Ebook errors

brudigia · 09-06-2015, 01:52 PM

I am reading a book by Jack McDevitt, and I am finding quite a few mistakes, usually things apparently bothed by an OCR.
Is there a way to communicate to Kobo or the publisher about mistakes in the text ?

Bruno

GeoffR · 09-06-2015, 10:55 PM

If you want a refund on the book, you can contact Kobo, but Kobo can't do anything to fix the publisher's mistakes.

If you want the mistakes fixed you could contact the publisher. But in most cases it is a waste of time. The exceptions are Gateway SF and some small publishers, who will actually reply and fix the errors within a few months. But in my experience most big publishers will do nothing.

I have found the best option for me is just to fix the mistakes myself. That way I know it will be done properly, and it is usually faster and easier to fix the mistakes than it is to go through the process of contacting the publisher and explaining what and where the mistakes are.

Edit: I can't remember when it started, but it seems Kobo is now pushing the corrected ebooks direct to my library. I noticed that some books that I had reported errors for direct to Gateway SF were later re-downloaded during sync even though I hadn't contacted Kobo about them. It used to be that I had to contact Kobo and ask for a corrected version.

Edit2: Fixing the mistakes myself is perhaps also a form of catharsis. Without it the number of mistakes in ebooks would have driven me insane, or at least back to reading paper books.

AnemicOak · 09-06-2015, 11:23 PM

The only time I've personally had a big publisher title get fixed after contacting someone about it was when I tracked down an email for the editor in charge of the imprint the book was published under. The regular CS email brings no response in my limited experience. In some cases emailing the author (who can in turn get in touch with their editor) might work better than contacting the publishers CS people.

Don't know how up to date these are anymore, but you can find some publisher contact emails here...
US Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/edus1.html
UK Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/eduk.html

brudigia · 09-07-2015, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

The only time I've personally had a big publisher title get fixed after contacting someone about it was when I tracked down an email for the editor in charge of the imprint the book was published under. The regular CS email brings no response in my limited experience. In some cases emailing the author (who can in turn get in touch with their editor) might work better than contacting the publishers CS people.

Don't know how up to date these are anymore, but you can find some publisher contact emails here...
US Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/edus1.html
UK Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/eduk.html

Thank you. Mistakes detract from reading a book so I thought there might have been something in place. Thanks again

murg · 09-08-2015, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brudigia

Thank you. Mistakes detract from reading a book so I thought there might have been something in place. Thanks again

Nope. Not proofreading OCR scanned ebooks is just another of the many quality services provided by the publishers.

brudigia · 09-08-2015, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murg

Nope. Not proofreading OCR scanned ebooks is just another of the many quality services provided by the publishers.

This is irony, isn't it ? Truth to tell, it does not happen often, honestly it only happens once / twice a year so I will not go as far as to say it is common.
But in this particular ebook it is becoming distracting, sometimes I waste time understanding what it actually means, and since I have reached a very interesting part it bothers me. I'll try to get in touch with the writer, it is a disservice they are doing him

murg · 09-08-2015, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brudigia

This is irony, isn't it ? Truth to tell, it does not happen often, honestly it only happens once / twice a year so I will not go as far as to say it is common.
But in this particular ebook it is becoming distracting, sometimes I waste time understanding what it actually means, and since I have reached a very interesting part it bothers me. I'll try to get in touch with the writer, it is a disservice they are doing him

Bad books happens a lot to me. I guess I buy a lot of older books.

I have one Tom Clancy ebook, purchased as part of an omnibus, so it had been for sale for awhile (as an individual ebook), that contained over a thousand errors, including whole pages that had not scanned properly.

JSWolf · 09-08-2015, 05:07 PM

Before reporting errors, download the eBook again. Sometimes things do get fixed behind the scenes and the only way to check is to download the eBook in case you get a newer version. I've seen this many times.

brudigia · 09-09-2015, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murg

Bad books happens a lot to me. I guess I buy a lot of older books.

I have one Tom Clancy ebook, purchased as part of an omnibus, so it had been for sale for awhile (as an individual ebook), that contained over a thousand errors, including whole pages that had not scanned properly.

A thousand errors is a bit too much, I would think. Wow.

robko · 09-09-2015, 11:30 PM

I bought a "cheaper" version of an Ian Fleming - James Bond omnibus when it became Public Domain in Canada in January. The OCR/lack of proofing was so atrocious that I gave up and bought a more expensive version because I just couldn't keep reading the 1st version. There were at least one and in many cases more errors per page.

09-06-2015, 01:52 PM	#1
brudigia Evangelist Posts: 491 Karma: 1401828 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Torino - Italy Device: iPAD AirPro M1 12.9, Kindle Scribe, Kobo Elipsa, iPhone XV	Ebook errors I am reading a book by Jack McDevitt, and I am finding quite a few mistakes, usually things apparently bothed by an OCR. Is there a way to communicate to Kobo or the publisher about mistakes in the text ? Bruno

09-06-2015, 10:55 PM	#2
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	If you want a refund on the book, you can contact Kobo, but Kobo can't do anything to fix the publisher's mistakes. If you want the mistakes fixed you could contact the publisher. But in most cases it is a waste of time. The exceptions are Gateway SF and some small publishers, who will actually reply and fix the errors within a few months. But in my experience most big publishers will do nothing. I have found the best option for me is just to fix the mistakes myself. That way I know it will be done properly, and it is usually faster and easier to fix the mistakes than it is to go through the process of contacting the publisher and explaining what and where the mistakes are. Edit: I can't remember when it started, but it seems Kobo is now pushing the corrected ebooks direct to my library. I noticed that some books that I had reported errors for direct to Gateway SF were later re-downloaded during sync even though I hadn't contacted Kobo about them. It used to be that I had to contact Kobo and ask for a corrected version. Edit2: Fixing the mistakes myself is perhaps also a form of catharsis. Without it the number of mistakes in ebooks would have driven me insane, or at least back to reading paper books. Last edited by GeoffR; 09-07-2015 at 12:03 AM. Reason: Catharsis

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09-06-2015, 11:23 PM	#3
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	The only time I've personally had a big publisher title get fixed after contacting someone about it was when I tracked down an email for the editor in charge of the imprint the book was published under. The regular CS email brings no response in my limited experience. In some cases emailing the author (who can in turn get in touch with their editor) might work better than contacting the publishers CS people. Don't know how up to date these are anymore, but you can find some publisher contact emails here... US Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/edus1.html UK Pubs - http://everyonewhosanyone.com/eduk.html

09-08-2015, 05:07 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,792 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Before reporting errors, download the eBook again. Sometimes things do get fixed behind the scenes and the only way to check is to download the eBook in case you get a newer version. I've seen this many times.

09-09-2015, 11:30 PM	#10
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	I bought a "cheaper" version of an Ian Fleming - James Bond omnibus when it became Public Domain in Canada in January. The OCR/lack of proofing was so atrocious that I gave up and bought a more expensive version because I just couldn't keep reading the 1st version. There were at least one and in many cases more errors per page.