Something I've not seen in an ARC before

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 4:05 pm

Not even halfway through this unnamed book, but twice now I've come across a partial sentence where *someone* has gone over it with dryline/whiteout. I haven't been able to scratch it off yet without ripping the page, but I'm curious if anyone else has seen this before. And would something be so awful that the publisher would go to that kind of trouble for so many ARCs sent out? I've attached a scanned copy of one section, although the whiteout doesn't show clearly, but you see I'm missing a small portion of the text.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 4:30 pm

Perhaps the publisher simply didn't want reviewers commenting on a particularly embarrassing typographical error that had already been fixed in the final version of the book. Maybe the white-out covers an offensive word?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 4:55 pm

It's driving me nuts. I haven't head mention of anyone else getting it. I might have to ask around.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 5:05 pm

Never come across this before. I am slightly boggled at the phrase 'once my butt is back in the saddle.' What period and place is this?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 5:34 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Never come across this before. I am slightly boggled at the phrase 'once my butt is back in the saddle.' What period and place is this?[/quote]

French revolution. If I understand the narration correctly it is Louis XVI speaking.

Justin Swanton · Post by **Justin Swanton** » Mon May 14th, 2012, 7:18 pm

Trying it in French: 'Dès que mon cul est dans la selle'....umm, no, I can't imagine His Majesty saying that.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Tue May 15th, 2012, 5:38 am

It's possible the error isn't obviously a typo and distorts the meaning of the sentence badly enough that the publisher felt it was better to correct the ARCs than to risk bad reviews. Or maybe the author felt seriously unhappy about a bad error that was the publisher's fault and demanded that the ARCs not go out with it.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue May 15th, 2012, 9:48 am

[quote=""Misfit""]French revolution. If I understand the narration correctly it is Louis XVI speaking.[/quote]

Words fail me!

bevgray · Post by **bevgray** » Tue May 15th, 2012, 2:06 pm

I'm shocked that anyone still uses whiteout. We don't even have a bottle in our supply room now and one of the Admins pitched a royal fit about it the other day (she's older than I am and remembers the typewriter with great affection). I remember the typewriter. Couldn't wean off it onto a Commodore 64 fast enough when I discovered "cut and paste" and "block text moves".

I thought it was a western until I saw 'queen' and 'Paris'. I have a feeling that it's a definite candidate for modernus languagium syndrome in historical fiction.

Other than the language and whiteout issues, Misfit, how is the story?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue May 15th, 2012, 2:40 pm

[quote=""bevgray""]I'm shocked that anyone still uses whiteout. We don't even have a bottle in our supply room now and one of the Admins pitched a royal fit about it the other day (she's older than I am and remembers the typewriter with great affection). I remember the typewriter. Couldn't wean off it onto a Commodore 64 fast enough when I discovered "cut and paste" and "block text moves".

I thought it was a western until I saw 'queen' and 'Paris'. I have a feeling that it's a definite candidate for modernus languagium syndrome in historical fiction.

Other than the language and whiteout issues, Misfit, how is the story?[/quote]

It was the dryline white out, not the liquid stuff. And yes, I do remember typewriters. We still have one here at the office, but it is rarely used.

The book itself? Eh, I'm not feeling the lurve, but then I'm not fond of diary/memoir formats. It's pretty easy to put down and read something else.