I wrote a little about this on my instagram in a fit of anger the other day but I’ve settled down and can write a little more calmly now.
Self-publishing is not as easy as write a book, hit publish, reap the rewards. A fact that I knew going into it, but even the most prepared indie author is going to come up against things that weren’t on their radar. I’ve talked about it before and I know I’ll talk about it again.
My current bone of contention is with the distributor/printer. There is basically ONE printing option that’s affordable and gets you access to all the big retailers that aren’t the ‘zon (that’s a whole other platform and can of worms). And it’s Ingram Spark. The internet is filled with indie authors complaining about IS–everything from their customer service to their interface to the quality of their products.
They’ve been a problem for me from the get-go. They were the ones who mailed me a box of someone else’s books right before my first in-person event with book one. It was rectified, but still annoying since I didn’t have enough books for that first event.
I’ve been sent the wrong book once more and though it hasn’t happened in a while, I always check immediately upon receipt. Just in case. And with all my author friends, I am a cautionary tale and they check their meticulously, as well, instead of assuming the books at the bottom of the box are their own.
Fast forward to THE BONE COTTAGE and the cover that has been a thorn in my side for over a year now. I finally got it figured out and into something so perfect for the story I couldn’t believe it wasn’t the route I’d gone in the first place, and it has been nothing but issues with the printers. For every book you generate a template to upload the cover to. It has bleed lines and parameters to be within–easy peasy, right? Wrong. They allow themselves up to 1/16th of an inch in error. With THE BONE COTTAGE this has read as images being cut off or not where they’re supposed to be. I’ve had to go in three times now and fix it, arguing with customer service that everything is where it’s supposed to be–why cant it just print correctly!?!?
The cover with the background removed so you can see that, yes, everything really is within the parameters of where it’s supposed to be! WELL within.
In my latest shipment–a box of fifty books–eleven were printed correctly. Eleven. Out of fifty. They’re different colors, there are blemishes on some, some are different sizes. And all the wrong ones have images cut off.
It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Being an indie author is amazing. It’s hard but it’s rewarding. Being an author is something I’ve dreamt of my entire life. As long as I can remember I’ve been penning stories and dreaming up characters. Am I perfect? Deserving of being on the NYT best seller list. No. Not even close. Yet. But I am working hard all the time to improve. To learn. And to write stories that I would want to read and that are worthy of shelf space. But trying to compete against big name authors who have huge publishing houses backing them and fighting with their own printers about quality makes it so hard for indie authors to even try to compete.
Anyway, to the pinky promise that titled this blog. I had a little wobble the night I got my shipment in. A lot of tears and frustrations and raging at a machine that I have zero control over. The teen, who can sense when I am not in a wonderful head space, asked what was going on after I’d gone to bed and when I told her everything she said, “Well, don’t give up. It’s hard but you can get through the hard because if you give up you’ll always regret it and wonder what could have been. Just pinky promise me you’ll keep writing and keep going.” So, of course I pinky promised her, because what else am I supposed to do? (In the teens defense, the pinky promise and the extra love helped a lot. She always seems to know when I need it the most and comes through.)
And then I got an email the next morning–my claim was approved and they’re sending me replacement books. Obviously let’s all cross our collective fingers that they turn out better than the ones that are currently in my kitchen.
I am still frustrated. It’s still such a challenge to feel like I’m doing anything other than screaming into the void. But I made a pinky promise and I’ll keep it. And I’ll keep demanding better quality because my work deserves it. And my readers deserve it.
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