The Khouri Report

The CS Monitor jumps into the Khouri story, this time tackling the question of how could it have happened? Says one editor:

“I am surprised it does not happen more often,” says Jesse Fink, a former editor with HarperCollins. “In the past there have been cases where there are too many factual errors in a nonfiction book and the publishers, instead of canceling the book, have just responded by telling the editor to work harder to get the book in a publishable state by Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Christmas.” (…) Independent fact-checkers are rare, and instead of requiring peer review for nonfiction manuscripts, as they do in academia, publishers are liable to dole out tens of thousands of dollars on the basis of single-page synopses.

In other Khouri news, the Australian Immigration Department says she can stay there, whether her book is factual or not. Earlier Khouri reports: here, here, here, and here.