January 8, 2008

Tomorrow I am required to turn in the corrected proofs for my upcoming book. This means that on my dining room table is essentially a low-tech, low-rent reproduction of what the text will look like when the physical book is released. The copy editor has already made her suggestions, and I’ve already accepted or rejected them, so this isn’t about correcting factual or orthographic errors in the manuscript (not that there were any, of course). This is about having another pair of eyes checking for formatting slips and any changes that were somehow overlooked. It’s also about my last chance to change anything, really. I mean, like, if in between now and printing I realized that the world would end if I didn’t change “angry” to “wroth” on page 135, I could do it, but if instead of the end of the world it would just cause Asia to sink into the sea, then it would have to stay “angry.”

So of course I am questioning every single choice I made.

I have spent the last five minutes, I’m not kidding, trying to decide whether in one instance I should change “the” to “his.”

Five minutes.

Note that the instance I’m talking about is on page xiii–the penultimate page of the introduction–of a book that ends on page 255.

So I think I’m going to go take a nap.

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3 Responses to Tomorrow I am required to turn in the corrected proofs for my

  1. henry says:

    take my name out, I’m begging you. I want to run for public office one day!

    Reply
  2. Aidan says:

    Slacker.

    Though I am certain every word was crafted perfectly in the first place, so you might as well take a nap.

    Reply
  3. David says:

    If I ever become a telepath, I am so not going near your mind.

    Reply

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