Bath-based publisher Parragon has apologised for a series of Disney books which have been found to contain 70 different errors. The errors ranged from spelling mistakes to a picture of Doc, from the book Snow White, without his distinctive glasses. The mistakes came to light when Linda Weeks, a librarian, was reading the books to her daughter.
The books have been criticised for a mixture of errors that includes careless spelling mistakes as well as American terms in English books, such as the Winnie the Pooh series. While the publisher has said the American terms are part of its strategy to reach a worldwide audience, it has admitted that the books contain errors which were not identified at the proofreading stage, and has promised an investigation.
The spelling mistakes are mainly ones that would not be picked up by using a spellchecking program, highlighting the need for good editing. For example, in one book whales were described as having “tales” rather than “tails”, while in Alice in Wonderland, “all ways” had been printed instead of “always”.
These minor spelling errors are classic examples of the mistakes that can slip through the net when self-publishing, especially when writing for a website and publishing instantly. Many companies are now choosing to use article writing services to avoid embarrassing mistakes appearing online. Although these errors are trivial and can go un-noticed by the writer, they can seriously undermine a company’s credibility if not picked up in time.
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