Freaky formatting error

[daffy4u]

I just began to read Patricia Cornwell's The Front. I'm only about 4 or 5 pages in and keep getting distracted by a strange reoccurring formatting error. It's driving me nuts. It's pretty much on every page so far and usually more than once. I downloaded the book a while ago, so I'm passed the "get your money back" stage.

If any of you are inclined, please download the sample and just read the first few pages and see if you notice the problem (big hint).

Thanks.


Edit: I just noticed the formatting of the editorial review of the book is messed up as well but not in the same way as the book.

[lovebeta]

Maybe it doesn't hurt to contact Amazon. They could fix the problem and send you an updated version.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

Maybe it doesn't hurt to contact Amazon. They could fix the problem and send you an updated version.

Actually, I did contact them early this morning and am waiting for a reply.

[MoSo]

Huh, I don't see any format issue (I do see 3nd person present tense with a shifting POV, which I hate, hate, hate).

Oh, unless you mean the extra line spacing between paragraphs?

One of the books I picked up for Kindle that has odd formatting issues is a Julia Spencer-Fleming book Fountain of Blood. (Recommended by someone here on Mobileread, I think.) I'd read that this is a Topaz format book, and that's the problem, but it's an ugly, cramped, crabbed format job, both in character kerning and line kerning, and it often drops words down into the line below.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by MoSo

One of the books I picked up for Kindle that has odd formatting issues is a Julia Spencer-Fleming book Fountain of Blood. (Recommended by someone here on Mobileread, I think.) I'd read that this is a Topaz format book, and that's the problem, but it's an ugly, cramped, crabbed format job, both in character kerning and line kerning, and it often drops words down into the line below.

I may be the "someone" you're thinking about, but I didn't recommend it -- only posted a message that Amazon was giving it away for free for a short time. You may want to read the review that I posted at Amazon.

[daffy4u]

I'm happy to report that Amazon is really on the ball and have corrected the errors in the book. They've asked me to delete the version I have and re-download it from my Media Library.

I've attached a sample of the error. Nearly every word beginning with a "P" is capitalized, no matter where it falls in the sentence.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Elsi

I may be the "someone" you're thinking about, but I didn't recommend it -- only posted a message that Amazon was giving it away for free for a short time. You may want to read the review that I posted at Amazon.

It was the Editorial Review that was wacky. I hadn't read the reviews from book purchasers (but I will look for yours ). It's full of question marks.

"When Patricia Cornwell introduced the quicksilver, cut-to-the-bone style and extraordinary cast of characters of At Risk, the result was electrifying:???At Risk is Cornwell???s finest novel. It works in every way possible???fascinating characters, solid plot, great pacing and expertly crafted prose??? (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); ???Absolutely the best. Here???s hoping we???ll see more of Win, onique, Nana and Sykes in the coming years. They are the best characters to emerge from Cornwell???s creative pen since . . . well, Kay Scarpetta??? (The Denver Post). At Risk featured Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano, a shrewd man of mixed-race background and a notinconsiderable chip on his shoulder; District Attorney Monique Lamont, a hard-charging woman with powerful ambitions and a troubling willingness to cut corners; and Garano???s...

[daffy4u]

Thank you MoSo for looking at the sample for me. Now, I wonder if there was a complaint from someone else and Amazon corrected it but didn't inform other purchasers about the corrected book. If so, it would be nice if there was a note on the book's page letting folks know a corrected book was available, with the date of the correction and some small detail about what the corrections were.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

It was the Editorial Review that was wacky. I hadn't read the reviews from book purchasers (but I will look for yours ). It's full of question marks.

That happens a lot at Amazon. Apparently someone did a copy/paste from a UTF-8 or UTF-16 document rather than a plain text document and the editor substituted ??? for special characters such as curly quotes and apostrophes. In plain text, this review would have looked like this:

When Patricia Cornwell introduced the quicksilver, cut-to-the-bone style and extraordinary cast of characters of At Risk, the result was electrifying: "At Risk is Cornwell's finest novel. It works in every way possible--fascinating characters, solid plot, great pacing and expertly crafted prose" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); "Absolutely the best. Here's hoping we'll see more of Win, Monique, Nana and Sykes in the coming years. They are the best characters to emerge from Cornwell's creative pen since . . . well, Kay Scarpetta" (The Denver Post). At Risk featured Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano, a shrewd man of mixed-race background and a notinconsiderable chip on his shoulder; District Attorney Monique Lamont, a hard-charging woman with powerful ambitions and a troubling willingness to cut corners; and Garano's...

[MoSo]

Originally Posted by Elsi

I may be the "someone" you're thinking about, but I didn't recommend it -- only posted a message that Amazon was giving it away for free for a short time. You may want to read the review that I posted at Amazon.

Lol, I'm the review right "above" yours, date-wise.

[lovebeta]

Originally Posted by Elsi

That happens a lot at Amazon. Apparently someone did a copy/paste from a UTF-8 or UTF-16 document rather than a plain text document and the editor substituted ??? for special characters such as curly quotes and apostrophes. In plain text, this review would have looked like this:

It seems that Amazon/publishers need more well-trained editors and proofreaders. The overall editing quality of the ebooks are much worse than the p-books.