Peter Moskos' first book, Cop in the Hood, was recalled by its publisher. Why? Let Moskos tell it:
But...Princeton University Press? Princeton?
Whatever; Cop in the Hood has been corrected and reissued, and Moskos is bemused. If he's a smart guy (and his webpage indicates he is), he'll realize that he just got about 1000x the publicity that a first-time author normally gets. I'd never heard of his book, and now I want to read it.
P.S.: What is it about all the cop and crime writers from Baltimore? There's a real crime-writing renaissance there -- and a lot of what's being produced is top-notch, from David Simon's The Wire to Laura Lippman's novels, which are maturing like wine. If a galley from a Balto crime writer crossed my desk these days, I'd be on it immediately.
No, I didn't fake the whole thing. No, the book isn't a safety hazard. No, there's nothing substantively wrong with the book. But the book is an editing mess. There are errors, little errors, lots of little typos and sloppy mistakes.
How they slipped by me, how they slipped by professional editors, how they slipped by the damn proofreader (he's not getting any fruit cup, that's for sure), is anybody's guess. Ultimately my friends and mother pointed them out.
So Princeton University Press is recalling the book. They’re ashamed and aghast. So am I. It is, after all, my book. Princeton Press is going to correct the mistakes and reprint the book. Unprecedented, they told me.Unprecedented, maybe, but not surprising. It seems like half the galleys and ARCs I pick up have enough spelling errors and typos to make me wonder if New York publishers have stopped hiring freelance copyeditors and are now just outsourcing the job.
But...Princeton University Press? Princeton?
Whatever; Cop in the Hood has been corrected and reissued, and Moskos is bemused. If he's a smart guy (and his webpage indicates he is), he'll realize that he just got about 1000x the publicity that a first-time author normally gets. I'd never heard of his book, and now I want to read it.
P.S.: What is it about all the cop and crime writers from Baltimore? There's a real crime-writing renaissance there -- and a lot of what's being produced is top-notch, from David Simon's The Wire to Laura Lippman's novels, which are maturing like wine. If a galley from a Balto crime writer crossed my desk these days, I'd be on it immediately.
Also because of the publicity those errata-ridden books just might become valuable collector's items, if this author gets famous enough.
Well, not as valuable as that stamp with the upside-down plane on it, but more valuable than your average old book.
Posted by: Samuel John Klein | June 03, 2008 at 07:36 AM
The inverted Jenny?
Posted by: Kate | June 04, 2008 at 02:01 AM