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. . . AND LAST
BUT NOT LEAST: FACT CHECKING by Dan Poynter
Nonfiction writers have long realized that
they have a responsibility to their readers, to their own credibility and to
history to check all the facts they repeat in their books. The challenge
increases today due to the fast growth in our knowledge base and the quick
changes in our technology. An interesting recent example will encourage us to
add one more item to our checklist before we go to press.
At Para
Publishing, we produce several publishing-industry books, reports, mailing
lists and other databases. More important, we “maintain” them. This
maintenance is becoming increasingly timeconsuming. We recently returned to
press with the The Self-Publishing Manual. Just prior to sending the revised
pages off for typesetting, we spot checked some of the addresses. Alarmed, we
asked the editor Karen Stedman to contact each supplier listed in the 62-page
Resource Section. She discovered an astounding 85% of the addresses had changed
in just 13 months!
Most changes were area codes. We all know that
after a few months, the telephone companies replace the “change”
recording with “That number is no longer in service.” Most people
assume the company is out of business. It takes some detective work to find the
new code and test it. Next to area codes, email addresses change often too. We
found that many more companies have web sites to list. We even found some
companies had new street addresses and some had gone out of business. The
lesson? Do not copy resources out of other books and directories and assume
they are current. You must call to check every one.
If you do not
verify addresses, you will receive calls (to your toll-free number) asking for
new addresses. Now we all like to hear from our readers but we do not need
"non-revenue calls".
Mailing to them for verification will not work.
Over 50% will not get around to replying. Use the telephone but you will save
time and money letting someone else do it. People love to talk to authors so
fact checking often turns into some long conversations. The caller may also ask
for additional information about products, services and anticipated area code
changes. That will make your new book or revision even better.
This
sudden realization about fact checking could be called “the bad news”
but “the good news” is that the small press is winning out over the
big publishers once again. It takes a large (New York) publisher 18 months to
turn a manuscript into a book. In a year-and-a-half, the references are
hopelessly out of date. Secondly, larger publishers rarely issue a revision of
a book. They may reprint but they usually avoid the cost of new typesetting.
Smaller publishers keep their books alive for years by revising each printing.
We invest the time and money in revising because we want our readers to have
the latest information and because we want the best for our offspring (a book
in this case.) In your final editing and proofing, just before going to press,
call every person and company listed in the text. If the project is delayed
more than 30 days between calling and going to press, call again.
Dan Poynter does not want you to die with a book still inside you.
You have the ingredients and he has your recipe. Dan has written more than 100
books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self- Publishing Manual.
For more help on book writing, see http://ParaPub.com
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1)
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to
Writing Nonfiction by William K. Zinsser
2)
A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by
Ralph Fletcher
3)
Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words by Ralph
Fletcher
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