World English Bible proofreading and the next steps

[Kahunapule Michael Johnson]

Probably the most frequently asked question about the World English Bible is "When will the whole Bible be in print?"
That is a really good question. For a real date, please stay tuned to this mailing list. In the mean time, there are 3 things that need to happen:

1. Fund raising for the initial print run. (The initial print run will probably just be the main edition of the World English Bible complete 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.)
2. Clearing the backlog of proofreading suggestions. Right now, that queue is 819 emails long, and some of those emails are very long. These keep coming.
3. Typesetting the Bible in a PDF layout suitable for sending to a printer. This is actually a subset of a project to automatically typeset over 200 Bible translations for electronic distribution, and involves some software development.
4. Praying for and planning the logistics of printing and distributing the printed copies and (hopefully) funding subsequent print runs and the electronic distribution costs in the process.
   

With respect to fund raising, I'm hoping others will come along side and do the heavy lifting on that, so that all I need to do is point people to http://mpj.cx/give or http://mljohnson.org/partners/ and concentrate on the other things. I haven't set a goal, yet, but the more we start with, the larger the print run can be, the lower the per-book cost will be.

All of the remaining proofreading suggestions are really old (the most recent is from July 2012), and most of them have already been dealt with through the final edit phase or with more recent proofreading comments. They will be sifted through in a rapid fashion, though, to make sure that there isn't something that we missed but shouldn't have. In this process, we will usually not send a personal reply to the sender. Instead, I'm sending this general feedback to this mailing list, which I have asked everyone who is serious about helping with this project to join. I can't even count the number of people who have made suggestions, let alone remember who they all are and what they commented on, so I don't really try, but I appreciate it and pray that God will bless all of you.

The most helpful proofreading comments:

1. Are clear and devoid of typos except, of course, any found in the current reading.
2. Are based on the current text of the World English Bible online at http://eBible.org or http://WorldEnglishBible.org (which are both synchronized with the latest updates).
3. State clearly what the problem or suggestion is, and why.
4. Have a clear argument based on proper English grammar and usage and/or the original language texts.
5. State clearly what book, chapter, verse, and translation/edition (WEB, WEB:ME, WEBBE, or WEBBME) the comment applies to. (Keep in mind that I also get comments for other web sites and other translations, often in other languages, so the translation/edition is more critical than you might think. The ASV and KJV, for example, are not open to editing unless the online edition disagrees with my printed copy, but sometimes someone finds a case where that is true.)
   

The least helpful proofreading comments:

1. Are unclear in any of the information requested, above.
2. Make arguments that are not well thought out, or that are based on denominational doctrines rather than best Bible translation practices.
3. Attempt to argue with a subject that is already covered in the FAQ, or that has been seriously considered before and agreement reached on how to handle it among a group of people from diverse church backgrounds.
   
4. Are based on an older edition of the World English Bible, and repeat suggestions that have already been implemented.
   

That said, if there is something that you submitted as a proofreading comment in the past, and the same typo is still there, or if there is a passage that is still really unclear or which doesn't match the source language texts, please feel free to submit the suggestion again with the helpful information in your email or web form feedback. It is possible that an earlier email or web form submission got lost or that we missed something when reviewing it.

Thanks!

--

	Your partner in electronic Bible publishing,

MICHAEL JOHNSON 1215 S KIHEI RD STE O # 728 KIHEI HI 96753-5225 USA Verizon Wireless Mobile: +1 808-333-6921 Skype: kahunapule or +1 719-387-7238

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