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Reader comment on:
Why Publishers Don't Fact-Check Memoirs

Submitted by Mona, Mar 6, 2008 11:43

More necessary than fact checkers are editors with some smarts. One has to ponder how this absurd story got past the Riverhead editor, the New York Times editors and, evidently, the rest of the press.

My fifteen-year-old daughter read the profile of Margaret B. Jones in last Thursday's New York Times and commented, "This story doesn't sound too likely." If a high school kid can smell a rat, why can't the professionals?

Didn't anyone notice that Margaret B. Jones' story regurgitates every racist cliche that's out there? It reads like a grade B, made-for-TV movie. Which is to say that it conforms to popular preconceptions about life in "the ghetto" perfectly. Might that be why everyone in publishing embraced it so quickly?

Maybe we have too many clueless, Ivy League-educated, over-protected editors in too many high places. Hiring some fact checkers would be a good thing, of course. But what the publishing business really needs is a reality check. How about more editors who've got real life experience and common sense?

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.

Other reader comments on this article

Comment By Date

More necessary than fact checkers are editors with some smarts. One has to ponder how this absurd story got past...

Mona

Mar 6, 2008 11:43

The most unfortunate part of this situation, in my opinion, is that these recent incidents only further undermine the trust... [MORE]

mike

Mar 5, 2008 17:34

I fail to be astonished with stories like these anymore. Apparently it's easier to lie about things that never happened then... [MORE]

Adaora

Mar 5, 2008 14:12

Since the concept of "it takes a village to raise a child" has been the heart of tribal culture (and... [MORE]

Kit Prate

Mar 5, 2008 13:18

You don't have to fact-check to the extent of The New Yorker to find out if a memoir is completely... [MORE]

Tim Jackson

Mar 5, 2008 10:36

Oh, come on! They pay factcheckers with graduate degrees ten dollars an hour. At that rate how long much would... [MORE]

Nancy Seitz

Mar 5, 2008 10:12

As a former fact checker, I can say that it's rare for a reputable publication to pay $10 an hour.... [MORE]

Mona

Mar 6, 2008 10:38

Every publisher's contract includes a 'liability clause' in which the author takes responsibility for what is on the page. And... [MORE]

Litwit

Mar 6, 2008 18:43

I found this quote very interesting: Most books are already commercial failures, failing to earn back what you pay to acquire,... [MORE]

Kit Prate

Mar 7, 2008 19:21

People have such weird ideas about how publishing works. The many books that don't work commercially, are supported by those... [MORE]

Litwit

Mar 8, 2008 09:29

Thanks for the enlightenment. However, the foreign publishing thing? It happened to me; twice. The first time the issue was... [MORE]

Kit Prate

Mar 9, 2008 18:29

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