It was an old song, sung on an old scratchy record, and I loved it. The protagonist in the musical tale had won some kind of lottery, and wished he hadn't. At least, that's how I remember it. So now he lamented, "If I'd only put an X instead of one." Maybe it was the tune. Maybe it was the fact that the song really did tell a story. Or the singer's voice. Or knowing I could only hear it if Mum and Dad would put the record on for me...
We signed up for healthcare recently - got help with it, because, well, it's kind of a really big deal and we didn't want to make any mistakes. But then I couldn't create my online account, so I called the helpline. "Ah, we're having problems with the website. Just wait till January," they said. Then, "Ah, we're having problems with the website. Just wait a few more days." Then, "Ah, it's the website. Don't worry; you really are insured." Which helped, a bit.
Then I phoned my doctor's office, gave them my new insurance information, and was told it didn't work! Which didn't help. So I phoned the helpline again. I suspect "My doctor says my insurance doesn't work" carried more weight than "I can't create my account." They asked all the same questions - name, date of birth, address, last four digits of my social, member ID number, group number, more... then passed me on to someone else who asked all the same questions... and then worked out what was wrong. My date of birth had been typed in incorrectly!
If they'd only put an X instead of one (where X and one could be any other digit too).
I'm glad to say, it's all fixed now. But it offers an interesting lesson in editing. After all, every person I spoke to on the phone asked that same set of questions, and checked the same set of answers. But nobody spotted the error until that final call. If people whose job is to confirm the caller's information can't spot a wrong number, how can we authors expect to check all our letters, words, and sentences?
And how can authors expect editors to get everything right? I almost certainly won't find every mistake when I edit for you. But I'll help you get rid of lots of typos, polish lots of sentences, fix lots of continuity or historical errors, and more. And I'm sure you'll be pleased with the result. (I might still leave an X instead of one somewhere, but I'll try to avoid its affecting your book's health or insurance.)
We signed up for healthcare recently - got help with it, because, well, it's kind of a really big deal and we didn't want to make any mistakes. But then I couldn't create my online account, so I called the helpline. "Ah, we're having problems with the website. Just wait till January," they said. Then, "Ah, we're having problems with the website. Just wait a few more days." Then, "Ah, it's the website. Don't worry; you really are insured." Which helped, a bit.
Then I phoned my doctor's office, gave them my new insurance information, and was told it didn't work! Which didn't help. So I phoned the helpline again. I suspect "My doctor says my insurance doesn't work" carried more weight than "I can't create my account." They asked all the same questions - name, date of birth, address, last four digits of my social, member ID number, group number, more... then passed me on to someone else who asked all the same questions... and then worked out what was wrong. My date of birth had been typed in incorrectly!
If they'd only put an X instead of one (where X and one could be any other digit too).
I'm glad to say, it's all fixed now. But it offers an interesting lesson in editing. After all, every person I spoke to on the phone asked that same set of questions, and checked the same set of answers. But nobody spotted the error until that final call. If people whose job is to confirm the caller's information can't spot a wrong number, how can we authors expect to check all our letters, words, and sentences?
And how can authors expect editors to get everything right? I almost certainly won't find every mistake when I edit for you. But I'll help you get rid of lots of typos, polish lots of sentences, fix lots of continuity or historical errors, and more. And I'm sure you'll be pleased with the result. (I might still leave an X instead of one somewhere, but I'll try to avoid its affecting your book's health or insurance.)