So, I spent $6.99 on “Insomnia” by Stephen King. Do publishers not keep a digital master of the manuscript used to typeset a book? If this book is anything to go by, I guess they don’t.

The book has been scanned and OCR’d and it is this version which has been used as the source of the ebook I bought. It wasn’t even proofread. It’s akin to the experience of paying for a bootleg movie, except that the publishers are getting paid for the shoddy workmanship.

“Modem” of course is a scan of a tightly kerned “Modern”. “run” somehow became “nm”.

I am thinking of setting up a website where people can report on the quality of books they’ve purchased. I certainly think if you’re going to get work of this quality, you might be better off with a version lovingly reproduced by a fan, and edited by fans.

Of course that’d be illegal.

This isn’t good enough to pay for.