Countdown star Susie Dent, 55, was left disappointed after opening her new book, Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year, for the first time and discovering the wrong version had been printed. Rachel Riley’s co-star said the mishap made her “stomach turn”.
She explained: “On Thursday 1 October I eagerly opened a parcel containing a copy of my book, which was publishing on that very day.
“A quick look at the text, however, made my stomach turn.
“I spotted a typo that I knew had been corrected at an earlier proof stage.”
Susie then discovered the wrong version of the book, which contained “innumerable typesetting errors”, was published instead of the edited finalised version.
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The Countdown star said what was supposed to be a “happy day” for her was instead spent under her duvet with her contemplating the fact she had a book called Word Perfect containing multiple errors.
Susie said she believes the error was caused by “an extraordinary rush” on publishers, as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Wanting to set the record straight, the Channel 4 star took to Twitter to explain the error to her fans.
She wrote: “Thank you to everyone for supporting my book. I’ve just discovered that the initial printing used a pre-edited text.
“Such support lightened the load of a tough day and made me think of various entries in the book that, in hindsight, look remarkably prescient.”
Susie’s book, described as a “brilliant linguistic almanac”, was due to be released on October 15.
Last week, the Countdown legend shared a post to confirm signed copies of her newly corrected book were now available.
Big Green Bookshop tweeted: “I am delighted to confirm that the signed copies of Word Perfect by @susie_dent are now here.
“Now please excuse me while I spend the next 24 hours packing them up.
“Signed copies still available here btw.”
Susie wrote: “Just for the record, Simon and his bookshop are amazing.”
Read the full interview in Radio Times out now.