Sometimes, despite our best effort, things go haywire. The best laid plans, and all. In the publishing world, this is even more so. While you may have your heart set on a publication date, there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that are being worked on. With so many cogs on the wheel, sometimes one or two pieces can't keep up, and that slows down the entire machine.
Pitching a tantrum or "outing" people who aren't keeping up their ends of the deal is a bad move. Remember, in self-publishing, it is all about your network and who you know. Putting someone on blast, however well warranted, will reach other ears. Those ears may just be the ones you'll end up needing later.
I made that mistake this time around. I wanted to have my book published April 20th. It's my mom and dad's wedding anniversary, my brother's wedding anniversary, my cousin's birthday, and one of my good friend's birthday all on one day. To me, it was highly symbolic, and a way to do something unique to add to the importance of that day in my life.
I worked my butt off. Editing, over-editing. Formatting, polishing. Getting a cover blurb and quote set up. Ordering swag, writing my takeover posts. I was going to be cutting it close, but because I had already had everything planned out and ordered, I thought it'd just be "close" not "impossible".
Well. Fate has other ideas.
My cover artist was caught in a hurricane in Australia. Having to hurry to pack up important things, including her work laptop, got her very behind on covers once the floodwaters receded. Some of the authors she works for are publishing through publishing houses all over the world, and are on tighter deadlines than I am. So I have to be patient and just wait, knowing she'll get to me as soon as she can.
My first swag maker broke her finger, and then Paypal never sent her a notification that I had paid. Strike two, again, through no fault of mine or theirs. The 2nd swag maker, couldn't get the materials she needed in time for my custom order, as everything was being shipped out of China and she knew she'd never be able to make my admittedly tight deadline. Strike three.
So. What can I do?
Realistically, not much. At first I was upset and stressed, but I realized.... it's just a book. Making myself sick over not having it be the exact date I wanted wouldn't be good for anyone, and will just make the actual release day that much worse. So instead, I'm doing things I can do.
I'm gathering up shipping supplies, so that I'm ready when the time comes.
I'm sorting out my current swag, so I know what I have, and checking for sales on smaller items.
I'm tweaking my takeover posts to make sure they're exactly how I want them.
I'm making photos for the takeovers, leaving names blank so I can add takeover authors as I get them.
I'm writing the next book.
I'm building my newsletter/mailing list subscribers so I have a viable list of people to advertise to when the book does go live.
While I want to scream, shout, and rail at the unfairness of me being prepared and others not, it doesn't help. And since it was literally an act of nature in one case, it's not even their fault. Accidents and nature happen. We can't fight against them, we just need to go with the flow. So when things don't go your way or seem to be having issues left and right, don't give in to the desire to give up or break down. This is a part of any job, deadlines not being met, and it's something we all need to learn how to handle with grace. With self-publishing? Our livelihood literally depends on it.
April 12, 2017- -
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