I\u2019m reeling from the residue of a snap decision I made a few months ago. Going against everything I teach and preach, I published one of my books before it was ready. Without hiring an editor or proofreader, before listening to reader reviews, I published Catnapped, the first in my Klepto Cat Mystery Series as a Kindle book at Amazon.com in June.<\/p>\n
I sold something like 800 copies within a few weeks. And I contacted dozens of book reviewers. Some of the reviews were not all that favorable. I took readers\u2019 and reviewers\u2019 comments to heart and hired a proofreader. I also spent many more hours revising the novel. And we resubmitted it to Amazon in August.<\/p>\n
After submitting, I checked the book page at Amazon\u2014took a look at the sample text and was convinced that the revised copy was now for sale and being distributed by Amazon. So I went into full-attack with my promotional efforts. I contacted tons more reviewers, I sent a newsletter to nearly 2,000 people, I amped up my cat blog, placed announcements with my affiliations, submitted articles with the book mentioned in my bio. Oh yes, I was in high-marketing mode.<\/p>\n
Well, around 800 more sales later, I learned yesterday that the original book is still being distributed to Amazon customers. Big bummer. Big embarrassment. I guess they changed the copy they showcase on the book page when we submitted the new version, but they neglected to queue it for distribution.<\/p>\n
We have resubmitted the revised edition of Catnapped to Amazon in hopes that it will get pushed all the way through the system and find its way to customers. <\/p>\n
In the meantime, lesson learned. Never release a book for publication until all of your ducks are in a row. And then find a way to follow all the way through when you have made a submission of any sort. Trust has to go out the window when you\u2019re not in control. As soon as you turn your amazing manuscript over to someone for editing, publication, review or whatever, make sure the other person or company completes their obligation.<\/p>\n
As an aside\u2014not only is my face red over this, it is swollen. You\u2019ve seen that commercial where the actor hits himself on the head saying, \u201cI should have had a V-8.\u201d Well, I got a slap on the head of a different kind yesterday. While out walking early before the heat settled in for the day, I had a head-on collision with a bee. I had a terrible head-ache for a while, then the swelling started. Is the itching, discomfort and awful image I see in the mirror my slap-on-the-head telling me, \u201cI should have been more well-prepared before launching out to become a novelist.\u201d Sigh.<\/p>\n
I have learned a lesson. I hope my experience will keep you from making an embarrassing mistake. You don\u2019t want to have a bee slap you on your forehead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m reeling from the residue of a snap decision I made a few months ago. Going against everything I teach and preach, I published one of my books before it was ready. Without hiring an editor or proofreader, before listening to reader reviews, I published Catnapped, the first in my Klepto Cat Mystery Series as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t