I’ve cocked up. We all do it from time to time, but I really have slipped up here. As you might be aware, my latest novel, Renegade, is available for pre-order at the moment. At least, the eBook is. It’ll be live from 10th April (which is less than 2 weeks away now), but you can put your order in now to make sure it drops into your Kindle on the 10th.
In the background, I’ve been working on the paperback, with the aim of having that available by the 10th as well. I need some copies myself, because I’ll be appearing at the Self-Pub Fest in Aylesbury towards the end of April and need to take some with me. Before it is available to buy, though, I need to get a proof copy to make sure it comes out in the correct format. You know, check the cover fits properly, that there are no random gaps or pages missing, all that kind of thing. On Friday, I finalised everything I could and ordered the proof copy. However, I have been quite tired recently (it’s always good to get the excuses in as soon as possible). At some point in the process of doing all this, it seems I’ve pressed the ‘Publish’ button.
Now, what that means is that Amazon – who will initially be producing all my paperbacks – began the process of setting the book up and making it available for sale. I have been away for the last day or so, attending a family party – which was great fun, if you’re wondering. Having returned home this afternoon, I’ve checked my emails and realised that Amazon have notified me that the paperback of Renegade is now available to buy.
While this might normally be a cause for celebration, I’m not due to receive my proof copy until later this week, so – although it’ll probably be fit for human consumption (though please don’t eat it!) – I can’t say that it definitely will be.
Now, the obvious thing to do here would be to unpublish it (which is possible) and then reinstate it later. However, the way Amazon’s system works, this would mean setting up a whole new book, including assigning a new ISBN (if you know, you know – if you don’t, you don’t want to!) and trying to link the new one to the eBook.
So, for now, I’m just putting the message out to not buy the paperback for the time being. If you do, I doubt it’ll be the end of the world. I’m sure the story will still make sense. The only potential issues will be with formatting. But, if you have made the mistake of buying it before 10th April and it really is a dog’s breakfast, do get in touch and I’ll come up with a solution to make things right for you.
In the meantime, if you want the eBook, feel free to go ahead and pre-order. You can click on the image below to go the UK Amazon link.
