Quality of eBooks a real problem?

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by netseeker

You are a software developer too and i'm sure you know what i mean.

I've found a loophole: I'm making free software at my daily job, as a contractor and as part of my hobby

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Ankh

Yes, to err is human. However, this medium is different, and if books on MR have those errors, it is only because they were not yet spotted and quickly fixed. "Reprint" is easy, expectations different.

You are right (and as one of the regular uploaders here i should know) but i don't see the relation of your comment to my answer to the threadstarters question. Errors in ebooks are just as usual as in printed books - even if we MR-uploaders seem to be much better in fixing errors and proofreading than our professional/commercial counterparts.

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by dottedmag

I've found a loophole: I'm making free software at my daily job, as a contractor and as part of my hobby

You are a lucky one. I'm really getting envious of you.

[whitearrow]

It's not acceptable and I wish there was a more effective way to make it known. Emails to publishers go unanswered; emails to retailers like Amazon result in a "we're sorry, we'll let the publisher know" but often, nothing is ever done. And even if a title is fixed, there's no mechanism in place to let consumers know that a new version is available for download.

[Alisa]

I would love to see Amazon have a feature to flag an error. Then when you connect, they could upload your flags and submit it to the publisher. The publisher would, of course, have to actually care but this would be such a simple way to crowdsource. Amazon's integration between device and store puts them in a good place to do this.

The biggest editing problems I've seen have been in back catalog books, but even my most egregious Topaz book didn't have an error per page, though it did have a couple pages with swaths of missing text. The newer releases seem to be about the same quality as their paper counterparts: not perfect but not omg-did-no-one-read-this-before-it-went-out bad. I think the new books have a proofed digital text as a source. The back catalog stuff is often OCRed and there's less profit to be had from it. They're simply not going to pay what it takes get the quality we want for those titles which is why, as many here have said, they should seriously consider crowdsource.

[MaggieScratch]

Anytime you have two formats, the only way to ensure quality is to perform two complete proofreads, one for each format. With print books, even if you have a digital copy of the book, at some point it is typeset, and these galleys are then proofread at least once and sometimes twice. Any changes made at that point must be incorporated into the digital copy. (And vice-versa!) Either the conversion house or the publisher needs to do a complete proofreading.

At my job, we often have print and electronic versions of a publication, and each is subjected to a separate proofreading process and changes to one format is incorporated into another. It's really the only way to ensure quality. As time goes on we are going more and more completely electronic.

I will add that when Harlequin (which is one of the clueful pubs in regard to ebooks, at least) was republishing some of Georgette Heyer's backlist a few years ago, the first few releases were riddled with errors. I suspect they scanned and OCRed old copies of her books and used that text and didn't proofread it carefully. Readers complained and the quality improved in later releases in the series. I don't really read their books, so I wonder if the quality is still good in recent ebooks? It's easier with new releases, though, as you have a decent digital copy to start with.

Of course, if we had non-DRMed ePub books, we could fix 'em ourselves if we cared.

[dauwhe]

Amazon does contact publishers and eBook suppliers about errors, and we do make corrections and supply new files.

Dave

[whitearrow]

Originally Posted by dauwhe

Amazon does contact publishers and eBook suppliers about errors, and we do make corrections and supply new files.

Part of the problem is that there's no mechanism on Amazon for letting users know that new versions are available. There's no indication on the item's page like a version number or a "last updated" date, no email notification, nothing.

If you got a refund because of bad formatting, you can check the sample -- if that's where the errors were, you might be in luck, but if not, oh well, try buying it again and hoping for the best. Lame.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by netseeker

You are right (and as one of the regular uploaders here i should know) but i don't see the relation of your comment to my answer to the threadstarters question. Errors in ebooks are just as usual as in printed books - even if we MR-uploaders seem to be much better in fixing errors and proofreading than our professional/commercial counterparts.

What I wanted to say is that "usual" level of errors, found in printed books, is the expectation on the first day of availability.

Since it costs practically nothing to fix errors once they are spoted, as the time pases by, there is no reason why once issued ebooks should not be updated.

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Ankh

What I wanted to say is that "usual" level of errors, found in printed books, is the expectation on the first day of availability.

Since it costs practically nothing to fix errors once they are spoted, as the time pases by, there is no reason why once issued ebooks should not be updated.

Ah ok, i get your point but i doubt that it costs "practically nothing". It costs at least working time (error fixing, re-creation of the ebook - maybe in different versions/formats - redistribution to all retailers). It's bad practice but why should a business invest that working time if "only" a handful customers are complaining? On the other hand many ebooks get updated at times but in the majority of cases existing customers don't get any information about such updates. And in some cases businesses think that a customer should pay again for the update.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

I will add that when Harlequin (which is one of the clueful pubs in regard to ebooks, at least) was republishing some of Georgette Heyer's backlist a few years ago, the first few releases were riddled with errors. I suspect they scanned and OCRed old copies of her books and used that text and didn't proofread it carefully. Readers complained and the quality improved in later releases in the series.

Which was exactly the point I was trying to make.

Regards, Alex

[Polyglot27]

Originally Posted by whitearrow

Part of the problem is that there's no mechanism on Amazon for letting users know that new versions are available. There's no indication on the item's page like a version number or a "last updated" date, no email notification, nothing.

Now, this is a good idea. Version numbers, like for software releases. The uploaded books on MR already have this so why can't eBook publishers do the same, with the possibility of a new download for free if one has already paid for it? There should also ideally be a mechanism put in place where mistakes spotted by readers could be signalled to the publisher systematically. Come to think of it, we really seem to be at a very primitive stage of the eBook industry.

[Jellby]

In my ePUBs I include a "modification date" in the metadata, by the way.