Book Wrecked
August 16, 2011 Lookie what I got in the mail!
;)
Ooooh. Aaaaaah.
Yep, my massive, shiny, brand-spankin' compendium of holiday wreckage will be on shelves in just two short months!
Note that it isn't just Christmas wreckage, either. I also tackle Turkey day...
;)
(Not to mention a little Halloween, New Year's and Hanukkah.)
Offer gift suggestions...
;)
For people you "love."
Slip in a little sci-fi...
;)
Hey, I gotta be me.
And of course offer lots and lots of "classic Christmas fun" like this:
There's also a new and "improved" version of Night Before Christmas that's sure to become an instant family classic. Assuming you're really warped. (Which - let's be honest - if you're reading this blog, you probably are.)
As with the last book, Wreck the Halls includes a mix of fan favorites from the site and plenty of new, never-before-seen wreckage I've been hoarding. It's also a hefty 220 pages, which makes it excellent for head-whacking. (Not that I'd endorse such a thing, of course. You might scratch the finish.)
Plus, SPECIAL BONUS:
Can YOU spot what literally hundreds of individuals including professional copy editors, layout and graphic designers, marketing gurus, book retailers, and even John and I missed, but that Wrecky Minion Julianne spotted in approximately 3.7 seconds? Huh? CAN YOU??
;)
I hope not, 'cuz they're already printed.
Besides, when life gives you a book wreck, make a cake! Or something!
And now that I've hypnotized you into a mindless trance wherein you simply cannot rest until you've pre-ordered at least a dozen copies, you can find Wreck the Halls at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble for less than $10 (Dude. Really? Who signed off on that??) and also at IndieBound (prices vary).
Note: Yes, the cover will probably be "fixed" before you get it. Meaning there may be a shiny new sticker on it. That'll just be our little secret, mmkay?
Reader Comments (141)
wouldn't the proper way to fix it be to put a sticker over only the misspelled word?
Oh, that's so unprefessional...
All of you obsessing about the spelling of PRO or PREFESSIONAL........ enough already. Let's focus on the incredible amount of wrecks that occur on a daily basis and the NEED for this book. Pre or Pro, who cares, either way it's funny.
I think it's spelled perfeshunal.
It's better to be a prefessional than a postfessional!
Has your editor raised the possibility of leaving it as-is? Personally, I would have proofed the cover under the assumption that "prefessional" was intentional. The Capitalization Of Every Single Word In The Burst, however, would have caused me to shove the proof pencils into my eyes.
My typo vote is for "best-seller" (bestseller). But from the jpg it does look like the wording says "prefessional" (professional).
It looked like it said "professional" to me. I was to busy focusing on the "festive." Guess I've been reading The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks too much. I was trying to figure out the importance of it being "Festive" as opposed to Festive. Festive Festive Festive. I don't even remember what it means now...
Hi Jen, the book looks great! Any chance of including some Sunday sweets in the next one? Maybe good cakes vs bad cakes?
Dudes, best seller is not hyphenated, but I'd rather change the language than change your book! (And that's saying something, coming from me...)
Can-knot WAIT!!
Hey Jen!
Make sure you schedule Tampa for this book tour..OK?
Kali-
I actually believe the phrase "Cake Wrecks Gets 'Festive'" is correct in this case. Cake Wrecks is the name of the entity that is "getting festive." It is a proper name, as in "Jen gets festive," not "Jen get festive."
Well OBVIOUSLY the mistake is that "Holidays" is misspelled. Seriously, it's so hard to get reliable help these days...
(stern look) I pre-ordered it with the misspelling and I expect it to be delivered it with the misspelling. Hmph.
Actually, I think it should be Cake Wrecks Gets Festive as it's only one blog named Cake Wrecks. Of course, there's at least two of you (where's Number One?? no songs in ages!!) so I can see the point.
The whole cats getting festive thing (was that Kali? I'm on a different page now) was just ridiculous. Everyone knows cats don't celebrate. They gloat and act smug but "celebrate" is beyond them.
I'm not usually prodisposed to looking for flaws, so I prodict this new edition will outproform all exceptations!
Going rite now to proorder my book. Who doesn't love to see rex by prefessional cake decorators.
Since Cake Wrecks is based on mistakes, I think it's only fitting for there to be a mistake on the book cover. I don't think you should cover it.
Kali, there is no issue with subject/verb agreement here. The subtitle does not refer to one single wreck but the entity of the blog. Cake Wrecks (the blog, proper name - therefore, the subject) gets festive. As this blog is only one blog, singular, it gets festive - as you pointed out in your own examples. Not that I'm comparing Cake Wrecks to a lonely cat rocking a santa hat or anything.
<3 you Jen!
You should leave the typo! What kind of prefessional would you be if you didn't?
my eyesight fails..... definitely couldn't tell that that was an "e" and not an "o"......... ugh! and i just got my eyes checked lol
"Festive" has no reason to be in quotation marks.
Do I win?
I prefess I didn't spot it right away..but then, I didn't have my glasses on. Sheesh! I think you should leave it in. It adds to the fun!, and just FITS somehow!!!!!
I'm with Kali on this one. That's what I caught.
Not to start a total King Cake war here, but to Kali...it says "Cake Wrecks Gets 'Festive'" because that is the name of this site, and the SITE is getting festive, not the wrecks. The wrecks are already festive...sadly, horribly, misshapen...ly... festive. Anyway, I like the Grammar Nazi in you anyway! It gives me hope for the world. Apparently more of us need to decorate cakes though.
But then you wouldn't have a job, Jen! And your geeky obsessions don't pay for themselves, do they? So, WRECK ON! Also, LLAP.
I discovered your piece of internet wreckage by picking up your first book in a bookstore-who-must-not-be-named, so in my world, the BOOK came first. The ol' chicken/egg conundrum. I can't wait to see the new one - and feature it on my book blog! Congratulations! (I will remain silent on the cover...I don't want to insult your prefessional team)
Best of luck!!
I don't know, I think "prefessional" is funny!
That's "Hiliarious!"
In my case, it's only because my contacts prescription (or is that proscription?) is up to date that I can even see it. You'll have to do a close up for people with small screens. :P
I say fire your editor and hire Julianne. :)
I agree, though, that I think it should be "bestseller" not "best-seller." I have NEVER seen that hyphenated. Oddly enough, I just Googled, and the actual NYT site says "best sellers" (no hyphen) and Amazon says "bestsellers." Did the same person add the hyphen that missed "prefessional"?
Welp, prefessional editor here: the quotes around "Festive" are unnecessary but I thought they referred to the misused quotation marks that bedazzle so many Cake Wrecks. If Cake Wrecks the blog is the subject of "gets," then I believe that it should be in italics, like New York Times, or necessary quotes, to show it is a title. And then there's prefessional, which takes the cake. Or is icing on the cake. Whichever you prefer. Or is it profer?
I think you should leave it as is and make a Prefessional Shirt fir the Season.
Regarding "Festive": I got the impression that it is in quotation marks to denote the irony that these cakes are intended to be festive, and most, if not all, clearly aren't. So Cake Wrecks really isn't getting festive. As such, I thought the quotes were appropriate.
But I do think you need to find a more prefessional copy editor, Jen. Or at least one who has spell-check.
I'm with everyone else, please don't fix it! Maybe you could include a sticker for those who are too OCD to enjoy it with the misspelling?
Also John, I still see only up to "...try not to swea" under the comment moderation warning. I don't know if you've been trying to fix it, but if you'll notice, I have three more letters than I did when I e-mailed you so something's working!
Ridiculously excited about the book!
Genevieve
Nthing don't fix it!!! I think it's meant to be that way. I love it just as-is.
Ohhhhh...it's gonna be a l-o-n-g two months............perfessional, professional or not.....and don't change a thing, please....we love you guys just the way you our.....
when it's a book about cake wrecks I just assume that any typo is just a sly reference to some past wreck... you can get away with ANYTHING via that reasoning... work it!
keep it the way it is.... its soooooo prefessional, thats like before you become a serious big boss???
@ Kali-
"The sub-caption should also read "Cake Wrecks Get "Festive" " Not "gets." We are speaking of multiple wrecks, enough to fill an entire book, not just one general festive wreck. "
I disagree with you. I think "gets" is appropriate because the subject here is 'Cake Wrecks', the name of the blog/previous book. "Cake Wrecks gets festive" is accurate because we are talking about the entire phenomenon and entity of Cake Wrecks. If the subject were the individual cakes that are wrecks that are now getting festive, it could be "Cake wrecks get festive" - in other words, "Wrecked cakes get festive"
Very prefessional! My only other catch is that it should be "New York Times' best seller". Because its plural possessive.
Awww leave the error, don't be such a prefectionist. :)
Can we order a non-corrected book or can the sticker be made from a Post It?
The prefessional book covers will probably be worth more as collectables! How about a "prefessionally" signed copy for all your true fans (meaning, of course, the people who post comments on your blog entries!)
Prefessional: demonstrating your incompetence before your skills are tested.
Naw, Kali, that's not an error! It should indeed be "Cake Wrecks Gets Festive" -- we're talking about Cake Wrecks the site getting festive, not cake wrecks the wrecks getting festive (although I suppose some of them are, in their own twisted way). The "prefessional" is the only error here.
And might I add, that I will most definitely be getting a couple copies of these? One for my own guilty pleasure, and a few for Christmas gifts!
No sticker! I say leave it & say you meant to do that as an homage to all those "Prefessional Cake Decorators!"
EPCOT gets "Festive".
In true wreckorator fashion, the corrected sticker should be printed on fondant of a color chosen at random and the text should contain a new error.
I predict uncorrected editions will become collector's items. Or is that "collectors' items". (Sigh) Back to the bunker...
Jen! You should absolutely not let them fix it! It's such an exemplary wreckie type thing to be there!!!
A book about wrecked cakes that contains a typo on the cover is like Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables that becomes a coffee table. All 'Wreck the Halls' needs now is a companion deco pack so that people can make a 'Wreck the Halls'-themed cake (prefessional or otherwise), take pictures and send them to Jen.
I want that book!
My dad was a math textbook editor, and he once had a middle school book ready to publish, that had been through at least a dozen sets of eyes, when they fortunately noticed that one problem involved the union of the sets F and K. In math language, the union symbol is a U and comes between the F and the K. Oops! :) I think you should leave the book to prefessionals and leave the cover as is -- it's much more fun this way!
I do believe this is what's known as irony...
I think that's a great typo! It's perfect to leave it there considering what the book is about, and I think no one saw it because you're all conditioned to see misspellings!
I hate to have to disagree with Kali, but I think "Cake Wrecks Gets Festive" is correct in this case. "Cake Wrecks" is singular in this context in that it refers to a web site named "Cake Wrecks", and not a plural meaning "multiple wrecks made of cake." For example, "Cats gets festive" would be grammatically correct if you were referring to the musical play named _Cats_ rather than the plural form of cat.