Comments on: $5,000 per error. Glad this does not apply to blorgs. Er, blogs.

By: djlactin

djlactin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:02:00 +0000

free-lance editor here:The original version is correct: “a bunch” is the subject of the verb, so the proper conjugation is “was”. A bunch {of books} WAS to have errors. I know it sounds odd…Compare to “A pile of books was sitting in the driveway.”The best way to avoid this ugly grammar is to avoid it:”n books were examined, and they contained a total of m errors.”BTW: were they written by “cintelligent design proponentsists”? They’re always good for redefining reality.

By: Dave S.

Dave S. — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:54:18 +0000

Hey, that averages out to 666 errors per textbook.Coincidence?Textbooks of the Beast!!

By: Peter McGrath

Peter McGrath — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:42:31 +0000

I assume the size of the potential fine was worked out in a neighbouring state.

By: Monado

Monado — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:22:46 +0000

How could one math book hold that many errors? Ah, it’s many books.Moral of the story: Hire a free-lance editor.I once ran into a fellow editor on the subway. He was pulling little scraps of paper out of his pockets and making notes. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was editing a textbook. Apparently, those scraps were the manuscript he was given!

By: JYB

JYB — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:18:08 +0000

Yeah, it’s actually 164 textbooks.

By: The Decidenator

The Decidenator — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:55:23 +0000

Next time you reference a six-sentence article, would you mind reading it first?Thanks ever so very much!