On Sunday, I opened my mailbox to find the ACES newsletter. It was a big day for me, because it was my first issue as newsletter editor.
I’ve served as associate editor for a few years, which meant, among other things, that I handled newsletter layout. David Sullivan was the editor during that time. David, however, is busy as the point person for the ACES national conference April 15-17 in Philadelphia, so I’m now serving as editor and Daniel Hunt is associate editor.
I looked at the newsletter on Sunday like a proud parent, especially happy with Daniel’s spiffy new design, and pondered things such as whether the photos should be toned darker. I only glanced at the content because I’d read it all thoroughly before it appeared in print.
Then today, I got the e-mail no editor wants to get. The one that points out a content error.
ACES member Alex Cruden, who serves on the committee that administers the Robinson Prize, noted “the tiniest of errors occurs at the end” of the article on Page 5 about how ACES has made the nomination process for the prize easier. The tiny error? And extra dot in Alex’s e-mail address. (It’s alexcruden, not alex.cruden.)
Of course, with that extra dot, the address doesn’t work.
Unfortunately, that error was also on the Web site readers were directed to visit for more information. Fortunately, it’s much easier to correct an error on a Web page than in a newsletter that is already printed and comes out five times a year.
For the record: You can get more information on the Robinson Prize through http://copydesk.org/contests/robinson/, where the address is now correct, and you can e-mail Alex at alex...@comcast.net.
For me, the error was a personal lesson that even the “tiniest” of mistakes can make a big difference. I’ve probably frustrated at least one person who got a bounce-back e-mail because of that one dot.
The error also points to one of values of copy editing. This one got by, but we all know many, many similar errors are caught daily by copy editors. And that’s many, many readers who aren’t frustrated.
It would be great if I never got another e-mail about an ACES newsletter error — because there were none. But I’m a realist. We strive for perfection, but human nature tells us it won’t always happen. So if you see something that needs a correction, e-mail me at gber...@comcast.net. I’d like to hear from you.
