You gotta listen to this! It’s such an unlikely story, and yet it’s true. I’m guessing you’ve never witnessed such a spectacle before. And if you have, I’d like to hear from you. Sit back and be prepared to be amused…or as in my case, shocked.
For over a dozen months after TQD was written I repeatedly found myself confronted with decisions I had to make…decisions about things I never even remotely considered. I just wanted to write my book. That’s it. I’m a writer because I love to write. I didn’t think past the final manuscript.
However, there are scads of minutia that must be addressed if a book is to be successful. Who knew? Publishing, promoting, categorizing, pricing, and distributing were just a few examples of the necessary determinations I struggled with.
I awoke each morning with a cascade of options and possibilities burying me. Releasing the book had to be timed as perfectly as possible, with promotional plans already in place, the red carpet ready to be rolled out. I felt hurried and unprepared. Did I, in my haste, create the unbelievable conditions for this disaster? Today, five days after the mess up occurred, I still don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to…
So, what happened, you ask? After weeks of intense effort climbing a steep and seemingly endless learning curve, I finally felt reasonably confident that TQD was ready to be published on Amazon. Uploading my files to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) was like releasing a baby bird I had protected and cared for, and hoping it would fly.
My book would appear on Amazon in one to three days. I busied myself with other projects designed to relieve my obsessive worries, refusing to check on the progress of TQD’s debut. On day three I received an email from my web designer. My book went live! He said everything looked good except the book image was upside down. Huh? What does that mean, upside down? That can’t be possible, I thought.
Rushing to my laptop I navigated to Amazon books, scrolling down pictures of best sellers and new releases, all with stunning book covers…and then I saw it. Holy vertigo, Batman, my freakin book image was indeed upside down!
My first thought was, “who does this happen to?” My second thought was, “did I screw up?” I opened the file of the book cover I had uploaded. The image was perfectly formatted, right side up…KDP messed up, I concluded. I found their support number and immediately called. I was shaking, not just with anger, but with fear. How many potential readers of TQD were dissuaded when they saw an upside-down book? How many possible sales had I lost?
I’m going to make an already long story shorter. I spoke with several KDP reps, each more dumbfounded than the next. In the end not one of them knew what to do. I was frantic. You know who fixed the issue? Bryant, my business acquaintance from Bangladesh! I discovered Bryant on Fiverr, and she has been working with me to promote my book. But she is an expert in so much more than that. From 8,842 miles away she singlehandedly flipped TQD back to its rightful position! Go ahead—get on Amazon and search for Lisa A. Larsen! You’ll be pleased with what you find!