Izzat So? Xlibris claims direct, private line to grammar gods . . .
On-demand publisher Xlibris, on their main web page, tout their new Copyediting Service:
"Grammatical standards and rules are always changing and often misunderstood by even the best writers. The Xlibris Copyediting service gives your manuscript the finishing touch essential to publishing a new book."
A decent editor would probably query the author of that sentence regarding how something can be a "standard" or "rule" if it's "always changing". Dig a little deeper, and you find out that the "standard" they're using is The Chicago Manual of Style, which is one of best-established references in the publishing world (and one that's been available at any bookstore for decades). A good editor would also ask why, if such a finishing touch is indeed "essential to publishing a new book", Xlibris offers it as an optional service, and has only just introduced it after publishing hundreds or thousands of new books already.
I've seen a lot more demand-published books than the average bear, and can attest that most or all of them could benefit from a once- or twice-over by a competent editor and/or proofreader. Having earned my bread as proofreader in the advertising business and as a freelance proofer/editor/indexer for university presses, anything that increases the demand for such services is fine by me. But this plays like an attempt to exploit a potential author's insecurity about his writing ability -- and how many people who've decided to self-publish suffer from that particular insecurity?
6:11:41 PM 
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