Self-Publishing: It ain’t always easy

By James M. Jackson

When authors consider self-publishing, they are usually attracted to being in control. They can decide on the cover, pricing, how quickly to publish. All profits accrue to them.

All the hassles also fall on the author’s back, as the past few weeks have reminded me.

The Amasa (nearest village to where I live) historical society offered me the opportunity to sell and sign books at their Memorial Day event. I donate a copy of Cabin Fever for their auction each year. Terrific timing, I thought, my next Seamus McCree novel, False Bottom, will be out by then. I agreed, and then things didn’t go as I planned.

I hope readers of my books find very few typos or formatting errors. Assuring that is the case was one reason I switched from traditional publishing to self-publishing. The problem was, I thought False Bottom had gone through its final copyedit and only needed proofing and formatting to be ready. A final read revealed issues. Fixing anything has the potential to introduce additional errors. It took a lot longer than I anticipated to polish this novel.

I’d put together a schedule with drop-dead dates and I was still okay. While I was fussing with False Bottom, I decided on a marketing idea directed at new northern readers. I’d produce a compendium of the two novels (Cabin Fever and Empty Promises) set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, plus two short stories set in the same area. I called it Seamus McCree U.P. North. That meant another cover to design, print and e-book formatting, but at least I didn’t need to proof anything other than the introduction. That would be perfect for Memorial Day. The timing was tight, but I could do it.

Before I order a bunch of print copies of a book, I’ve learned to order a proof copy. Despite thinking an electronic version is perfect, things can go awry in the printing process. Colors may not appear as expected, placement of graphics on a page might change, who knows what else. I ordered the False Bottom proof with the understanding it could take up to a week to arrive.

Good news: it showed up in three days. Bad news: When I created the cover using Photoshop, I included an extra layer that made the cover much darker than I had intended. Good thing I ordered a proof.

I had plenty of time to order a new proof, but there was a rub. If it arrived in three days, I could have it shipped to Madison; but because we were heading to our place in the U.P., we’d be gone if it took a week. And if it arrived in three days in the U.P., it would get forwarded to Madison. I had to wait three days to avoid the issue. This time, the second proof took the entire week. My drop-dead dates were fast approaching.

The proof looked great. I tried to take the book live on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and got an error message to fix the highlighted issue. No issues were highlighted. Support told me the problem was that a book with the same ISBN had been previously published. I knew that was wrong. He told me to Google the ISBN. I did. False Bottom showed up on Goodreads with an expected publication date of that day. Oh, he’d write a support ticket. They’d get back to me in the next 24-72 hours.

The drop-dead window was upon me.

At 5:11 pm Central time, I received an email with the explanation. The Bowker listing for the ISBN had the titled spelled Fasle Bottom, which did not match my title. My transposition typo, something I am doing more frequently these days. I fixed the Bowker listing—but any change needs review, and it sat with a Pending status until the next morning.

Either I published the print version that day or I couldn’t guarantee having books in hand for the Memorial Day event. I resubmitted to KDP to publish. Good news: No errors. Bad news: It can take up to 72 hours for KDP to approve a new publication. Because the most recent changes I’d made to my files had been to electronic versions—and KDP had always approved those the same day—I neglected to add three days to the schedule.

In the meantime, I received the proof version of Seamus McCree U.P. North on the same day as the one for False Bottom arrived. It looked good. I went to publish it on KDP and got the same error. Aha, I said, I know what this is, and sure enough I checked the Bowker listing for that ISBN and discovered I had put in Seamus Mccree U.P. North (small c, not capital C). Weirder, I had done the same thing on both the print and e-book ISBNs. I’ve typed McCree so many times, I couldn't imagine I’d screwed it up twice, but the proof was before my eyes.

I submitted the changes, waited a day for “pending” to change to “approved.” The next morning, I checked. Something in Bowker’s software had changed it back to Seamus Mccree U.P. North. I called the help line; he understood the problem but couldn’t fix it. I’d have to email a specific address he gave me and describe the issue. They’d respond within 72 hours. As I write this blog, I have just passed the 24-hour mark.

KDP approved the False Bottom print version the day after I submitted it. I placed an order for books, which will arrive May 24 - May 28. Memorial Day is May 27.

The Seamus McCree U.P. North cannot possibly arrive in time.

On Memorial Day, I’ll have the proof copies to showcase and take orders. I’ll hand-deliver the books for locals. If they are out-of-town visitors, I’ll mail them for free.

And if there is a next book, I’ll push my drop-dead date two-weeks earlier. I don’t need this stress.