[anonymous]

As the proofreader for The Return of the Crimson Guard, I feel that it is my responsibility to publicly apologize for the quality of job I have done. Peter Crowther, everyone else at PS Publishing, and Ian Cameron Esslemont entrusted me to turn in a product worthy of PS's reputation, this novel, and the Erikson series, and I have failed in that attempt. There are a number of excuses I could give you for this shortcoming, but I will not waste your time, as no excuse can or will fix this problem. I can only offer my sincerest regret and apology. I am sorry.

Please place the blame for the product's shortcoming on me, as it is neither the fault of PS Publishing or Ian Cameron Esslemont.

[Malaclypse]

I probably shouldn't comment here but this pisses me off enormously.

I went through Return for consistency issues, but I mentioned a lot of these typos, even citing page numbers and I offered to catalogue them all, free of charge.

I don't have access to a copy of the finished product, but from what people are saying, there's still a massive amount of typos. How someone can get paid to do a shit job like that is beyond me.

Anonymous(?) apology aside, how can you call yourself a 'specialist reader' when you obviously can't even operate a spell-checker adequately??!!

Bah.

[Peter Crowther]

Hi everyone

I thought I should take a moment or two to offer my apologies for the standard of proofreading for the two-volume slipcased edition of Ian Cameron's excellent now novel RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD.

I don't propose to go into the why's and wherefore's on this: goof-ups happen, and I'm pleased to see that the copy-editor/proofer we hired to do the job -- a seasoned professional, I might mention here -- has seen fit to put his hand in the air. Good for him, I say . . . but I confess I would not have expected less. However, it's on *my* desk that the buck will and *should* stop.

The gentleman concerned has asked that I do not disclose his identity and I'm going to respect that request. So anyone expecting an outpouring of vitriol and general nastiness from me about the job is going to be disappointed. That's just not our style here at PS. I can assure you that this particular proofreader takes his work seriously. I can further testify that this is most certainly a long way below his usual standard. There are some good reasons why he dropped the ball but, of course, they're not much consolation to people who have shelled out good money for what will be regarded as a substandard job.

There's nothing much we can do to rectify it at this stage but, by way of some small recompense, all customers who have purchased a copy are hereby entitled to a free PS book . . . one that *has* been properly edited and proofed. Just drop us a line to editor@pspublishing.co.uk with your name, address and (where possible) your original order number and, as soon as we've confirmed that you did indeed buy a copy, we'll send your free book to the address used on the original order. If you ordered your set from somewhere other than direct from PS then let us have all the relevant details in your email and we'll verify your purchase with the appropriate vendor.

The free book should be chosen from our pre-2008 titles -- check the website. No pre-2008 titles are out of bounds -- if we have copies left then we'll send one out to you . . . but give us a couple of alternative choices in case a particular title has recently sold out.

And if you haven't as yet ordered a copy but were thinking of doing so then we'll gladly offer the same deal completely up-front: order your copy through the PS website for the advertised price plus postage and choose a free book from our pre-2008 titles.

I know that this will not fully address the problem, nor will it restore in full the levels of pleasure you had expected on reading the book. But then nothing is going to be ideal in this situation and I hope you'll agree that what we're offering is a genuine gesture. I hope also that this unfortunate incident will not dissuade you from trying us with something else a little farther down the line.

Thanks for listening.

Best wishes

Pete Crowther

[Imperial Historian]

Apologies are appreciated Pete, expect a rush on all the erikson titles you still have in stock.

For those wondering a quick check showed lees of laughters end and blood follows of the malazan books still in stock, and fishing for grandma matchie (one of my favourites) and the devil delivered of steves non-malaz offerings.

There might be a few copies of the collected anthology of the bauchelian and broach books and the original version of night of knives left as well.

I'm assuming you'll be informing bantam of the typos in the original manuscript so this problem isn't repeated in the mass market release?

Oh and if you ever need someone to check the next malazan offering for any typos, i'll do it free of charge :heyhey:

[Peter Crowther]

Actually, I have a feeling that BLOOD FOLLOWS is now all gone -- I'll check with the mailing house on Monday. The others you mention are okay though, I believe.

And I may well take you up on your offer of proofreading.

Best

Pete

[Peter Crowther]

Oh yes . . . and I've already copied in the guys at Transworld so no problems there.

Best

Pete

[ShadowOwl]

Pete, excellent handling of the problem and thank you very much for the book offer. Sometimes things just happen.

[Veilside]

Thankyou very much Pete, I'll be sending an email as soon as I'm home and have my copy of Return infront of me.

[Slum]

Ummm...I didn't realize until I checked out PS's site that this book costs $150! Whoa, there!

Is it totally dumb of me to wonder why, exactly, a book should be sold at that price?

On the bright side...maybe all those typos will make it go up in value; kind of like a baseball card with erroneous stats.


Honorable move to offer a free one though.

[Ammanas]

Slumgullion Spitteler;319959 said:

Ummm...I didn't realize until I checked out PS's site that this book costs $150! Whoa, there!

Is it totally dumb of me to wonder why, exactly, a book should be sold at that price?

On the bright side...maybe all those typos will make it go up in value; kind of like a baseball card with erroneous stats.


Honorable move to offer a free one though.

For the same reason a bottle of wine can cost 1K. The seller believes someone or lots of someones will pay that price.

[Slum]

I can believe you might buy my shitty old baseball hat for a $100 bucks; that doesn't make it so.

I guess I should have asked: What about these books makes them so special?

[ShadowOwl]

Slumgullion Spitteler;319964 said:

I guess I should have asked: What about these books makes them so special?

First edition, signed, slipcovered, quality paper, collector's item. ;)And it's May not August and getting to read anything in this series early is worth the price to me. As for the typos, ah well, I'll not be asking for a free book. Would rather have independent publishers like Pete stay in business, as you'll not see this special edition out early from any big house.

[Slum]

Ok, then... If you've got the scratch, I can't see a reason why not to get a fancy edition...

I was thinking it was just for the cover art. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to buy one...I'm just poor.

[voland]

I don't mind the typos that much, even if there were a lot of them. What really gets me is when stuff like "Cusser" is spelled "cussor", "Dessambrae" is "Dassembrae" as so forth. I think cussor pissed me of the most since it was used so frequently.

[Use Of Weapons]

Can anyone give a definite response as to the following questions:

1. Will the Bantam edition be properly proofed?
2. What action has been taken to prevent future occurrences of proofing slips at PS?

[Imperial Historian]

The bantam edition should be properly proofed, as word has been passed on of errors in the PS edition.

I can't give you an answer on what PS are doing to stop future proofing errors, but i imagine something is being done.

[Abyss]

I'm just about thru the bantam hb and have not noticed any abundance of typos. Sure the odd one here or there but nothing jarring.

I have to give Pete and crew credit for stepping up.


- Abyss, gives props where proper.

This post has been edited by Abyss: 24 September 2008 - 05:49 PM

[Lisheo]

Out of curiosity, why call em Cussors... and Cartharon... Amaron...why?