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| UK Cover of Mr. Darcy's Bite |
A funny thing happened on the way to publishing Becoming Elizabeth Darcy. If you remember when Mr. Darcy's Bite launched in October, it had a very rough start. The printer inserted about a dozen pages of someone else's book at the end of mine. That took about ten days to clear up. Two weeks ago, someone placed the UK version of my book (which has a different cover) for sale on Amazon US, and for reasons known only to Amazon, that cover knocked the US version off the main page, making Mr. Darcy's Bite available only to "these sellers," none of whom happened to be my publisher, Sourcebooks. It took about eight days to work that out as well. Because I was not the publisher, there was nothing I could do except to wait. One of the advantages of self-publishing is that you can jump right in and fix things.
Since I am now self-publishing, I was feeling pretty good about my cover for my latest release, Becoming Elizabeth Darcy. I found a beautiful portrait by Charles Amable Lenoir called "The Pink Rose" to which my daughter added a lovely background with a pink rose in it for the back jacket. I was very pleased with the cover. After dotting all my i's and crossing all my t's for the actual book, I ordered a proof from Amazon. When I opened the package, this is what I found: The Jerusalem Assassin. The inside was fine, except that it had a two-inch header because my book is smaller. But it just didn't make the cut for a cover of a P&P re-imaginining.
Of course, this happened the day before Thanksgiving. Although Amazon expedited shipment of a corrected copy, it did not arrive until Tuesday of last week. I had to order another proof, which is a long way round to tell you that the paperback version of Becoming Elizabeth Darcy will not be available for at least another week. However, it is already available on Kindle and Nook.
I hope you will visit Austen Authors on Tuesday for my launch and giveaway. Thanks.
P.S. I should explain that the buyers of Mr. Darcy's Bite from the UK and Australia said that the US cover was too similar to another cover, and they wanted something different. They got it. I told my editor I was glad I didn't live in the UK or Australia. :)
P.S. I should explain that the buyers of Mr. Darcy's Bite from the UK and Australia said that the US cover was too similar to another cover, and they wanted something different. They got it. I told my editor I was glad I didn't live in the UK or Australia. :)
Wow, you HAVE had your share of snafus lately! I wonder how often these little mistakes happened before electronic files became common? I suppose mistakes were still made, but I wonder if someone would have noticed putting The Jerusalem Assassin cover on Becoming Elizabeth Darcy if a real person had handled the book?
ReplyDeleteOh, Mary, I thought the cover of Mr. Darcy's Bite would look so much different! That's crazy! I don't know why they couldn't just use the US one. ?
ReplyDeleteThe Jerusalem Assassin??, I'm speechless... Well, let's just hope that it will go on smoothly from here on out.
I look forward to reading Becoming Elizabeth Darcy!
Dianne, I was really surprised no one checked the title on the cover with the cover on the interior. Then it was "expedited" but Amazon never told me that "expedite" only happens if it's not Thanksgiving weekend! Good to hear from you. Have a great holiday season.
ReplyDeleteHi Candy. Troubles come in three, so this should be it!
Oh, Mary. I hope this is the end of your publishing problems. Good thing you ordered a proof copy before readers were able to purchase the paperback.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love the cover! I also like how the blue background matches that of Captain Wentworth and Darcy on the Hudson!
YES!!! Early Merry Christmas to me!!!
ReplyDeleteWow you really have had a comedy of errors! Here's to hoping this is the last of them and it's smooth sailing from here!
ReplyDeletemaria grace
What can one say to such happenings! There must be some discount for mental duress to an author approaching release time in the holiday season. First shipment free?
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the new year brings a new and better mojo with printing for the next time you publish.
That cover is lovely and eyecatching.
Thanks for the explanation post!
Hello Ladies. Thanks so much for commiserating with me. I'm reading the proof now. Hopefully that means the book will be up next week. I have my fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a hullabaloo! Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from now on.
ReplyDeleteThe cover of BED is really pretty. I like the Darcy on the UK cover of MDB but the wolf looks pretty mean. Lol