Self-publishing is sometimes a rocky road. I am not a perfectionist, but I like my book to be near perfect. Ha.
When I was programming the grade book, PGGP, I wouldn’t rest if a bug was discovered. The thought that someone purchased my product and discovered an error made me crazy. I find the same is true of my book.
I published Members of the Cast on March 3, 2021. Other than the word “summersault,” text glitches were few. When I got my proof copy, I was miffed that page one was on the left and numbered 2. I began to play with the manuscript and could not figure out why it was happening.
I met Joe Garland on Twitter, and he began to teach some of us how to use styles to develop a manuscript that KDP would turn into a print book. I downloaded KDP’s template, entered my text, and manipulated the styles. It was exciting to change the chapter style font and have every chapter change. I felt like I was finally on top of this self-publishing. But, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
My friend Heidi read my book and said she loved it, but she noted errors. There were times when Maggie spoke in 1st-person. I asked, “Those parts weren’t in italics? She said no.
Because I use italics to signal that Maggie is thinking, I decided to search for instances of 1st-person. It didn’t take long to realize that my manuscript had no italicized words. Immediately I felt a hot blush coming on. I had my book out there, asking people to buy it, and the paper copy no longer had Maggie’s thinking in italics!
Double Rats!
I did a quick date check of manuscript dates and found that my final upload to Kindle Direct Publishing was June 11! For almost two months, every print copy of Members of the Cast was “defective.” Oh, reviews continued to be very positive, but for the first time, I wished the book weren’t selling so briskly.
Thursdays are set aside for writing. I work on writing most days, but Ruth and I set projects aside, and I write. Thursday, July 29th, I spent hours with two manuscripts, scrolling through the last copy before my new “Styles Skills” broke the book.
I try to live by John Wesley’s precept: Do no harm. I have lived long enough to know that sometimes we mess things up without even trying. The song, Southern Cross has the line, “We never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.” True words.
Oh, There are Italics!
I hope my Members of the Cast customers reading this are not grumpy. The book is now fixed.
“How would I know if I have a defective copy?” you might ask. Easy. If your print book has chapter titles in Italics, then you have one of “the lesser” copies. Actually, this should have been a tip for me. When I changed the font for chapter titles and told the computer I wanted them in Italics, I was tickled to see every chapter change instantly.
The lesson here is that when you change the font for a style, you choose regular, bold, or italics—and that, my friend, is what can break a book!
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