The Hilarious And Epic Fails Of The Print Shop

Once upon a time there was a book…

… not just any book, but a book written by an American author for a brand new Australian publisher using a system still unfamiliar to most. It was a good book, well-planned and well-written. The schedule was made months in advance. All contingencies were planned for. And so all proceeded as if nothing could go wrong with the little book’s launch into the world.

At first, not much was planned. A few blog posts, a lunch perhaps, and then – when the book was a few weeks older and strong enough to go out into the world – a convention in Canberra, Australia. The files were filed. The edits were done. The books were ordered… and none came.

The day of the launch there was nothing.

Files had been filed, but lost. Edits had been done, but erased. Computer error. System error. User error. Distribution error. It was all there (or not as the case would be).

Still, there weeks until the con. Things could be salvaged. New files filed. New books sent to replace the missing box. Time passed, and the box of books did not come. And did not come. And did not come.

Phone calls were made. New books ordered. A new distributor used. A new system learned. And still the books did not come.

The con arrived, and the proof copy sat alone amid the other books.

The editor and the author talked. The distributor and the editor talked. The readers and the author talked. The conclusion, dear friend, will surprise no one at all. That little book was cursed when it launched this fall.

Two weeks after the official release – and too many working hours to contemplate – and we still don’t know where the box of BODIES IN MOTION prints are. There are still people getting a bad file when downloading from Amazon (despite multiple emails, calls, and updates). If I were a slightly more superstitious person I’d burn the drafts for LAWS OF ATTRACTION and have someone come cleanse the bad vibes from my house because this book is jinxed. Logically, it’s not. This is just one of those First Run hiccups that you encounter.

After all, EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE lost its editor three weeks before publication and I survived that. Only losing the proof copies and the print edition for the con is small potatoes by comparison. More phone calls were made this week. More emails sent. Hopefully this means we’ll have the print edition (and the hyphen problem with the Amazon conversion) sorted out by the end of the week. And, if not? Well… maybe then I’ll ask someone to come fix the feng shui at my work station.