"fuck you, pay me" as a zero-sum game
Jul. 30th, 2021 11:45 pmAs I have previously groused about, the ebook version of The Ladies of Grace Adieu that I borrowed from my library was riddled with errors. I mentioned at the time that I'd been surprised and pleased by how rapidly Overdrive support got back to me with "we're getting in touch with the publisher".
Well, the publisher got back in touch with them, apparently, because on the 27th I received the following:
I was sufficiently Outraged and Indignant about this that I went and bought a dead-tree copy of the book (second-hand!) so that I could write back to the effect of "the publisher is bullshitting you" WITH CITATIONS.
I grumbled about this to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
simont, and in the ensuing conversation we decided that the most emotionally satisfying response to this would be to buy a copy of the ebook (inevitably DRMed), strip the DRM, make all the necessary corrections, re-DRM it, and then send it to the publisher with a cheery cover letter -- on the grounds that either they could then pay me for the de-DRMed version for their own use, or it would be a sufficiently emphatic Fuck You to mollify my feelings. Clearly it's not always a zero-sum game, but in this specific instance I am really quite comfortable with balancing out "less pay" with "more fuck you".
Anyway, my second-hand copy of the book arrived in the post today (old stock from Stirling Council Libraries!), so this afternoon I sat down with it & the sample of the ebook I could get in Libby (having already returned the full book, with around a four-week wait to borrow it again), and transcribed every. single. obvious. OCR. error. in the first twenty-odd pages of the book.
( Read more... )
Anyway, the customer support individual at Overdrive who's Dealing With Me has graciously and very kindly said (I paraphrase) "... good grief, is somebody Having An Autism?" [mildly entertained] and is passing my list back to the content team to be passed in turn back to the publisher. Naturally, I expect to be VINDICATED. Completely! Any day now!
Well, the publisher got back in touch with them, apparently, because on the 27th I received the following:
Our content team spoke with the publisher about this, and the publisher has confirmed that this title is written in the form of an old diary, so the text includes archaic spellings. What you're seeing appears to be the publisher's deliberate stylistic choice.
I can understand how the odd formatting and spelling/grammar choices in this title could be seen as an issue with title files, and again, I appreciate you reaching out.
I was sufficiently Outraged and Indignant about this that I went and bought a dead-tree copy of the book (second-hand!) so that I could write back to the effect of "the publisher is bullshitting you" WITH CITATIONS.
I grumbled about this to
simont, and in the ensuing conversation we decided that the most emotionally satisfying response to this would be to buy a copy of the ebook (inevitably DRMed), strip the DRM, make all the necessary corrections, re-DRM it, and then send it to the publisher with a cheery cover letter -- on the grounds that either they could then pay me for the de-DRMed version for their own use, or it would be a sufficiently emphatic Fuck You to mollify my feelings. Clearly it's not always a zero-sum game, but in this specific instance I am really quite comfortable with balancing out "less pay" with "more fuck you".Anyway, my second-hand copy of the book arrived in the post today (old stock from Stirling Council Libraries!), so this afternoon I sat down with it & the sample of the ebook I could get in Libby (having already returned the full book, with around a four-week wait to borrow it again), and transcribed every. single. obvious. OCR. error. in the first twenty-odd pages of the book.
( Read more... )
Anyway, the customer support individual at Overdrive who's Dealing With Me has graciously and very kindly said (I paraphrase) "... good grief, is somebody Having An Autism?" [mildly entertained] and is passing my list back to the content team to be passed in turn back to the publisher. Naturally, I expect to be VINDICATED. Completely! Any day now!