Incredibly poor Terry Pratchett Epub offering

Alfy · 01-25-2009, 08:55 AM

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal" at WHSmith. I was really surprised at the very low quality of the file. I'm not talking a few mistakes here and there, I'm talking of at least one mispelling or quote mark missing every other page. Some of the mispellings were so big as to make the sentence almost unreadable, so I assume no one has proof read it. Worst, the hero's name, "Lipwig", comes out as two words ("Lip wig") half the time.

I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem with other Pratchett's books, as I was looking forward purchasing more?

Cheers,

Alfy.

zelda_pinwheel · 01-25-2009, 08:58 AM

i don't know specifically about pratchett's books, but there have been many complaints about poor formatting / errors in the text of ebooks.

the usual suggestion is to write to the bookstore and the publisher, politely pointing out the poor quality of the text, and asking whether they could fix it.

the book store can't do anything about the text however they can contact the publisher directly, and give you the updated text if there is one.

i don't know how often this happens but i do know that L'élégance du hérisson had a lot of errors, and the publisher corrected them and published a new version, and everyone who had bought the book was able to upgrade for free.

HarryT · 01-25-2009, 09:03 AM

Many eBooks appear to be scanned from printed versions, and are full of obvious OCR errors.

RobbieClarken · 01-25-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Many eBooks appear to be scanned from printed versions, and are full of obvious OCR errors.

That is so bizarre. Considering that all modern books would be printed from digital versions I wonder why ebook publishers have to resort to this.

JSWolf · 01-25-2009, 09:23 AM

I've been reading the Discworld series from Mobipocket editions (converted to LRF for my 505) and I'm up to Small Gods and I've found them to be in good form. But I've not yet gotten to Going Postal. Could be that one is just bad. Dunno.

llasram · 01-25-2009, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfy

I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem with other Pratchett's books, as I was looking forward purchasing more?

I have the LIT edition of Going Postal and a few other of Pratchett's novels, but my experience has been the opposite -- I've been impressed with the quality of the formatting vs. what one finds in e-books in general. In fact, the only typo in them I can recall finding was one in Monstrous Regiment which I confirmed via Google Books appears in the print edition as well!

No idea why the EPUB edition would be bad... Oh, of course, I'm buying the US e-book editions. I assume this is a UK edition? Anyone bought UK editions in other formats?

Alfy · 01-26-2009, 04:45 AM

Indeed it's a UK edition (purchased at WHSmith). Oh well, I guess it's just bad luck, I'll try getting my next books from the US then.

Alfy · 01-26-2009, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Many eBooks appear to be scanned from printed versions, and are full of obvious OCR errors.

This is EXACTLY what it looks like. Very surprising they haven't even proofread the book once...

fugazied · 01-26-2009, 05:25 AM

I've had a couple of books with obvious errors in them, I didn't realise that it might be OCR errors from the publisher simply scanning it in

Considering they were bought e-books they should have been more thoroughly checked.

dadioflex · 01-26-2009, 06:04 AM

Edit.

tompe · 01-26-2009, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dadioflex

TP is a huge geek and has probably been submitting electronic texts

But this text is not the final version and the final version probably does not exist in electronical form.

And it would not surprise me if the US and UK version of an ebook is scanned from different sources and treated different with respect to proof reading.

tibiafry · 01-26-2009, 08:14 AM

Hello, as a publisher (not that publisher, tough, lol) I'd like to say that we don't have allways the electronic material of the book, and thus it's impossible sometimes to convert the format, and you just have to OCR it.

But, on the other hand, it is the duty of the publisher to correct the OCR. I'm with all of you.

zelda_pinwheel · 01-26-2009, 08:39 AM

i think you should definitely write to the bookshop and the publisher to express your disappointment. if you are lucky, the publisher might correct the book and give you a better version.

GeoffC · 01-26-2009, 08:57 AM

whsmith are probably still just learning this game; especially if their high(ish) prices are anything to go by.

Alfy · 01-29-2009, 04:24 PM

Well, I did indeed write to WHSmith, and here is the answer I got:

Thank you for your recent email.

I am sorry to learn of the poor quality of this product.

I will look in to this matter and report it to the relevant department so that it can be reviewed.

As this would've been downloaded from a third party site you would need to contact them directly to arrange it to be re-downloaded.

Kind Regards

Customer Service Coordinator

Happy to learn they will look into it, no so happy a redownload is not guaranteed should the problem be corrected. Oh well...

01-25-2009, 08:55 AM	#1
Alfy Liseur de Bonne Aventure Posts: 374 Karma: 2176666 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: PRS T1	Incredibly poor Terry Pratchett Epub offering Hi everyone, I recently purchased Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal" at WHSmith. I was really surprised at the very low quality of the file. I'm not talking a few mistakes here and there, I'm talking of at least one mispelling or quote mark missing every other page. Some of the mispellings were so big as to make the sentence almost unreadable, so I assume no one has proof read it. Worst, the hero's name, "Lipwig", comes out as two words ("Lip wig") half the time. I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem with other Pratchett's books, as I was looking forward purchasing more? Cheers, Alfy.

01-26-2009, 06:04 AM	#10
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	Edit. Last edited by dadioflex; 12-16-2010 at 04:16 AM.

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01-25-2009, 08:58 AM	#2
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i don't know specifically about pratchett's books, but there have been many complaints about poor formatting / errors in the text of ebooks. the usual suggestion is to write to the bookstore and the publisher, politely pointing out the poor quality of the text, and asking whether they could fix it. the book store can't do anything about the text however they can contact the publisher directly, and give you the updated text if there is one. i don't know how often this happens but i do know that L'élégance du hérisson had a lot of errors, and the publisher corrected them and published a new version, and everyone who had bought the book was able to upgrade for free.

01-25-2009, 09:03 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Many eBooks appear to be scanned from printed versions, and are full of obvious OCR errors.

01-25-2009, 09:23 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I've been reading the Discworld series from Mobipocket editions (converted to LRF for my 505) and I'm up to Small Gods and I've found them to be in good form. But I've not yet gotten to Going Postal. Could be that one is just bad. Dunno.

01-26-2009, 04:45 AM	#7
Alfy Liseur de Bonne Aventure Posts: 374 Karma: 2176666 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: PRS T1	Indeed it's a UK edition (purchased at WHSmith). Oh well, I guess it's just bad luck, I'll try getting my next books from the US then.

01-26-2009, 05:25 AM	#9
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	I've had a couple of books with obvious errors in them, I didn't realise that it might be OCR errors from the publisher simply scanning it in Considering they were bought e-books they should have been more thoroughly checked.

01-26-2009, 08:14 AM	#12
tibiafry Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 78 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Iliad	Hello, as a publisher (not that publisher, tough, lol) I'd like to say that we don't have allways the electronic material of the book, and thus it's impossible sometimes to convert the format, and you just have to OCR it. But, on the other hand, it is the duty of the publisher to correct the OCR. I'm with all of you.

01-26-2009, 08:39 AM	#13
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i think you should definitely write to the bookshop and the publisher to express your disappointment. if you are lucky, the publisher might correct the book and give you a better version.

01-26-2009, 08:57 AM	#14
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,600 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	whsmith are probably still just learning this game; especially if their high(ish) prices are anything to go by.

01-29-2009, 04:24 PM	#15
Alfy Liseur de Bonne Aventure Posts: 374 Karma: 2176666 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: PRS T1	Well, I did indeed write to WHSmith, and here is the answer I got: Thank you for your recent email. I am sorry to learn of the poor quality of this product. I will look in to this matter and report it to the relevant department so that it can be reviewed. As this would've been downloaded from a third party site you would need to contact them directly to arrange it to be re-downloaded. Kind Regards Customer Service Coordinator Happy to learn they will look into it, no so happy a redownload is not guaranteed should the problem be corrected. Oh well...

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