Quote:
Originally Posted by Abecedary
From what I can tell, it looks like the source materials used for the ebooks are generally pretty clean from a proofing standpoint, but there really doesn't seem to be any rigorous proofing after the ebooks have been created. This is contrary to the method used for print, where the final layout versions get one or more thorough proofing passes (of course this doesn't always catch all the mistakes either). Since a fair amount of stylization tweaking gets done during the layout process (for print) and coding process (for ebooks), the output versions from both processes need to be rigorously looked over, which isn't happening.
Of course, it also doesn't help that many of the publishers are leaving the ebook formatting up to the resellers.
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You've nailed it. For a recent release of a bunch of my books, I spent many hours proofing RTFs with the help of an able volunteer. But when the books went to the retailers for conversion, there was no further point of control at my end. With the exception of Baen Webscriptions, none of the retailers provided copies for checking or even as a courtesy. I had to depend on purchasers to let me know how they came out. (Mixed.)
There is no good system for quality control once the file is out of the author's or publisher's hands. So don't blame the author, who probably doesn't even know his/her book got screwed over.