The Invisible Library

So, much to my embarrassment, it turns out there was a glitch of some sort when I was laying out the type for my book and the first edition of The Machine of the World is littered with typos. I know it was a software glitch because there is no way I would have missed every instance of the word “from” being replaced with “form.” Legitimate typos, I’ll own up to. But this is something beyond what I could hve prepared for and must have been late in the process. The joys of self publishing: when it goes well, it’s all to your credit and when things go wrong, it’s all your fault. Maybe I should find a publisher so future problems can be blamed on them?

But! Everyone with a typo-edition now has a collector’s item. So there’s that.

Once I get the problem sorted out, a new edition will be up and I’ll see if I can find a way to do some sort of exchange for a typo-free edition for those who want it.

The Machine Of The World is selling well, beyond what I had hoped. Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy so far!

This is a first edition and as such, there are probably a few typos lurking between the covers. It happens. Stephen King has typos, and he has an army of proof readers and professional editors.* And in the case of someone who wrote, illustrated, designed and typeset their own book, well, it’d be a miracle if there weren’t a few typos somewhere.

So, consider this an open thread: if you find any typos in The Machine Of The World, leave a comment, telling me page number, paragraph and what the goof is. In a few months, when the book has been thoroughly combed through, I’ll make the changes and put up a second edition.†

Update 5/8/08: I’ve moved this back to the top and reopened comments. I’ve also added various formats to the free download option. You can now download a pdf, txt, html or Open Document Text file. There’s even a Word doc version. That’s right, I’m giving away Microsoft proprietary software. For Free. I’m sure Bill Gates will wake up tonight in a cold sweat, knowing that someone, somewhere didn’t pay money for something with the Microsoft name on it. Come and get me, Bill!

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* 86 years after publication, James Joyce’s Ulysses still has typos. In fact, there are whole sections that scholars debate over matters of typography and vocabulary, because Joyce had lifelong vision problems, hand wrote the manuscript and made constant revisions and corrections, sometimes contradicting previous edits, making it nearly impossible for there to be a consensus as to what the proper text should look like. MOTW has no such problems, as I follow standard typography and spelling conventions. The made up words are obvious and, I think, are consistently spelled throughout. When in doubt though, the spelling of the first use of the word is correct.

† Which means these first editions will be extra-valuable one day when I’m a famous author. Or just orthographic oddities from the long lost age of late-stage capitalist America, suitable for barter with the other roaming tribes of nomadic hunter gatherers scrabbling a hard existence in the drowned world of a post-oil collapse/globally warmed over society. Whichever comes first.