What I learned from Publishing a Paperback with Amazon

Lesson 1:

Always order a proof copy.

This is Amazon KDP’s new feature. It does mean that you have to wait, but it is worth it. Now, I am a person pursued by typos. I thought that with a tiny picture book, they won’t find me, but they did. When the proof finally arrived, the typos were all there, giggling.

                                            Spelling Lessons in the Forest of Typos 

By the way, my initial impatience resulted in a single copy with pretty unique typos.  One of my twitter friends has it, and I feel guilty about it.

Lesson 2:

Prepare to wait and suffer.

After I’ve gone over the proof I made changes to the paperback and the ebook, but there was a catch. While the book went live, the changes took a while to update. As I didn’t realise that was the case, I might have slowed down the process by uploading the corrected file twice. 

                                       The Spirit of Waiting with a Touchscreen Artefact

If I were to do it again, I would make sure to save the corrected file under a different name, just to avoid any other possible mistakes in the mysterious world of Amazon.

Lesson 3:

Keep it together after you publish (if you can).

The period post-publishing is a special time of gentle stretching across the world.  It is as personal as the actual writing process. People don’t see it as such. There is pressure on you to sell, to promote, to go on and on about your book. I was protected by the extreme silliness of my book, but I still felt that stretching. I was still excited. (Actually I am more excited about this book than many real-world serious projects). And from beyond the hill I could see a beast of marketing raising its hungry snout.

                                            Water-rats Marveling at the Books as they Sail Away