Uploading Your Ebook: It Can Be As Frustrating As Fuck

I'm exhausted. I finished my manuscript yesterday, thought about getting it critiqued further on scribdophile but then felt like I absolutely did not have another edit in me. So I shrugged my shoulders and began the process of uploading it on smashwords absolutely FILLED with excitement at how the story had turned out.

I upload it for the first time and it was smooth sailing until they emailed me to say, hey...we can't have you advertising other sites in your books. The distributors won't like it. I sigh...I have to go and remove all references to where a fellow author advertising in the flap of my book had put in her locations for where to buy her book.

That done, I re-upload the document. But wait, now it refuses to convert to kindle and epub. Bish whet?

Eight times I tried to upload; it rejected it every time. I tried contacting customer care but they have a 72 hour turn around time and I'm impatient as fuck. I tried removing the ad for the other author's book; I tried changing formats...no joy. It was sooo frustrating. At some point I considered just giving up on smashwords and going to lulu. (I actually did go to lulu) but I love smashwords; it's so hassle free. Ha ha! did I say hassle free? It was...

I finally go to bed having done nothing all day and night except try to upload this book and angst. When I wake up there is an email from smashwords waiting, telling me I'm running behind schedule on uploading my manuscript to fill the pre-order requirement. Now this makes me want to cry because I'd messaged them continuously asking for help with no reply. Nevertheless, I reply to apprise them once again of the problem and this time I get an answer. This is day two; I'm supposed to be doing other work but I'm still trying to upload my stuff...

Finally I get help from 'Kevin' from customer care. He tells me to remove my Table of Content tabs, any images (from the other author) and page numbers.
 'But I need a table of contents' I say.
 'Watch the youtube video  on how to insert one' the FAQ replies.
So I watch the video and make the corrections and voila! At last, 48 hours after I've started the process, The Swamp is Full of Mystery is successfully uploaded. And I need a drink.

Its A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Note To Self

So I've just re-launched Between Death and Heaven on smashwords. I had a contract with a publisher  and they had my book in their hands for a year and a half; no reports, no information, no promotion that I could see, an allergy to being asked questions...it was frustrating to say the least.

So I decided to take my power (and my books) back. After all Type A personality like me; ain't no way I'm going to believe anyone can do the job better than me. Of course, who knew how frustrating it was just to get the publisher to return my fucking book! I'm still waiting for their version to come down from some of the major sites; including Amazon. Instead of progress, I see they've lowered the price...Not as low as the one on my relaunched page but...anyway, so I'm wondering, who is keeping this money that's still coming in. My publisher is acting like she has no clue...

So anyway, my trials and tribulations aside, its a new start, a new day. The book has been relaunched and now comes the hard part. The part where there is marketing and waiting and hoping; all as a side hustle of course because bills still have to be paid and the day job still exists. Don't get me wrong, love the day job which is the same as the night job but for other people. Still, it doesn' t leave much time for anything else. So I'm living in a cycle of guilt, insomnia and muscle pains trying to fit in everything that needs to be done.

But the crux of the matter is that there is a goal to this, and its not a short term one. Its about the long game, the big picture, immortality. Sure I want to sell a million copies, have a best seller and have my book made into a movie. Don't we all? I want my grandchildren to live off my spoils like Bob Marley's do. I want people born in the year 3000 to have heard of my work; to still be reading my book. I want this not just for the money (although that's a nice side effect or whatever) but because I think its a really good story and I want people to read it.

Diana Gabaldon told this story about how she began selling her book by sitting outside the bookshop and challenging people to pick up the book, open it to any passage and read. If they didn't want to know what happened next, she'd give them ten dollars. I thought that was a brilliant strategy even though I'm pretty sure these days people would say they didn't want to know what happened next just to get the ten dollars. I get it, times are hard. 

Twenty years later, there is a hit TV series based on her books. TWENTY years. Seems like eternity seen from the bottom end, but from the top end, 1995 feels like it was just the other day. So I think I could slog, and hustle and try for twenty years. The challenging thing though, is patience. Its something I'm still learning. Some days are harder than others. Oh well. Eyes on the prize.