Is the Aggro Just Mine? Poor Editing

[Avro Arrow]

Which is correct. Pike addressed her as "Lieutenant" when insulting her femininity. ("No offense, Lieutenant. You're different, of course.")

She had been called "Commander" earlier in the book. But you're right she was an Lieutenant in "The Cage".

Damn. I thought I'd caught all those "Commander" references. I originally assumed she was a Commander, then went back and fixed it when I realized she referred to as a Lieutenant in the episode . . ...

Although it is normally abbreviated as "commander" (as in real life), Trek seems to have an odd habit of occasionally referring to lieutenant commanders as "lieutenant". So you could say she was really a lieutenant commander, and then both references are "right"!

(I always thought it was odd that the first officer was supposedly only a lieutenant. But then I guess back then the Enterprise had less than half the crew, too, so I guess maybe that billet didn't require as high a rank as it later would?)

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I honestly didn't realize until I saw the remastered version that the command and operations uniforms were different. I wonder if that was part of the reason why the third batch of TOS uniforms we such drastically different colors.

"Third Batch"?

The first and second pilot uniforms were more-or-less the same, with only slight changes of insignia (and the collars getting stretched out of shape). The only "Third Batch" I ever heard of was the switch from velour to double-knit, in the third season.

And it did take me quite a while to notice the difference between the greenish gold and the beige, and to realize that it wasn't just batch variations (or different degrees of fading) on what was supposed to be the same color.

Then again, watching I Dream of Jeannie in strip syndication, I never realized that the reason why Healey had a green uniform while Nelson and Bellows had blue ones was that Healey was Army, while Nelson and Bellows were Air Force.

 

[Stevil2001]

What bugs me is when people writing stories (or coloring comics) set in the second-pilot era assume there were only two uniform colors, greenish-gold and blue. There was a third, beige-khaki sort of shade used for engineering, but it's similar enough to the greenish-gold that they can be hard to tell apart, particularly in older video transfers that dulled the colors.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_(2250s-2260s)#Department_color_codes

This one drives me nuts, as it's been propagated by the Okudas, including in their text commentary on the DVDs of the pilot, where you can see the difference!

 

[Greg Cox]

For the record, I spent a chuck of last evening carefully proofreading my upcoming X-FILES story.

Only caught a few typos. "Tricked" instead of "trickled," that kinda a thing. And I had to make a few finals revisions to the epilogue in response to editorial suggestions.

EDIT: But somehow I missed that I typed "chuck" instead of "chunk" in this very post! And "kinda a"?

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

For the record, I spent a chuck of last evening carefully proofreading my upcoming X-FILES story.

Only caught a few typos. "Tricked" instead of "trickled," that kinda a thing. And I had to make a few finals revisions to the epilogue in response to editorial suggestions.

A wise move. Your proof-reading may be the only proof-reading it receives.

When it comes to the prose editors at IDW, trust no one.

 

[frkcd]

I appreciate the responses and information about the editing process. Greg, I owe you an apology. In rereading my original post I stated "I'm left questioning whether the writer and publishing company care enough to ensure readers are getting a professional piece of work or craft." When I read that again, I put myself in your and any author's place and realized that, of course, you'd do your best to ensure the book was as close to perfect as possible. So, my apologies.

Though one post indicated there were only a few of these editing issues, I've noticed over a dozen (had I known I'd take the time to post this I'd have kept an exact count), several since I my original post.

That said, I'm enjoying the book more as I close in on the ending.

Donnie

 

[Greg Cox]

I appreciate the responses and information about the editing process. Greg, I owe you an apology. In rereading my original post I stated "I'm left questioning whether the writer and publishing company care enough to ensure readers are getting a professional piece of work or craft." When I read that again, I put myself in your and any author's place and realized that, of course, you'd do your best to ensure the book was as close to perfect as possible. So, my apologies.

Though one post indicated there were only a few of these editing issues, I've noticed over a dozen (had I known I'd take the time to post this I'd have kept an exact count), several since I my original post.

That said, I'm enjoying the book more as I close in on the ending.

Donnie

No problem. I apologize for all the typos. I just wanted to assure you that it wasn't for lack of proofreading. There is a system in place to prevent this kind of thing, but sometimes errors slip through anyway . . ...

Don't get me started about the time my first published BATMAN story had Batman saying "Hang out!" instead of "Hang on!" as intended.

 

[Christopher]

Don't get me started about the time my first published BATMAN story had Batman saying "Hang out!" instead of "Hang on!" as intended.

You'd probably been watching too much Batman '66.

 

[Greg Cox]

Don't get me started about the time my first published BATMAN story had Batman saying "Hang out!" instead of "Hang on!" as intended.

You'd probably been watching too much Batman '66.

That's how I rationalize it at least. Batman ended up being much groovier than I intended!

Another fun editing story, regarding a scene set in an Arabian camel market.

What I meant to write: "The men were more interested in the camels than the women were."

What I actually wrote: "The men were more interested in the camels than the women."

Thank God my editor caught that one. I sent him a thank-you letter.

 

[Christopher]

My favorite typo of mine was in Only Superhuman, an error that I went through years of rewrites without ever spotting and just barely managed to catch in time. I meant to write "Bimala crossed her arms," and it came out "Bimala crossed your arms." That's right, she reached out of the page and crossed the reader's arms.

 

[Greg Cox]

There's a famous error in an old CAPTAIN AMERICA comic by Stan Lee. Cap is facing off against an arch-foe when he defiantly declares:

"Only one of us is walking away from this fight--and it won't be me!"

Geez, Cap, don't be so defeatist.


Even covers are not immune to typos, as with "Rouge Queen" by L. Sprague D. Camp.

When Tor published CONAN THE ROGUE, I watched the the cover proofs like a hawk to make sure we didn't end up with CONAN THE ROUGE . . ..

 

[Christopher]

There's a famous error in an old CAPTAIN AMERICA comic by Stan Lee. Cap is facing off against an arch-foe when he defiantly declares:

"Only one of us is walking away from this fight--and it won't be me!"

Geez, Cap, don't be so defeatist.

Then there were the bits where Lee forgot what he'd named his own characters and we got references to "Bob Banner" and "Peter Palmer."

 

[Greg Cox]

And let us not forget that deathless classic, "Bram Stroker's Dracula."

 

[JD]

^That would be a good title for a porn version.

 

[Greg Cox]

^That would be a good title for a porn version.

Which made the typo all the more embarrassing . . . .

 

[Therin of Andor]

Favourite Trek error was in the DC comic, when the Enterprise tried to escape a situation and Sulu made a 360 degree turn. It wasn't even corrected in the reprint trade versions.

 

[Greg Cox]

My worst Trek error. A 9-foot long alien tiger in Assignment: Eternity somehow got turned into a 9 meter long tiger.

That's one big kitty-cat!