Countdown’s resident lexicographer Susie Dent had a scare when her new book, Word Perfect, appeared at her door full of typos due to a publishing error.
In an article written for the Radio Times, Dent, who has been on the Channel 4 quiz show since 1992, revealed her horrifying experience of receiving a copy of her book – only to realise it was an earlier draft that had been printed.
She explained how her excitement was twisted in a single moment.
‘On Thursday 1 October I eagerly opened a parcel containing a copy of my book, which was publishing on that very day,’ she wrote.
‘A quick look at the text, however, made my stomach turn. I spotted a typo that I knew had been corrected at an earlier proof stage.
‘A further riffle confirmed things – the wrong version of the book had been printed, containing innumerable typesetting errors that had been picked up some time before.
‘And so it was that what should have been a happy day was spent largely under the duvet while I contemplated the fact that a book called Word Perfect was in fact very much imperfect.’
The TV star, who also appears on spin-off show 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, explained she is understanding of the error by her publisher, who has continued to publish through the pandemic.
She said: ‘To be fair to my publishers, Covid has caused an extraordinary rush on pushing books through the production process, and in many ways it has been a laudable achievement getting anything published at all.’
Dent shared the error with her Twitter following who offered support and light-hearted jabs at the error.
The error has since been corrected by John Murray, who apologised to the author and buyers.
The publisher said: ‘We’re very sorry that, due to a printing error, early copies of Word Perfect are not word perfect.
‘We’re taking urgent steps to recall these copies, reprint and resolve this swiftly.’
Word Perfect explores the etymology of fun phrases and words. For each day of the year, a new subject will be explored, giving readers a light but interesting look into the history of common, and not so common phrases.
Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year is set to release later this week on October 15.
Radio Times magazine is available now.
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