LOs in magazines

I'm reading an old magazine from 2011, given to me by a friend. Looking at the featured LOs, I noticed that one had an error in it - a key word missing from the digital journalling. On the facing page, that LO's journalling said "When I first saw this photo of you and I..." I turned the page. The next LO had a missing apostrophe in "you've".

I can understand people making mistakes in personal LOs, although I would check, check and check again if I were sending something in for publishing. But surely if you ran a magazine, you would make sure that any submissions were correct before going to press? An editor would ensure that the accompanying article was correctly spelled and punctuated, so why accept mistakes in the LOs they are showcasing? Are there really that few submissions that they value design over accuracy?

Is it only me (and Linda! ) who cares?

It isn't only you, Rosie! I am a voracious reader, and I am appalled at the number of books I have read in the last couple of years that had spelling and grammatical errors. I think proofreading has gone by the wayside. Maybe with all the text-ese and such, editors just feel that nobody cares anymore.
All I know is it bugs the daylights out of me!

I care too!

Another thing that bugs me is people saying "scraped" for "scrapped", "scraping" for "scrapping", "scraper" for "scrapper", et cetera. You guys, the doubled consonant changes the sound of the preceding vowel. It MATTERS. And in my head I pronounce things the way they look.

awwwww..... Thank you for thinking of me!


Yes, it bugs me!
I wholeheartedly agree with you. In your personal scrapbook, make all the mistakes you want, but if it's published in a magazine, it should be a shining example... not filled with misspelling and typos.

Obviously, the editors except mistakes in the submissions.

Linda - read that last line again quickly before someone quotes you!

Absolutely. I'm paying money for this magazine (well OK in this case I didn't, someone else did) and I want it to be correct. I want to be able to give it to my 9-year-old niece without having to say "ignore the spelling, punctuation and grammar, just look at the design".

• RedSquirrel Said:

I intended it that way! (I realize it's still wrong.)
Knew YOU would catch it. The editors overlook (except) mistakes.

• Bxr-Linda Said:

Truthfully, I think it's a fabulous pun!

I am a fan of the thread in the NSBR forum 'The Grammar Gurus'. On my trip to New York, NY in 2010, I picked up a book for the flight, titled 'Ex Libris' by Anne Fadiman. It's a book of short essays with one called 'Inset a Carrot' - if you have a chance to read the essay, I highly recommend it. It's for those of us who pick up a menu and think, "Do they really serve P-E-A-K-I-N-G Duck?" Keep a smile M.

It drives me CRAZY to see mistakes like that published in magazines. They receive hundreds of submissions for each possible spot and they can't eliminate the ones with blatant errors? Or ask the artist to make the correction before mailing it in? I totally don't get that.

Magazines should show the best of the best.

People wouldn't want to look at a fashion magazine where the models have panty lines and runs in their tights?



I have to ask a related question. Has anyone ever expressed this concern to said magazines?
I've come to the realization that few people really care, and it's typically a waste of my time.

I can understand it if it's supposed to be different and the journaling tells the story with it different then what is proper. But, to just make a mistake and then print it no!

• Bxr-Linda Said:

Excellent analogy! Poor grammar is the panty line of the scrapbooking industry.

No, I've never said anything to a print magazine. I did say something about mistakes to an online magazine. At first, the ownder was extremely appreciative, but things took a crazy turn and she ended up banning me from the site.

I read a lot of notels when traveling and I need mindless ones. I enjoy Stuart Woods but the editing has gotten so sloppy! A few times I've nearly quit reading his work because of it.

They even accidently changed the last name of one of the re-occuring characters in the books. He was Mike Freeman and now he is Mike something-else but its the same person. The author just forgot what he named this character!

• cindy312 Said:

LOVE it!!!

No spell/grammar check for text within a graphic image. BUT even if there were, it would not catch incorrect words if they are spelled correctly.
PhotoshopCS can do a spell check while you are creating a digital page, so I always take advantage of it. But even after rereading my journaling over & over & over I still find mistakes. “Tail� instead of “Tale�.

PS I proof read and check printer plates for a living and it really is an advanced skill to be able to spot errors. Many people are just not good at it. The funny thing is it's not having a good knowledge of "English" or spelling, it's the ability to look at something and sense it is not right. The hardest thing is to spot something that is missing. Example: It’s easier to spot “Vitamin� is misspelled then it is to realize the “A� in Vitamin A is missing. It still amazes me how many people miss errors when they are specifically proof reading materials.

Brilliant!

My 2nd grade students love to point out editing problems in textbooks. I always tell them that they are so smart! For some reason, they are especially pleased when they find it in the math workbook. Future editors????

As a former secretary, I was told to read the document backwards for spelling errors. Interesting concept. And also to never proof from the computer screen, but to print the document and proof from the printed copy.

Kind of like the importance of correct punctuation, i.e. "Let's eat, Grandpa" vs. "Let's eat Grandpa".

• Gelidy Gelato Said:

My mother was a very good proof reader. Executives and PHd level people would have her proof their work. Our minister had her proof his work. She did work on the church newsletter. NO ERRORS!

I'm not that good. Especially proofing my own work, it's very hard to proof your own work IMO. So being aware of this, when I do my ancestry work, I am going to do it in Word and then transfer it or create a Adobe PDF or JPG file.

I have a Kindle Fire now and I have read a couple of novels. I am so surprised at the poor editing. I most certainly can give that feedback but I'm not sure the editor would ever see it or just people considering reading the book. Still the point is, if EVEN I SEE IT, then it's a mistake that jumps off the page.

WHen my mother was a young mother she typed college thesis papers so she could work at home. She got very good at proofreading. She was in extremely high demand with the college students working on their masters and PHDs.

Then she was an executive secretary at Eastern (that really dates her back a ways) and then a church secretary for about 8 years. Her bulletins were perfect too.

Then she went to work for a publisher as a proof freader for about 6 years - until they left Miami and moved to Alabama.

My mother was the perfectionist of all perfectionists!

This is true. I'm almost embarrassed to admit this story but it is true.

My mother bought a calendar every years and every day she wrote on it what she wore - what jewelry, what purse, what shoes. She did not ever want to wear the same outfit twice in a month.

There were always people coming in for meetings when she worked all of her jobs. On her calender she noted meetings and who was attending.

That way if there was a meeting with someone and they came back for a meeting 3 months later - she wouldn't be wearing the same outfit.

She never threw the calendars out - she could tell you what she wore on any given date 10 years earlier. Not only that, but which shoes, jewelry and purse she had that day.

She was this meticulous with her proof reading too.

Check this out. This is a 2013 calendar from one of our vendors.

Good Friday is the 29TH! We even had employees incorrectly schedule vacation because they looked at this calendar.

My former employer had the company's name spelled wrong on our computer-generated invoices (misspelled "management").

One of my many hats in a previous job was QA for technical documents. I had to spot and correct not only spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, but also formatting, because there were strict rules about all documents having to match. Some of the documents were hundreds of pages long and I would get them typically last thing on a Friday evening, to be released that night. I got good at skimming and spotting things really quickly - you do when you want to go home.

I got that job by default because I was the only one any use at it. I was the only person in the office without a degree, but also the only one with an English Language A.level. I didn't mind going it actually, although the long documents got tedious. I used to be sharper at it than I am now. It definitely is a peculiar skill.

Gelidy, that's crazy! And Henri - I love your mom.

Oh yes, last weekend my Mum reminded me that when I was 9, I corrected my English teacher's spelling. I'm sure that didn't endear me to my poor teacher. I had forgotten that, but I do remember thinking she wasn't very good. What a horrid little cow I must have been.

Well my mother kept all her calendars too and with notes, but Not what she wore! I guess I threw away 20 or more.

• aquabunny Said:

that one cracks me up! not sure I'd want to be called a "scraper" lol

My mom was an excellent seamstress - dresed like Donna Reed with the little shirtwaists with the narrow matching belt. She had a closet full of them and they look so nice on her. She was so careful not to wear the same outfits around the same people.

She also did temp work for 4 or 5 years before Eastern and we came across all those calendars. She wrote what she wore and which company she was working for so if a company called her back 6 months later she wouldn't accidently wear the same dress or shoes or carry the same purse.

Funny that your mother kept her calendars too. Maybe that was something that women of that generation did. How interesting to come across 20 years worth of your mothers! Did you do anything scrappy with them because that is certainly a memory! To keep records like that and keep her calendars up says a lot about how organized and meticulous she was as a person.

I stopped subscribing to CK magazine when the front cover had a title with "make due" as part of a headline. Proofread people!

As far as a scrapbooking publication is concerned- I don't care.

I'm obviously a minority.

Well no, I have SO much stuff of hers. She was an executive Secretary. She had a steel file cabinet full of stuff. She organized her high school reunion. That stuff is still in there.

Your mom sounds so much like mine. She 85 this year and still runs her own business although she has severaly cut back her working hours!

We are all hoping she will turn the business over to my brother and let him run it but I don't know if she will ever give up control!

She is really slowing down though.

I care too! I hate to see spelling errors, grammar errors etc anywhere which is supposedly 'professional' or official.

The sad thing is that with spelling apparently being seen as less important things are only going to get worse

• scrappercaz Said:

Unfortunately, I believe you are correct.


"If u no what I meen, then y doe's it mater?"










{Of course, I'm being snarky. That was incredibly difficult for me to type. }

• Bxr-Linda Said:

I started a joke around the office to "always check your chicken" because you would not believe how many times "chicken" has been misspelled! One day one of my co-workers was laughing so hard he nearly passed out. He was "checking his chicken" like he was supposed to when he realized our designer had switched chicken images on him and he was now looking at a chicken image with wings. He said he never would have even checked unless I had drilled into him "ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CHICKEN". To this day we still laugh about his chicken that grew wings!

Linda I know that hurt you just as much to type as it did us to read!

I'm all for perfection but can't help but think to err is human.

To err IS human; that's WHY there are editors and people who are supposed to check for such human failings before approving things for publication.

• olleharr Said:

Oh absolutely, and I've made mistakes of my own, but I'm not talking about regular LOs. I'm talking about LOs which have been chosen by the author as their best work, and picked from many, many submissions by an editor as being fit to publish. I'm talking about the best of the best.

An editor wouldn't publish mistakes in books, would they? So why publish them in magazines? There must be plenty of correct LOs which are also outstanding in design. Why choose sub-standard ones to illustrate your magazine? It's just sloppiness, and it makes the magazine look careless.

Yes, of course, to err is human. But to err without care, is unprofessional and irresponsible (in a publication).



Would you purchase a scrapbooking embellishment that said, "Decmber" or "your so cute"?

Oooh ooh me too! me too!! It drives me crazy when I catch errors in publications. I am a tech writer and I'm so paranoid that I'll make a mistake and miss something.

You're right, it is much easier to see misspellings than to see when something is missing like the A in Vitamin A. When I am proofing something that is really REALLY important, I print it out (on the screen is not the same) and I read it out loud. When you are reading it silently, especially if it's something you've read multiple times, your brain has a tendency to fill in with words that it knows should be there. But when you read it out loud, it's amazing how different it is.

As for the kindle, I love to get the 99 cent books, but a lot of them are indie writers and self-publish. They don't have a real editor and they are riddled with errors. I always read the reviews on any kindle books before I buy them and a LOT of people will give poor reviews because of errors. I won't buy it if it has those kinds of reviews. But someone pays attention because several of them have also had updates to fix the errors. I noticed yesterday when I was "managing" my kindle that one book I had purchased some months back had a new download available for free to remove some of the mistakes. That made me happy

I'm an author and an avid reader, besides scrapping and looking at scrap magazines and websites, and spelling/grammar/punctuat ion/word usage mistakes bother me too. There's no such thing as perfection, but it would be nice to see people make their very best efforts to put their best foot forward if they're asking for other people's time and attention. I'm meticulous about those things myself in my writing and on my layouts (like I said, nothing's going to be perfect but I try to come as close as I can) because I want to give a good impression, and also show respect for those who are going to be reading/looking. Even with layouts that only my family will ever see - if nothing else, I don't want my descendents thinking I was careless or didn't know any better.

ETA: Although I do sometimes use silly cat spelling on layouts about my cats. But that's on purpose.

• RedSquirrel Said:

Unfortunately they do-- I am an avid reader and there are mistakes ALL THE TIME in both print and electronic versions. Like Henri, I have also read books where the author forgot his/her character's names or called them by a wrong name half way through the book.

That's very sad. It didn't used to be like that.