Content High error rate

terrypin · 08-17-2012, 05:55 PM

My wife and I both have Kindles and the error rate is annoying us immensely.

For example, in 'Staring at the Sun' by Julian Barnes, I've encountered 5 obvious errors in about the first 10% of the book. I've tediously identified their locations for subsequent reporting to Amazon.

Location 71
"his head jerked on Lis neck..."
Should be "his...".

Location 266
"Uncle Leslie went firsthand pulled out both laces..."
Should be "first and...".

Location 437
"I'm sure J will..."
Should be "I will...".

Location 456
"TU tell you..."
Should be "To tell you...".

That took close to an hour of re-reading and message composition. (I've
given up on finding the 5th error.)

So having paid £5.22, am I now to be an unpaid proofreader?

It's clear that these books are being scanned and then being VERY poorly
checked.

I realise that the publisher is the primary villain here, but it's Amazon
I'm paying. Their management of publishers is plainly poor, and customers are suffering.

And to repeat a point that appears to have been made by many over a year
or two, in various forums including Amazon's own Discussions, they should
add a menu item in the Kindle software that would allow users to quickly
report errors AS THEY ARE FOUND. That would considerably speed up their
communication to the publisher and hence correction and re-issue. With a
copy of the revised version going automatically to original purchasers.
It's astonishing that they have not acted on this after so many requests.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

ixtab · 08-17-2012, 06:05 PM

It doesn't really make a lot of sense to complain about this here. Demand your money back and put some pressure on the publisher.

PS: On the K5, you can report errors as you find them.

Zeebra · 08-17-2012, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixtab

It doesn't really make a lot of sense to complain about this here. Demand your money back and put some pressure on the publisher.

PS: On the K5, you can report errors as you find them.

Damn that's a good feature. Wish the K4 had it.

copyrite · 08-17-2012, 06:11 PM

I've come across errors in every Nora Roberts' book I've borrowed from Overdrive. Very frustrating.

Kumabjorn · 08-17-2012, 06:12 PM

For what it's worth, in my experience Amazon CS takes those complaints seriously and if there is an update they will offer that to you or a return.

pidgeon92 · 08-17-2012, 07:24 PM

Amazon will definitely provide a refund if the book is that badly edited, and they will stop selling a book that has verifiable errors until the publisher fixes them. I have "returned" a couple of poorly formatted books myself.

I can say that after having read hundreds of Kindle books in the 4 years that I've owned a Kindle, only perhaps a dozen of them have had significant formatting/OCR errors.

JSWolf · 08-17-2012, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyrite

I've come across errors in every Nora Roberts' book I've borrowed from Overdrive. Very frustrating.

A lot of backlist eBooks have OCR errors. It seems the publishers don't give a crap. Just scan, OCR, format and done. SO they botch the OCR and they botch the formatting.

DiapDealer · 08-17-2012, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

For what it's worth, in my experience Amazon CS takes those complaints seriously and if there is an update they will offer that to you or a return.

I've seen them actually yank a title shortly after I complained about it. I'd say that's pretty serious.

I've run into a bad egg a couple of times, but normally ... the ebooks I purchase are quite error-free (or at least no more typos than the average print book has). Maybe I'm just lucky. *shrugs*

JSWolf · 08-17-2012, 07:34 PM

But, there are generally more errors in eBooks then pBooks. I'm reading Th Shadow of the Wind and it seems to have been a PDF source. There are errors in a lot of the italics that are with non-italic words and also, some of the parenthesis have an extra space at the close. Basically, these errors could have been spotted and fixed have someone just read it instead of the robotic method of convert, format and done without looking.

copyrite · 08-17-2012, 07:39 PM

They're definitely OCR errors, like "hinn" for "him".

Funny thing is I initially make a correction while reading, then the brain says 'huh' and I go back and re-read and see the mistake. LOL

ETA: Sad they didn't make more of a 'human' effort to edit these titles before they put them online. *shrug*

geekmaster · 08-18-2012, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyrite

They're definitely OCR errors, like "hinn" for "him".

Funny thing is I initially make a correction while reading, then the brain says 'huh' and I go back and re-read and see the mistake. LOL

ETA: Sad they didn't make more of a 'human' effort to edit these titles before they put them online. *shrug*

Sadly, pirated versions of many books have a reputation of having many fewer errors than the official versions, having been cleaned up by the pirates after the DRM was stripped. It seems like the paid versions of books should not be WORSE than the pirate versions if the publishers do not want do drive their customers away based on quality issues instead of just DRM issues.

HarryT · 08-18-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixtab

PS: On the K5, you can report errors as you find them.

How can you report errors as you find them?

ixtab · 08-18-2012, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

How can you report errors as you find them?

Mark and long-tap a word and wait for the dictionary to come up. Click "More", "Report Content Error".

08-17-2012, 05:55 PM	#1
terrypin Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 40000 Join Date: Nov 2003 Device: iPAQ 2210 PPC	High error rate My wife and I both have Kindles and the error rate is annoying us immensely. For example, in 'Staring at the Sun' by Julian Barnes, I've encountered 5 obvious errors in about the first 10% of the book. I've tediously identified their locations for subsequent reporting to Amazon. Location 71 "his head jerked on Lis neck..." Should be "his...". Location 266 "Uncle Leslie went firsthand pulled out both laces..." Should be "first and...". Location 437 "I'm sure J will..." Should be "I will...". Location 456 "TU tell you..." Should be "To tell you...". That took close to an hour of re-reading and message composition. (I've given up on finding the 5th error.) So having paid £5.22, am I now to be an unpaid proofreader? It's clear that these books are being scanned and then being VERY poorly checked. I realise that the publisher is the primary villain here, but it's Amazon I'm paying. Their management of publishers is plainly poor, and customers are suffering. And to repeat a point that appears to have been made by many over a year or two, in various forums including Amazon's own Discussions, they should add a menu item in the Kindle software that would allow users to quickly report errors AS THEY ARE FOUND. That would considerably speed up their communication to the publisher and hence correction and re-issue. With a copy of the revised version going automatically to original purchasers. It's astonishing that they have not acted on this after so many requests. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

08-17-2012, 07:24 PM	#6
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	Amazon will definitely provide a refund if the book is that badly edited, and they will stop selling a book that has verifiable errors until the publisher fixes them. I have "returned" a couple of poorly formatted books myself. I can say that after having read hundreds of Kindle books in the 4 years that I've owned a Kindle, only perhaps a dozen of them have had significant formatting/OCR errors. Last edited by pidgeon92; 08-17-2012 at 07:26 PM.

08-17-2012, 07:39 PM	#10
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,814 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: ...lots! ;) mostly reading on a Kindle Voyage	They're definitely OCR errors, like "hinn" for "him". Funny thing is I initially make a correction while reading, then the brain says 'huh' and I go back and re-read and see the mistake. LOL ETA: Sad they didn't make more of a 'human' effort to edit these titles before they put them online. shrug Last edited by copyrite; 08-17-2012 at 07:51 PM.

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08-17-2012, 06:05 PM	#2
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	It doesn't really make a lot of sense to complain about this here. Demand your money back and put some pressure on the publisher. PS: On the K5, you can report errors as you find them.

08-17-2012, 06:11 PM	#4
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,814 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: ...lots! ;) mostly reading on a Kindle Voyage	I've come across errors in every Nora Roberts' book I've borrowed from Overdrive. Very frustrating.

08-17-2012, 06:12 PM	#5
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	For what it's worth, in my experience Amazon CS takes those complaints seriously and if there is an update they will offer that to you or a return.

08-17-2012, 07:34 PM	#9
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But, there are generally more errors in eBooks then pBooks. I'm reading Th Shadow of the Wind and it seems to have been a PDF source. There are errors in a lot of the italics that are with non-italic words and also, some of the parenthesis have an extra space at the close. Basically, these errors could have been spotted and fixed have someone just read it instead of the robotic method of convert, format and done without looking.

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