Sony bookstore - where are the proof readers?

Tdew · 11-03-2009, 02:05 PM

I'm getting annoyed with the typos found in purchased ebooks from Sony's store. Though I'm not sure who is responsible for the conversion, the publisher or the sellers, the quality is frequently very bad. If they are using OCR software to make the conversion, there still should be someone proof reading - if they are going to sell the books at bookstore prices.

How do I make my complaints known?

AnemicOak · 11-03-2009, 02:36 PM

You can complain to Sony, but they'll likely refer you to the publisher. It's the publisher who provides the text to Sony and other distributors in almost all cases.

It's unfortunately not an uncommon thing to find problems, especially in, but not limited to, ebooks editions of books that came out more than a year or two ago.

kezza · 11-03-2009, 03:36 PM

Indeed, this is the publisher's problem. However! Sony should care enough to let the publisher know. Certain publishers, like Rosetta Press, are terrible about these kinds of proofreading errors. I've bought books by them from Sony and from eReader and they're always terrible. I won't buy their books anymore, but not before alerting Sony and eReader.com of the problems. I'm sure there are other terrible publishers out there who don't proofread their OCR'd books before selling them.

JasonB · 11-06-2009, 12:20 PM

Why should any book be OCRd? Aren't almost all books in electronic form already? (I'm sure I've read the answer to this one before, but I can't recall now and it's probably good to bring it up in this thread too.)

rhadin · 11-06-2009, 12:34 PM

No, most books aren't already in electronic form. Only books published within the past 2-3 years are likely to have electronic files available for conversion to ebook format. Publishers notoriously didn't keep libraries of electronic files. And where their suppliers did keep the electronic files, the publishers don't want to pay for their retrieval.

Red Alert · 11-10-2009, 02:41 AM

If you walk into a Boarders Books or Barnes & Noble, and purchase a book filled with typos; would you blame the book store or the publisher?

Of course the publisher is at fault.

I purchased a set of Vince Flynn novels from Connect. Filled with errors. I notified Sony so they could deal with the publisher about improving their product. Connect gave me a book credit as compensation.

Ralph

PaulGuy · 11-10-2009, 09:35 PM

I just read James Clavell's Shogun from the Sony store. The typos were terrible and became more numerous the further I got in the book. It was pathetic.

mgmueller · 11-10-2009, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tdew

I'm getting annoyed with the typos found in purchased ebooks from Sony's store. Though I'm not sure who is responsible for the conversion, the publisher or the sellers, the quality is frequently very bad. If they are using OCR software to make the conversion, there still should be someone proof reading - if they are going to sell the books at bookstore prices.

How do I make my complaints known?

I found issues like that with every single bookstore and file format I've tried (bought at least 1200 ebooks over the years).
Misspelled author's names, no naming conventions (first-name last-name or last-name, first-name). And that's just title and author.
It goes on with missing covers.
Then it's often enormous margins.
In the content we have spelling errors, probably due to sloppy OCR.
Sometimes, books from the "dark net" are way more professional.
Unfortunately, I haven't found an indicator yet.
Happened with lots of publishers or bookstores.
Concerning file formats, my gut feeling says, Microsoft reader has been the most carefully prepared format so far. But I'm still waiting for a reader able to handle it, since Pocket PCs are dead.

AprilHare · 11-11-2009, 03:32 AM

It isn't just spelling, of course. Things like bad grammar; bad layout of chapters; no TOC; the list goes on...

JasonB · 11-12-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

No, most books aren't already in electronic form. Only books published within the past 2-3 years are likely to have electronic files available for conversion to ebook format.

I find this a little hard to believe. What happens when another print run of a book is requested? I'd be amazed if they just photocopy it - especially if they want to change the formatting of it in any way. And I'd also be surprised if they OCR it to go to electronic and then back to physical again.

Publishers have been using computers to store submissions electronically for - what - 20+ years now. Are you saying that up until just recently they deleted these files after the books were published?

Perhaps you're saying that the electronic form that they're stored in for physical printing is not amenable for ebook format. But, surely, it would be far more amenable than OCR of the physical...

HarryT · 11-12-2009, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Alert

I purchased a set of Vince Flynn novels from Connect. Filled with errors. I notified Sony so they could deal with the publisher about improving their product. Connect gave me a book credit as compensation.

Ralph

Interesting you mention Vince Flynn. I recently bought one of his books for my Kindle. It has no punctuation - literally. Every single quote, dash, comma, full stop, etc, is missing from the book! I didn't return it, because it's a jolly good story, but it made it awfully hard to read.

AnemicOak · 11-12-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonB

I find this a little hard to believe. What happens when another print run of a book is requested? I'd be amazed if they just photocopy it - especially if they want to change the formatting of it in any way. And I'd also be surprised if they OCR it to go to electronic and then back to physical again.

OCRing and re-typesetting is exactly what a lot of them have been doing for years when they did a new edition. Up until recently they kept little or nothing electronically.

Leaping Gnome · 11-30-2009, 08:37 PM

Just notify the Sony store. They will give you a credit and hopefully tell the publisher. If you bought a book at B&N that was full of typos you could return it there and get a refund.

readerlover · 09-04-2010, 12:49 PM

I purchased "So Not Happening" by Jenny B. Jones from the Reader Store the other day and my sister has the paperback of the same book and I've found numerous typos and spacing issues in the ebook version for my Sony PRS-505. "Llashlighlil" is supposed to be "flashlight". "S n u c" is supposed to be "Snuck". Those are the kind of typos I've seen in the book and I'm only on pages 121-122 of the ebook. I've emailed Sony but what else can I do?

jaxx6166 · 09-04-2010, 09:09 PM

A couple years ago, Penguin had been the worst publisher when it came to their formatting. Every book I bought from them was littered with typos, missing words, sentences that just ended, paragraphs that were chopped up, so forth and so on.

At that time, Sony Connect wasn't doing refunds or returns or anything. They just sent me a form "apology" and told me they'd contact the publisher. Glad to see that it's now a much better customer service experience.

And for the OP/ it won't just be the sony store, you'll find that all bookstores will have badly formatted books. To err is human and all that.

I miss Fictionwise though. They were the top dog when it came to CSR experience. I remember buying a couple China Mieville books and the formatting was terrible....the rep was in contact with me daily until the issue was resolved.

11-03-2009, 02:05 PM	#1
Tdew Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony PRS 505	Sony bookstore - where are the proof readers? I'm getting annoyed with the typos found in purchased ebooks from Sony's store. Though I'm not sure who is responsible for the conversion, the publisher or the sellers, the quality is frequently very bad. If they are using OCR software to make the conversion, there still should be someone proof reading - if they are going to sell the books at bookstore prices. How do I make my complaints known?

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11-03-2009, 02:36 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	You can complain to Sony, but they'll likely refer you to the publisher. It's the publisher who provides the text to Sony and other distributors in almost all cases. It's unfortunately not an uncommon thing to find problems, especially in, but not limited to, ebooks editions of books that came out more than a year or two ago.

11-03-2009, 03:36 PM	#3
kezza Lowlife of the Party Posts: 266 Karma: 4038 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: seattle Device: nook, iphone	Indeed, this is the publisher's problem. However! Sony should care enough to let the publisher know. Certain publishers, like Rosetta Press, are terrible about these kinds of proofreading errors. I've bought books by them from Sony and from eReader and they're always terrible. I won't buy their books anymore, but not before alerting Sony and eReader.com of the problems. I'm sure there are other terrible publishers out there who don't proofread their OCR'd books before selling them.

11-06-2009, 12:20 PM	#4
JasonB Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 15000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada Device: Sony PRS-505	Why should any book be OCRd? Aren't almost all books in electronic form already? (I'm sure I've read the answer to this one before, but I can't recall now and it's probably good to bring it up in this thread too.)

11-06-2009, 12:34 PM	#5
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	No, most books aren't already in electronic form. Only books published within the past 2-3 years are likely to have electronic files available for conversion to ebook format. Publishers notoriously didn't keep libraries of electronic files. And where their suppliers did keep the electronic files, the publishers don't want to pay for their retrieval.

11-10-2009, 02:41 AM	#6
Red Alert Zealot Posts: 114 Karma: 1020754 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Silverdale, Washington Device: NookColor & Nook Tablet. Sony PRS-505 loaned to brother.	If you walk into a Boarders Books or Barnes & Noble, and purchase a book filled with typos; would you blame the book store or the publisher? Of course the publisher is at fault. I purchased a set of Vince Flynn novels from Connect. Filled with errors. I notified Sony so they could deal with the publisher about improving their product. Connect gave me a book credit as compensation. Ralph

11-10-2009, 09:35 PM	#7
PaulGuy Zealot Posts: 112 Karma: 520 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Connecticut Device: GDX, K2i, K3 3G, nook wi-fi	I just read James Clavell's Shogun from the Sony store. The typos were terrible and became more numerous the further I got in the book. It was pathetic.

11-11-2009, 03:32 AM	#9
AprilHare Wizard Posts: 2,981 Karma: 11862367 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T2	It isn't just spelling, of course. Things like bad grammar; bad layout of chapters; no TOC; the list goes on...

11-30-2009, 08:37 PM	#13
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	Just notify the Sony store. They will give you a credit and hopefully tell the publisher. If you bought a book at B&N that was full of typos you could return it there and get a refund.

09-04-2010, 12:49 PM	#14
readerlover Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 1243984 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Illinois, USA Device: Sony PRS-300	I purchased "So Not Happening" by Jenny B. Jones from the Reader Store the other day and my sister has the paperback of the same book and I've found numerous typos and spacing issues in the ebook version for my Sony PRS-505. "Llashlighlil" is supposed to be "flashlight". "S n u c" is supposed to be "Snuck". Those are the kind of typos I've seen in the book and I'm only on pages 121-122 of the ebook. I've emailed Sony but what else can I do?

09-04-2010, 09:09 PM	#15
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	A couple years ago, Penguin had been the worst publisher when it came to their formatting. Every book I bought from them was littered with typos, missing words, sentences that just ended, paragraphs that were chopped up, so forth and so on. At that time, Sony Connect wasn't doing refunds or returns or anything. They just sent me a form "apology" and told me they'd contact the publisher. Glad to see that it's now a much better customer service experience. And for the OP/ it won't just be the sony store, you'll find that all bookstores will have badly formatted books. To err is human and all that. I miss Fictionwise though. They were the top dog when it came to CSR experience. I remember buying a couple China Mieville books and the formatting was terrible....the rep was in contact with me daily until the issue was resolved.