What to do when the editors insert mistakes

the best writer i ever had, i corrected probably three errors per piece he wrote. in three years, i probably included one or two errors in his copy.
you fucking guys kill me.

 

Need a reality check? Look through your story the next day to see what was corrected by Your Friend the Copy Desk. Do this every time you have a story published.

 

Being on the desk end of it, I think it's completely fair for writers to be concerned, and yes, pissed when editors introduce errors into their copy.

It's the cardinal sin for an editor, and turning it around by pointing out that editors fix things too doesn't change the fact.

And yes, I've introduced errors in the past, and yes, I've thought the writer has had every right to let me have it.

 

And yet it's also a matter of percentages.

A good editor will be mortified on the very few occasions he or she introduces a mistake into copy, then will apologize to the writer and explain how it happened. Probably moving too fast on deadline. Iff it happens over and over with the same editor, then you've got a problem.

I inserted a whopper of a mistake on deadline a few years ago. Big paper. Huge mistake. Moving too fast on deadline. Brain fart. Made the writer look like an idiot. ... I was absolutely horrified the next day. And the writer couldn't have been more gracious. I know he felt bad for his story, but he was great about it.

Just another battle scar, really. He knew the desk saved him often and never mentioned it.