the editor and she responded back to me very quickly. My letter is first and her response follows. I thought she responded appropriately, and very politely!
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The text of my letter (a wee bit snarky):

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who noticed the rather blatant error on the cover of the "total: health, body, mind" insert in today's paper. As an editor by trade, I realize that it can be difficult to catch absolutely every single error in a published manuscript, especially when one is under a deadline. However, in these days of electronic spell check, in addition to good old-fashioned proofreading, how did Dietebes land on the cover? Did no one check it, or is this a new way of referring to diabetes? Not only is an error like this unacceptable for a professional publication, it's a sign of carelessness. When a cover has a blatant error like this one, it sets a negative tone for the rest of the publication and credibility is lost.

If you're in need of an editor, or someone who can at least proofread, I'd certainly like to offer my services.

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The text of the response (very professional and polite):

Thanks very much for your email. You are asking the same questions that I’m asking about that misspelling. You are right, it is unacceptable and I’ll address it with my staff.

I appreciate your offer of services. I don’t have any openings right now. But in the event that we do have one, or need some temporary help it would great to have your resume on file.

Comments

  1. This made me laugh – in a been there, done that way. I once wrote a ten page term paper on the subject of Chief Joesph.
    Now...it is your turn for a laugh! Here is what Mark Twain would say (and did) ...

    I rsespcet a man who kowns how to sllep a word mero than one yaw.

    I read somewhere if you have the right letters of the word, even when scrambled, you can still read the word. Can you?

    Here's another thought - not scrambled ...

    Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
    - Mark Twain

    BTW - Your blog is gorgeous! Wow.

    Gonna go run this through spell check before I post for real!

    Viveca

    ReplyDelete

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