To digress for a moment: Unlike most people, I’ve spent most of my professional life obsessed with typos. When I owned my “old-fashioned” typesetting business from 1980-1993, I used to track the efficiency of our proofreaders, and anyone who scored under 99% was sure to be summoned to my office for a little chat. After all, 99% meant that one typo slipped by for every hundred words, and in those days, this was not an acceptable level of quality. 99.99% was.

My favorite typo story from that former life involves the Greyhound Corporation. We were hired to typeset and lay out a quarterly 8-page newsletter for their Internal Auditing Department. Since this work was performed before the invention of word processing and desktop publishing, we retyped every word of the client’s manuscript into our dedicated typesetting system, and then proofread the long strips of type (called galleys) before they were manually cut and pasted up into newsletter pages. (Yes, it’s hard to believe, even for me.)

This newsletter probably contained about 2,500 words. When we didn’t hear from the client the following quarter, I called Clarence (yes, I even remember his name) to find out when the next issue would arrive. “I’ve found another provider,” he said, in a very unfriendly tone. “There was A TYPO in the last issue, so we just can’t use you again.”

Can you imagine anyone making that statement today? No, thank heaven, but sometimes I do wish that at least some of the old quality standards were still appreciated, if not enforced with an iron hand.

I’m prompted to write today because this past weekend I was viewing a website for a really cool new product/service. I had seen an ad in the paper. I was already “sold” truth be told, and I logged on with every expectation of placing an order. The site was loaded with great information, enticing pictures, and a very effective sales pitch. It was also loaded with typos and misspelled words (in nearly every paragraph). My expectation of satisfaction suddenly turned into serious doubt about the competence of this business. I had to wonder, if they were this careless with their own website, were they also this careless with their product/service? And if so, what consequences might result?

I decided to think it over a little longer. I ultimately placed an order, which, some may argue, negates my argument. Not really. Instead of feeling reassured and confident about this new product/service, I’m now primed for a mishap. If the delivery is late or the quality is anything less than promised, I probably won’t be as forgiving as I otherwise might have been, because this, you see, won’t be the first mistake. It will be the 20th.

I’m sure the new business owners would be horrified to learn that they are leaving this impression. Perhaps they are young and have been educated into the belief that creativity and self-esteem are more important than accuracy and spelling. Perhaps they are unaware of the availability of proofreading. Perhaps they simply don’t think it’s a big deal. I’m here to tell them, yes it is.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

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Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

Surprises and contrasts aren’t always bad. They are, in fact, educational, and one of the things that make our job so interesting. Different personalities, different ways to approach the same task, different opinions; all work to teach us new things as we work to produce quality books and keep the process fresh.

Before I talk about the most recent contrast we experienced, I should provide some background. For as long as I have been working in this business (36 years) it has been standard practice to proofread every book (and every job, for that matter) AFTER the text has been formatted and layed out (in addition to proofreading the manuscript before it has been layed out). Why? Because proofreading the raw manuscript is NEVER enough to ensure quality, even if it has been carefully edited. Experienced publishers know this, and some publishers proofread a book at least twice, and sometimes more, before sending it to the printer. We always find errors, sometimes many errors, during this essential quality-control step.

Most of the time, our self-publishing clients accept our explanation and appreciate and understand the effort involved in proofreading. Before the holidays, in fact, we worked with a client who was so concerned with quality, that he asked us to proofread the book an additional time, just to make sure it was as perfect as it could be.

Then, today, comes the following almost-reprimand from a prospective client who chose not to hire us because, she wrote, “The proof-reading was actually a turn-off, as I have my own editor and would be paying for something I already have.”

Leaving aside for the moment that the word proofreading should not be hyphenated, which doesn’t bode well for either the client or her editor, I was truly taken aback by the comment.

How can we be accused of wrongdoing when we’re offering top quality work? And if one prospective client feels this way, could it be possible that others do, too, and are we losing jobs because of it? It’s truly unimaginable! How does a business compete against other, cheaper vendors, who don’t proofread? Do we stop proofreading, join the crowd and churn out terrible books? Do we offer proofreading as an option, and if the client declines, can we feel good about turning out what we know will be an inferior product?

What do YOU think? Have you encountered this challenge in your own business, and if so, how did you address it? I’ll go take a Tylenol while I await your reply.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design