I apologize for the profanity in the title but, as Mark Twain so eloquently put it, "there are some instances when profanity provides relief denied even to prayer" .
What is prompting this post? Things have been piling up. I have published a Morse theory book with Springer in 2007 (or thereabout) and the experience was great. In particular, I worked with a most professional editor from whom I learned quite a bit.
The book did well, and Springer offered to publish a second edition. I jumped at the opportunity. I could fix errors in the first edition, and add things that crossed my mind after the publication of the first edition. I joyously worked on the second edition, sent the manuscript, kept to the agreed deadlines. This is when the story goes dark.
They sent the manuscript for copy-editing in India to a crew who was obviously not trained to edit science books in general, math books in particular.
Leaving aside the minor fact that they did not respect the deadlines they themselves imposed, what came back to me was a complete disaster.
I could see that two different people worked on the manuscript, but these two people read different grammar and ponctuation books. One of them was not even in great control of English because he/she disagreed with several of my linguistic constructions which were OK-ed by Oxford and Webster's Online Dictionaries. Springer must at least provide these guys with Internet acces to these dictionaries.
The real tragedy was that these two untrained individuals changed the manuscript, without asking for my consent. They changed things to the point that the mathematical meaning was severely affected. They rewrote definitions in what they believed was proper English, in the process creating new and meaningless Mathematics. They changed the fonts I was using with some other idiotic fonts which did not distinguish very much between Latin $v$ and the Greek "nu", $\nu$. I myself could not make any sense of my own goddamn proofs.
I was extremely upset and I made sure that both NY and Europe headquarters were aware of this intellectual rape I was subjected to by their perpetual search for profit. Ain't publishing books with them anymore. They ain't professional anymore. They're selling a load a crap wrapped in corporate bullshit. (There are still many professionals working for the company, but they are smothered by the idiots running this joint.)
Yesterday, I received a letter from a debt collection agency hired by Springer for a $50 bill for a mysterious charge which they did not bother to detail. This is adding insult upon insult stacked on injury. The Springer-US site has not information whom to contact about a possible erroneous bill.
This is one fucked-up company and it's a pity because it has a great tradition and reputation which it's gradually converting into a pile of shit, all in the name of profit.
I'm running out of insults and I think I have already devoted too much of my limited time to this genuinely fucked up company, a shameful anorexic shadow of the former self.
Update, Jan 28, 2013: Springer has finally replied to my inquiries regarding the $50 bill. It was a screw-up with my credit card and I sent them a check.
1 comment:
What are the trusted publishers then?
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