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Quick FYI on Sand of Bone
Sep. 3rd, 2014 12:54 pmOne reason you'll hear many self-publishers express happiness with Amazon is the ease with which one can work with them.
The proper version of Sand of Bone was available through Amazon within about four hours of uploading. No fuss, no muss.
On the other hand, I've now pulled the novel from distribution via Smashwords, though it'll take who-knows-how-long for it to be actually be pulled. Days after I uploaded the proper version, Smashwords notified me today that they couldn't use the epub file I'd uploaded.
Keep in mind this is the same epub they rejected the moment I uploaded it, and I already uploaded a the DOC file that they accepted. But, it seems, they are still focused on the rejected epub for distribution purposes. The Smashwords website, oddly enough, is using the other file rather than the epub.
So. Since I can't immediately replace the ebook file at BN, Kobo, and other places, since I can't count on corrections being made in a timely manner, and since I can't now correct the problems myself, I'll be moving all my stuff from Smashwords.
I can't upload directly to BN or Kobo until Smashwords pulls the title. I apologize to those of you who are waiting.
This is the situation many writers have run into: it's a great system until something goes awry. Then the process of correcting it is cumbersome, time consuming, frustrating, and rarely satisfying in the end.
Time to check out Draft2Digital.
In the meantime, I'll keep Sand of Bone on the Smashwords site if you're one of those readers who'd absolutely love to have it in an epub format and don't mind sideloading.
Aside: The entire situation also motivates me to move "consider setting up direct-sales on my website" to a higher position on the to-do list.
The proper version of Sand of Bone was available through Amazon within about four hours of uploading. No fuss, no muss.
On the other hand, I've now pulled the novel from distribution via Smashwords, though it'll take who-knows-how-long for it to be actually be pulled. Days after I uploaded the proper version, Smashwords notified me today that they couldn't use the epub file I'd uploaded.
Keep in mind this is the same epub they rejected the moment I uploaded it, and I already uploaded a the DOC file that they accepted. But, it seems, they are still focused on the rejected epub for distribution purposes. The Smashwords website, oddly enough, is using the other file rather than the epub.
So. Since I can't immediately replace the ebook file at BN, Kobo, and other places, since I can't count on corrections being made in a timely manner, and since I can't now correct the problems myself, I'll be moving all my stuff from Smashwords.
I can't upload directly to BN or Kobo until Smashwords pulls the title. I apologize to those of you who are waiting.
This is the situation many writers have run into: it's a great system until something goes awry. Then the process of correcting it is cumbersome, time consuming, frustrating, and rarely satisfying in the end.
Time to check out Draft2Digital.
In the meantime, I'll keep Sand of Bone on the Smashwords site if you're one of those readers who'd absolutely love to have it in an epub format and don't mind sideloading.
Aside: The entire situation also motivates me to move "consider setting up direct-sales on my website" to a higher position on the to-do list.
