The Proper Response to a Butchered EBook? - Page 2

Kumabjorn · 02-02-2012, 02:38 PM

No, no, no. I would never suggest that you'd kill a horse. I'd suggest you visit Slaughterhouse Five and purchase a head.

JDK1962 · 02-02-2012, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

How about a horse's head in the publisher's bed?

Actually, I'm now thinking of submitting a Dr. Seuss-type story book about a reader who doggedly pursues a publisher trying to get him to update his e-books. Naturally, at the end, the publisher sees the light.

We can definitely work in your line:

"To do your job, what would it take? Serious threats am I to make?
Would you like a horse's head? Would you like it in your bed?"

"No! I do not like correcting galleys, Sam-I-Am!"

Kumabjorn · 02-02-2012, 03:00 PM

So it is, our e-books, just don't have no good looks
we think the readers are to blame, cause they have no shame
our fine optical recognition, is all you get when pay admission
pox on all you customers, we are the finest hustlers

Matth79 · 02-02-2012, 04:55 PM

Well, I'd say it would be more acceptable in a free book than one that is sold for real money, but it would seem that Gutenberg take more care than was done with this Gutenberg digitizations of PD/copyright expired face two volunteer proofreads per page, so lets call that equal to the services of a single proessional proofreading. If they think a raw OCR is acceptable for an ebook, would they produce a foreign version using Google translate?

HomeInMyShoes · 02-02-2012, 05:06 PM

^Don't give them any ideas.

ATDrake · 02-02-2012, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDK1962

... it would involve an innocent horse who would probably prefer to be excluded from what is clearly a non-equine matter.

One wouldn't need the whole horse. Just a head, such as this one* with many fine testimonials from satisfied customers, who claim, among other things:

Quote:

After wearing the mask for several days my identity was consumed and replaced. There is only the horse now. Best purchase I ever made.

* Conveniently sold on Amazon, though I doubt that the regular shipping costs will cover placing it in the publisher's bed.

adv_dp_fan · 02-03-2012, 12:52 PM

I recent wrote to Baen (who I really like and have bought several books from) about typos and errors in their ebooks. I asked if they ever make corrected versions available for re-download for people who purchased the books. They replied that they were too small and released too many different formats to be able to go back and fix anything. I was really disappointed as it was bad enough that in some cases parts of lines were missing completely and I had to borrow a copy of the print book to fix the ebook. Now I can't decide if I want to buy any more ebooks from them or just get the pbook.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 02-03-2012, 01:11 PM

When I found some major issues in two books by the same author, offered by Harper Collins and sold through B&N, I contacted B&N to report the horrible state of the books. I got a refund for both of them (and yes, my account is still active).

I contacted Harper Collins about the books... and got crickets.

So I finally contacted the author, letting him know what horrible condition his books were in. He assured me he'd be contacting his publisher about the problem, so I know the publisher would hear about it from someone bigger on their radar screen than me. I would recommend this step to everyone who is unhappy with the state of a book they buy (assuming the author is still alive; if not, their copyright holders, I suppose).

Unfortunately, I have no idea if they ever fixed the books; if they have, no one's ever contacted me to let me know.

mr ploppy · 02-03-2012, 01:25 PM

The official Harry Harrison ebooks are like that too. It's greed more than laziness, they made a deliberate choice to put out shoddy ebooks to save a tiny amount of money. That's even more likely with dead writers, with descendents who couldn't care less milking them for all they're worth.

Kumabjorn · 02-03-2012, 01:45 PM

Maybe there should be a sticky with shoddy e-books? A place where you can check before you buy. Perhaps be able to figure out if there is a trend in there somewhere, certain publishers are shoddier than others, romance novels worse than sci-fi, that sort of thing. Just an idea.

Pookeysgirl · 02-03-2012, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Maybe there should be a sticky with shoddy e-books? A place where you can check before you buy. Perhaps be able to figure out if there is a trend in there somewhere, certain publishers are shoddier than others, romance novels worse than sci-fi, that sort of thing. Just an idea.

That is an excellent idea

. I can name one publisher that is definitely shoddier than the rest, Penguin. I have a lot of ebooks published by Penguin and the formatting on most, if not all, is terrible.

JDK1962 · 02-03-2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

So I finally contacted the author, letting him know what horrible condition his books were in. He assured me he'd be contacting his publisher about the problem, so I know the publisher would hear about it from someone bigger on their radar screen than me. I would recommend this step to everyone who is unhappy with the state of a book they buy (assuming the author is still alive; if not, their copyright holders, I suppose).

That's a very good idea, thank you. I sent off an email to the copyright holder ("GRPA, A Division of Cengage Learning," discovered via www.copyright.com) with the saga of my discontent. Let's see if they respond.

I guess the family sold off the rights to a corporate behemoth.

janrey · 02-03-2012, 02:24 PM

I think twice I've gotten an email from Amazon asking me if I wanted them to replace the copy I had of an ebook that apparently was fixed for errors so yes, they do get replaced. Both were free books I'd gotten and hadn't yet read (last year they had a lot of titles that were good books (Water for Elephants was one) either free or nearly so) It's harder if you don't buy them through a source like Amazon or even B&N who are able to instantaneously send you a new version replacing the old.

AnemicOak · 02-03-2012, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Maybe there should be a sticky with shoddy e-books? A place where you can check before you buy. Perhaps be able to figure out if there is a trend in there somewhere, certain publishers are shoddier than others, romance novels worse than sci-fi, that sort of thing. Just an idea.

This could be useful as long as it got updated if the book was fixed.

ATDrake · 02-03-2012, 03:05 PM

We've already had at least two (non-stickied) threads naming typo-riddled e-books threads if anyone wants to see what titles they may want to avoid purchasing:

Hall of Shame
Hall of Shame - don't buy these ebooks!

Maybe we could put a thread up in the Workshop area for people who are moved to DIY their own fixes, as with the error-riddled Lord of the Rings edition?

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02-02-2012, 02:38 PM	#16
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	No, no, no. I would never suggest that you'd kill a horse. I'd suggest you visit Slaughterhouse Five and purchase a head.

02-02-2012, 03:00 PM	#18
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	So it is, our e-books, just don't have no good looks we think the readers are to blame, cause they have no shame our fine optical recognition, is all you get when pay admission pox on all you customers, we are the finest hustlers

02-02-2012, 04:55 PM	#19
Matth79 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 502620 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Touch	Well, I'd say it would be more acceptable in a free book than one that is sold for real money, but it would seem that Gutenberg take more care than was done with this Gutenberg digitizations of PD/copyright expired face two volunteer proofreads per page, so lets call that equal to the services of a single proessional proofreading. If they think a raw OCR is acceptable for an ebook, would they produce a foreign version using Google translate?

02-02-2012, 05:06 PM	#20
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^Don't give them any ideas.

02-03-2012, 12:52 PM	#22
adv_dp_fan Zealot Posts: 103 Karma: 57138 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Sony 505, iPad 1 & 3, Galaxy Note 8.1	I recent wrote to Baen (who I really like and have bought several books from) about typos and errors in their ebooks. I asked if they ever make corrected versions available for re-download for people who purchased the books. They replied that they were too small and released too many different formats to be able to go back and fix anything. I was really disappointed as it was bad enough that in some cases parts of lines were missing completely and I had to borrow a copy of the print book to fix the ebook. Now I can't decide if I want to buy any more ebooks from them or just get the pbook.

02-03-2012, 01:11 PM	#23
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	When I found some major issues in two books by the same author, offered by Harper Collins and sold through B&N, I contacted B&N to report the horrible state of the books. I got a refund for both of them (and yes, my account is still active). I contacted Harper Collins about the books... and got crickets. So I finally contacted the author, letting him know what horrible condition his books were in. He assured me he'd be contacting his publisher about the problem, so I know the publisher would hear about it from someone bigger on their radar screen than me. I would recommend this step to everyone who is unhappy with the state of a book they buy (assuming the author is still alive; if not, their copyright holders, I suppose). Unfortunately, I have no idea if they ever fixed the books; if they have, no one's ever contacted me to let me know.

02-03-2012, 01:25 PM	#24
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	The official Harry Harrison ebooks are like that too. It's greed more than laziness, they made a deliberate choice to put out shoddy ebooks to save a tiny amount of money. That's even more likely with dead writers, with descendents who couldn't care less milking them for all they're worth.

02-03-2012, 01:45 PM	#25
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	Maybe there should be a sticky with shoddy e-books? A place where you can check before you buy. Perhaps be able to figure out if there is a trend in there somewhere, certain publishers are shoddier than others, romance novels worse than sci-fi, that sort of thing. Just an idea.

02-03-2012, 02:24 PM	#28
janrey Groupie Posts: 163 Karma: 178100 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kindle3, Voyage	I think twice I've gotten an email from Amazon asking me if I wanted them to replace the copy I had of an ebook that apparently was fixed for errors so yes, they do get replaced. Both were free books I'd gotten and hadn't yet read (last year they had a lot of titles that were good books (Water for Elephants was one) either free or nearly so) It's harder if you don't buy them through a source like Amazon or even B&N who are able to instantaneously send you a new version replacing the old.

02-03-2012, 03:05 PM	#30
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	We've already had at least two (non-stickied) threads naming typo-riddled e-books threads if anyone wants to see what titles they may want to avoid purchasing: Hall of Shame Hall of Shame - don't buy these ebooks! Maybe we could put a thread up in the Workshop area for people who are moved to DIY their own fixes, as with the error-riddled Lord of the Rings edition?