Published, America?

PA claims not to be a vanity press. Fine, whatever—doesn’t matter to me. As an author, I’ve chosen to submit to publishers with business practices and lists that appeal to me. As a reader, I choose to read stories that appeal to me. And if that should mean purchasing a PA book, I don’t suppose that I’d melt into a pool of shame or anything.

But I have to admit that I, like many others, tend to assume that any book published by PA isn’t going to be worth reading. This may not always be true, I know, but it’s a pretty safe bet just on the percentages.

Scanning the new books at the local public library recently, I came across a PA book. First I can recall having seen there! I’m sure there are others, I just haven’t seen them. Or noticed them if I have. This one, I noticed.

REPLACEMENTS
Mary Elizabeth Garrison
ISBN 1-4241-7103-2

Without any commentary on the quality of the writing—I haven’t read the piece, you understand—I present to you the backtext. Verbatim.

REPLACEMENTS

Thispschologicaldrama adetailsayoungw om an’sstruggle
to overcom ehertroublesom elife.Raised from childhood to
doubtherow nm ind and perceptions, the centralcharacter.
M arlow K issingerisdoing herbestto succeed in herw orld.
Experiencing lonelinessandalienation, the “right” thing to
do doesn’tseem to be crystal clear.This character-driven
story unfoldsasM arlow desperately seeks the approvalof
those around her.The everyday realities ofM arlow ’s life
experiences are som etim es shocking and disturbing.
How ever,herstory isa tribute to the tenacity ofthehum an
spiritandhow life can provide replacem ents for thosew ho
need strangers to becom esurrogatefam ily.

CoverArtD esign by Paige T.Leatherm an

You know, in the print world, writers are sometimes told to comb over their pre-print galleys “with a microscrope” to catch every possible error; it’s easier and so much cheaper to correct mistakes at that stage. The equivalent post-typeset instruction is sometimes rendered as “fix all those mistakes visible from a distance of six feet.”

My eyesight’s not that great, but somehow, I think this qualifies.

As I understand it, PA authors upload their own files; chances are, this is a simple matter of the author not understanding how properly to generate the desired output format. It happens.(1) But where was the pre-release review? Did no one look at this before it was released? And, as a reader—do I want to waste my time (and money, should I be purchasing instead of borrowing) on a book so obviously unseen by any editorial eyes that they can’t even get the spacing between words right?

To all the editors, proofreaders, beta-readers, ARC reviewers, typesetters and assorted miscellaneous people who work to ensure that the books on bookstore shelves are readable—

Thank you.

pxj


(1) Hey, it’s happened to me! Ask me about my first encounter with PageMaker for an amusing imitation of your basic rabid mammal. Lovely program, but horrible instruction manuals.