WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

​In a previous blog, I told of finding seventeen errors in my Word document of Death In The Tallgrass as it was being converted to an Amazon file that was ready for a book printer.
 
I hired a company to do the conversion. We iterated by them sending me a pdf file of the converted Word file that I would then read for any needed changes. If I found errors or changes, I sent them a message giving the corrections needed. By iterative improvement, the final pdf had no errors or changes, and I promptly approved that file. They then converted that file into Kindle format.
 
I proceeded to send the final pdf to Amazon to be used in printing the book.
 
Except that I didn’t. I used their first pdf file by mistake, which means that all paperbacks printed in the last week contain those seventeen errors.
 
Don’t ask me how this happened. I’m at the point in my life where major screw-ups are surprising but hardly require explaining. I believe I can trace the chain of events but it stills ends with me being completely responsible. And ashamed; I only had one thing to do and I messed it up.
 
I was reading a copy I had ordered for myself when I noticed errors that I remembered correcting. Looking at the files on my computer, I realized what had happened and quickly sent the correct file to Amazon. With remarkable foresight on Amazon’s part, it was easy to replace the faulty file with the good one. From now on, all paperbacks printed will be sourced from the correct file.
 
The Kindle version was not affected. It was automatically generated from the final converted file.
 
I now need to replace all the copies of Death In The Tallgrass sold in the last week. I know a few of the people who bought copies, but having announced the book by using this blog, I don’t know everyone.
 
I strongly believe that every buyer deserves the correct copy, and I have a strong desire for all copies in circulation to be what I intended. Some errors concerned format changes that you won’t notice, but a few errors will be irritatingly noticeable and could ruin the reading experience. To make amends, I am offering a deal and am hoping that buyers will allow me to do this:
 

1. If you have a copy of the book ordered between July 28th and August 4th, send me your email address at [email protected].
2. I will send you a question asking that you identify a particular error. If you find it, that will confirm you bought a corrupted copy
3. Reply to me and I will send you a $25 eGift Card from Amazon that allows you to order a new copy. You should destroy the old one.

 
This is a lesson concerning self-publishing: there is only the author to blame when things go wrong, and only the author to fix the problems.

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