The Bookseller.com

8th January 2009

Philip Jones is the managing editor of theBookseller.com. He will blog with links and comment about the book business.

Edit or bust?

22.08.08

So a fourth book is to be pulped by its publishers after it was found to have errors: with John Blake set to issue a revised version of Ron Evan's On Her Majesty's Service without the bits author Salman Rushdie took exemption too.

It follows yesterday's revelation that Random House Children's Books is to remove the word "twat" from Jacqueline Wilson's My Sister Jodie after receiving three complaints, one via Asda, which has now removed the title from its shelves and also belatedly from its website.

And that follows Random House US' decision not to publish The Jewel of Medina for fear of offending those who might want to strike back--only with weapons.

Then there was Kieren Fallon's biography, hastily withdrawn by Orion after it was found to contain a libel: and one that the News of the World had already paid damages for printing.

Of course there is no connection between the four books, and naturally publishers remove, revise, and reprint books for all sorts of reasons all of the time. Mostly beneath the mocking gaze of the wider media.

But I wonder why books with such significant problems ever got published, or so close to publication, in the first place. Of course, some will question whether the decline in editorial standards and the standing of editors within publishing groups--so-often talked about over the years--has something to do with it?

Jacqueline Wilson might not have realised that the word "twat" had a meaning beyond what she thought, but surely a good editor should have highlighted it at some point during the publishing process? Lies and libels (especially those already proven in court) really should not reach publication. And quite what Random House US was thinking when it bought two racy books about the Prophet Mohammed's child-bride is anyone's guess?

Maybe it's just a run of bad luck. But could publishers now be reaping what they have sowed over many years?