Rogues, Widows and Orphans - When Words Go Wrong and Other Bookish Misadventures

It''s a long journey from a writer''s mind to a finished book - and a lot needs to go right along the way. But isn''t it more interesting when things go wrong ? With an expert Penguin editor as your guide, dive into the dark-side of the book world: a secret history fizzing with scandals, rivalries, cock-ups and con jobs. We''ll discover how the tiniest of typos can have oversized consequences, unearth horrifying examples of bad taste and worse style, and peek into tales of forgeries and feuds as dramatic as any thriller. We''ll unredact the most egregious cases of censorship, expose hoarders and thieves, and ask: is AI really an existential threat to the literary universe? Or are we our own worst enemies?

Product details

• Authors: Rebecca Lee
• Publisher: Profile Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9781805221180
• ISBN: 978-1-80522-118-0
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career; Writing & editing guides, Language: history & general works, Grammar, syntax & morphology, Historical & comparative linguistics, Grammar, syntax and morphology, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Writing and editing guides, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / General, Historical Geography, Language: history and general works, Publishing and book trade, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / Composition, Historical and comparative linguistics