Writing Wednesday/ When Production Goes Wrong
Writing Wednesday
Wednesday is the day I share what I have learned on my journey to publication, marketing and publishing again. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.
Production Gone Wrong
A few months ago I started receiving request from book reviewers and also had a few requests from non profits to donate copies of my first book Bristol boyz Stomp. I was excited because until then either myself, or my publicist requested reviews.
My publisher sent me a shipment of books and I sent them out to the reviewers and non profits. I also sent a few copies to social media friends.
Last weekend I was invited to attend an event at an assisted living facility and was also asked to sign copies of my book.
While at the event my 14-year-old granddaughter was proud to show an elderly resident where her picture was in the book. Her picture wasn’t there. Other photos were missing too. We quickly went through the other books and each one of them was defective. I was so embarrassed. So many copies had been given out. Were the defective copies being sold at book stores, Amazon, Walmart? I was so angry.
I worked so hard on that book. I had it professionally edited three times. My publisher had it edited again. How could this have happened? Was it bad karma because I refuse to review badly or unedited books?
Perhaps it was one irresponsible worker at my publisher or one person at the printing facility. Was it my fault for not checking the books before I sent them out? I assumed they would be exactly the same as every other shipment I received.
My marketing rep and my publisher promised to make it right immediately and I was grateful for that but can it ever be made right? I love my publisher and this was the first issue I have had with them in three-years. They are handling it professionally doing their best to make me feel better but oh how I wish they would go back to the old printer and quality assurance.
Lesson learned: Check everything and never assume anything. As writers we work so hard to earn our credibility. It’s bad enough when we make our own mistakes but when someone else is responsible for the error it can be crushing to our confidence. I most certainly will never send another book out without checking it first. I should at least have Louie check it for me, he is the best editor…
If you received one of those copies I am so sorry. Consider it a collector’s item, there are only fifty copies out there (I hope and pray.) If you would like a corrected copy please let me know.
Please help me feel better and tell me, has anything like this ever happened to you? What was your most embarrassing editing or non-editing error?
Keep writing,
Doreen
I would love to connect with you here too:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bristol-boyzStomp/113804488656243
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Yikes!
Well, if nothing else, you learned an important lesson (and taught us all one in the process). I wouldn’t beat yourself (or your publisher) up too badly about it… making the assumption that the later copies would be the same as the earlier ones is likely something most people would have done.
Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you Jackie!
So sorry this happened! Our books are our children. Glad the error was eventually repaired.
Yes they are our children, definitely!
Sorry this happened Doreen but you learned a valuable lesson. The first run of the first anthology I was in spelled my name wrong. They fixed it for the next printing but I was so annoyed.
It was so hard not to stay angry!
Oh Doreen!!! What an aggravating way to learn about the missing pictures…at a book signing. Seems no matter how vigilant we are on our ends, production glitches happen.
Some things are just out of our control and that is so hard to accept.
So sorry this happened. Thank goodness for your granddaughter!
I cannot believe it worked out like that. I don’t even want to think of how long it could have been before I found out.
Yikes! I cannot imagine such a thing, Doreen. Glad it was only 50! Thank you, as always, for sharing your experience!
It was awful, I hope nothing like that happens again.
Oh, I’m so sorry this happened. How frustrating. Yes, these will be collector’s items that will go for a fortune someday!
My daughter said that too! The pressure is on…
Oh, how upsetting, Doreen! Argh..
It was so awful.
Oh, no! So sorry this happened. How upsetting.
It was I hope nothing like this ever happens again.
Wow. How does that happen? I am so sorry and hope that it’s righted quickly.
I don’t know how it happened and I am hoping it never happens again.