Laurence Pringle
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Dinosaurs and Their World
I was happy to learn that my first book would be published in paperback. However, I had not yet learned that an author has to pay close attention to every detail as their work is in the process of being published. If possible, ask to see, and approve, every stage. Almost all authors have horror stories of a published book with glaring mistakes put there by editors, designers, artists, and others who worked on the project. In the case of this paperback of Dinosaurs and Their World, the "damage" was strange and funny, rather than harmful. A finished copy of the paperback arrived in the mail. An exciting event! I liked the cover design (trusting the publishing house, I had not asked to check it before publication.) However, as I looked at the four images on the cover, I noticed something odd. One didn't look like right. That skeleton against a black background didn't look like a dinosaur. In fact, to me it look liked the skeleton of some present-day mammal, maybe a horse. I contacted the editor and asked about it. She investigated, and reported: the designer had gone to the photograph files at The American Museum of Natural History, and looked for a variety of dinosaur images. However, he knew little about science, dinosaurs, or skeletons. When the editor looked on the back of that strange photo she saw it identified: a camel skeleton. Thus, I have the most unusual dinosaur book ever published: one with a camel on the cover! (By the way, no one ever complained. If anyone noticed, they didn't tell me.) |
