Craziest Thing Happened. Could Use Some Help.

[aliajohnson]

So, my first book, As Luck Would Have It, will officially be released tomorrow. I'm thrilled, of course. Except for this little bit--

Due to a printing error, the last two pages of the epilogue are missing. . .In every single copy of the book.

:poke: :cry: :roll:

Feel free to laugh your heads off. Jennontheisland was kind enough to ply me earlier with enough booze and chocolate to take the sting out. Mostly. Plus, I've had a week or so to get use to the idea. Mostly. Plus, laughing just makes me feel better about the whole thing.

Anyway, I have to ask (read beg/plead/whine/grovel) Would you ladies and gents pass on the word to anyone who might be interetsed that the missing pages are available on my website, alissa-johnson.com, and will also be available on dorchester's site? I would really appreciate it. :Hug2:

Okay,I'm going back to the booze now. Will return later.

[shameless]

Oh, sweetheart! Big, big hugs! :Hug2:

I'll pass the info on to my RWA chapter. I'm sure they'd not only like the information but will sympathize with your story.

Drink away... But put it in perspective too. It's not the end of the world. Or at least it won't feel that way in a few days when you get a little distance.

Dorchester owes you big time for the error! Your editor must be beside herself.

[aliajohnson]

Thanks, Shameless! :Hug2:

Yeah, the distance helps. So does laughing. I mean, really, what are the odds??

[justme]

:Hug2: I'm so sorry. I'll pass along the info to my local RWA chapter.

[melaniehoo]

Omigosh, that's AWFUL! Hopefully the word will spread that the end is on your site. :)

[aliajohnson]

Thanks, Rose! Thanks, Melanie! :Hug2:

I should mention that the story does come to a satisfying conclusion before the epilogue. The last two pages simply tighten up a string that's all ready been taken care of.

But the abrupt ending has made at least one reader (some online stores sent copies out early) do a double-take. I received a very nice email today from a lady asking about the awkward ending.

I've decided to count it as my first ever piece of fan mail. :D

[Sonarbabe]

Awww, hon. :Hug2: It'll be okay. I'll pass on the information too. If it makes you feel any better--*passes you another margarita and a double fudge brownie*-- right before Breaking All the Rules came out, I went over the galley and noticed that they'd spelled the title wrong in one of the downloadable formats. When I emailed my editor to let her know, she told me that there was no way for them to change it. :eek:

[aliajohnson]

Awww, hon. :Hug2: It'll be okay. I'll pass on the information too. If it makes you feel any better--*passes you another margarita and a double fudge brownie*-- right before Breaking All the Rules came out, I went over the galley and noticed that they'd spelled the title wrong in one of the downloadable formats. When I emailed my editor to let her know, she told me that there was no way for them to change it. :eek:

Oh, No! :ROFL:

Hope it's okay that I laugh. I can't help it. I've had this hysterical giggle all week.

Thanks for the booze and brownies, Sonarbabe! :Hug2:

[GLAZE_by_KyrstinMc]

But of course. :)

The way I see it-- when your book becomes famous these "duds" so to speak will become a rare find, and probably expensive! :D

I'll spread the word. :)

[regdog]

Congrats on your book but really sorry about the mistake :Hug2:

[aliajohnson]

But of course. :)

The way I see it-- when your book becomes famous these "duds" so to speak will become a rare find, and probably expensive! :D

I'll spread the word. :)


Like the upside-down airplane stamp? I like that idea. :D

Thanks, Kyrstin! Thanks, HeaGrg! :Hug2:

[stormie]

The way I see it-- when your book becomes famous these "duds" so to speak will become a rare find, and probably expensive!

There you go! The answer is right there. You'll be a millionaire. Never know!

(I know it wasn't a book, but one of my first essays in an anthology had a glaring mistake within the first paragraph--and is quoted on Amazon in the "Look Inside the Book." It said, "Cape Code" instead of "Cape Cod." No way to change it, the editors said. )

Like your book covers. :)

[L.Jones]

Yep - when life gives you lemons, stuff 'em in your bra!

First, it's a GREAT hook - As Luck Would Have It has an unlucky turn! Use it - get EVERYONE on line in on the news. It's exactly the kind of thing people love to share. Let your editors know what you're doing, that you're using this as marketing gold and going forward with good humor

Website, blog, offer the missing pages online somewhere

You can't change it now, so see how you can exploit it.

annie jones
Somebody's Santa (out tomorrow also)

[DeeSoul]

It really is a great way to drive people to your website -- so have all kinds of goodies for them when they get there! It's an instant party.

Congrats on the book release -- what an exciting moment!

[aliajohnson]

[quote]Yep - when life gives you lemons, stuff 'em in your bra!

:roll:



First, it's a GREAT hook - As Luck Would Have It has an unlucky turn! Use it - get EVERYONE on line in on the news. It's exactly the kind of thing people love to share. Let your editors know what you're doing, that you're using this as marketing gold and going forward with good humor

Website, blog, offer the missing pages online somewhere

You can't change it now, so see how you can exploit it.

annie jones
Somebody's Santa (out tomorrow also)


I considered this angle. Trouble is, how to advertise a flaw and the product at the same time? It's hard to say "there's something wrong with this. You should buy it." Eek. I'm sure it could be done, but it would take someone with more promotional savy than I can lay claim to. I'm hoping, at this point, to just keep the "what the #%*! is up with this epilogue?" down to a minimum.

Pleaseohpleaseohplease.

And Congrats on your release tomorrow! :hooray:

ETA--DeeSoul posted while I was writing. Thanks, Dee!

[benbradley]

So, my first book, As Luck Would Have It, will officially be released tomorrow. I'm thrilled, of course. Except for this little bit--

Due to a printing error, the last two pages of the epilogue are missing. . .In every single copy of the book.

:poke: :cry: :roll:

Feel free to laugh your heads off. Jennontheisland was kind enough to ply me earlier with enough booze and chocolate to take the sting out. Mostly. Plus, I've had a week or so to get use to the idea. Mostly. Plus, laughing just makes me feel better about the whole thing.

Anyway, I have to ask (read beg/plead/whine/grovel) Would you ladies and gents pass on the word to anyone who might be interetsed that the missing pages are available on my website, alissa-johnson.com, and will also be available on dorchester's site? I would really appreciate it. :Hug2:

Okay,I'm going back to the booze now. Will return later.
Congratulations on being published!

When you get through with your smilies and hangover, it seems to me there's a lot you, as the author, can do to get the word out. Well, maybe it's not really a lot, but this should help a lot for the time it takes to do it.

Sign up as the author on Amazon.com, Librarything.com, and any other bookselling or book-reading sites such as these (http://www.pandia.com/sew/557-top-5-books.html), so then when anyone goes to the book page for your book, the site will show whatever message you write, such as "Due to a printing error, there are two pages missing from my book, and these pages are available on my website at http://alissa-johnson.com"

And always put the http:// at the start of your website so that programs which look for those things, such as the software the Absolute Write forums run on, will make it a link, and Easily Cllickable.

You can also use this fact as a marketing ploy for collectors: "The First Printing, First State of my book is missing two pages! Buy it while it's still available! It's my very first book, I plan to write many more and be more famous than Stephen King, so it's sure to be collectible and valuable in years to come!

I don't know that there are many collectors of First Edition Romances, but even if not, this is still a very good "opportunity" to drive readers to your website that most other writers don't have a chance to do! From first glance your site looks good, but I think you should also have a blog (label the link to it "blog", add it along with the "home," "About," etc. buttons along the top) that you update often to keep readers coming back (perhaps announce you'll have a new excerpt weekly or monthly, and do it), and in general just take the best advantage of this situation as you can. Poking around, the top buttons move around a bit due to inconsistencies between pages, and on the "about" page none of the buttons work.

Here's a point about your website, your main page has the title "Home" which is what is put into people's bookmarks when they bookmark the page, and it doesn't mean much and is hard to figure out what it is. Probably the best title is "Alissa Johnson - Romance Author" or even include your book title (it makes a great pun!) as in "Alissa Johnson - Romance Author, As Luck Would Have It."

I notice the current and next book covers - in "As Luck Would Have It" the woman has her neck and shoulders exposed. In "Tempting Fate" the cover shows her whole back. There's no cover shown for "McAlistair's Fortune" but I wonder what THAT cover's gonna show! :e2brows:

ETA: Do you have a MySpace page and a Facebook page? Ahem... the more (legitimate) webpages you make with your name on them, the more likely someone doing a search on your name or book title will come upon a page whose content you control, and from which you can direct them to your main website with the two missing pages.

[DeeSoul]

Well, I just got back from ordering your book from borders.com :) I'm really looking forward to reading it -- and I'll be all set when I get to the Epilogue!

[Sonarbabe]

Oh, No! :ROFL:

Hope it's okay that I laugh. I can't help it. I've had this hysterical giggle all week.

Thanks for the booze and brownies, Sonarbabe! :Hug2:

No problems, dearie. I haven't had any complaints from reviewrs about it. And I was put up to scrutiny by Mrs. Giggles... *shivers* I'm scared for the next one. LOL I'm sure you'll be a huge success and I'm putting your book on my "to buy" list.

[JennaGlatzer]

Good Lord. I'm so sorry. I'm all out of hysterical giggles, so I'll just offer a shared headsmack and an arms raised upward in exasperation.

[aliajohnson]

Ben--wow. Thank you. Wonderful advice, and I intend to use it. Just wish I had something besides [insert profanity of choice here] dial-up at home. It makes putting that advice to use impossible until tomorrow's trip to the nearest wifi spot. arrrggggghhhh

Dee, Sonarbabe, and Jenna--:Hug2:

You guys are the best.


ETA--Did fix the About page. woot. I'm surprised I could. Usually, the editing program gets annoyed waiting for my dial-up connection and just stops working. Thanks again, Ben

[jennontheisland]

Dude, it's a marketing opportunity. Seriously. I promise to tell all my friends about it. :)


Here, have some booze and chocolate.

Booze and chocolate.

[kimb68]

What I don't get is how the publisher would even consider releasing a book with two missing pages. I'm in the graphic design industry and we routinely reprint jobs that have cutting, folding, and ink density issues, never mind MISSING PAGES. I'm really curious why your publisher can't beat up the printer to make good on the mistake (assuming it happened at the printer, of course).

I'm speculating, but I assume they HAVE gone back to the printer and beat them up for a freebie, but they're not using it to reprint your book, they're going to use it as credit toward the next book they print. So, basically, you're getting shafted and they're getting free printing.

Still, Ben's suggestions are sound ones. You may be able to use this as a marketing opportunity. Certainly, your publisher ought to admire you if you can make a virtue out of their screw-up.

[job]

I am so very sorry. How perfectly dreadful.

AAARRRGGGHHHH.

[LilaDubois]

Ugh! Ugh! That just sucks. There is a more eloquent way to say it, but screw that, call a spade a spade:

That Sucks!

I will pass on the word to my hystorical lovin' pals.

[san_remo_ave]

Alissa,

So sorry to hear about the mistake and I agree to get the word out and use it to drive traffic and increase your connection with potential readers.

Seems to me you even have the right hook for the problem --in the form of your book title. Because... "as luck would have it" your release of AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT has a little error. Then, offer an exclusive (do you have an epilogue or 2nd epilogue or deleted scenes?) as extra content for folks who visit your site --so "as luck would have it" they get a bonus for the effort... etc.

Best wishes. I'll go check it out. If there's a Kindle version, it's mine.... ;)

[Little Red Barn]

(((Ali))) I hope you didn't have a hangover the next morn on your launch day!!
Okay, they'll get the next two straight! :D

I'll write a messege on my blog for you as well... Happy Launch!
hugs

[Cathy C]

:Wha: Oh, sweetie! I'm sooooo sorry! I mean, we had some typos in our second book and I felt hideous. But two whole PAGES?! Yeah, definitely use it to your advantage. In fact, you might start to notify booksellers so they can "advise" customers (not warn...never warn) about the situation. Who knows, you might wind up a bestseller because of it. There's nothing like a misprint to make something an instant collectible that EVERYONE must own! :D

[Irysangel]

That sucks, it really does. :(

But I agree with the others that it's a funny way to get people to go back to your website and check stuff out. :) The title is kind of tongue-in-cheek, isn't it?

[Dara]

Oh, how disappointing. Don't worry though. Maybe it'll serve to generate interest in the end. More likely to get people visiting your site to find out why the pages are missing.

[aliajohnson]

Thanks for the support, guys! It really does mean a lot to me. :Hug2:

Sorry for the disappearing act. I wanted to wait on some new information before making any further announcements.

Some good news--corrected copies of the book are being printed! Woo-hoo! It's too late (and probably wouldn't be a good idea) to pull the. . .um. . .shorter version off the shelves, but all new shipments will contain the long version. And--and I'm the most relieved about this--replacement copies will be available to any readers who are interested in an exchange. :hooray: When I get the details on how that will work exactly, I'll let everyone know.

Obviously, all of this isn't ideal, but in the interest of stuffing my bra with those lemons (and cripes, that gives me a huge set) I have to say that 1) both my agent and publisher are really working to find a solution that's best for everyone. That makes me confident and excited about working with all of them in the future. And 2) though it's not at all the same thing, between the first printing and the second, technically, I have an ENORMOUS first print run for a debut author. :tongue

Okay, I have to disappear again for a while, because all of this happens to be occurring around the deadline for my third book. Naturally.

*more hysterical laughter*

Thanks again, everyone. Don't know what I'd do without you. :Hug2:

[Cathy C]

:hooray: Okay, now the fun part---post on every blog you can find that you'll SIGN BOOKPLATES to put in the uncorrected copy if readers send an SASE. Instant collectors item, and each person will wind up buying two copies...one to read, and one to put in a box.

Not kidding. Really. Do this.

[heyjude]

I'm so glad I found this thread... just neglected hearth and home for an entire day reading As Luck Would Have It and couldn't figure out the end. I knew someone around here would know what the deal was.

Wonderful, wonderful book aliajohnson! Loved it!

[Gillhoughly]

When I found a printing error (the book was fine until p. 140, then the next page was 34, then toward the end it was page 7) I immediately reported it to my editor. This was a second printing for that title and had been in the stores for weeks.

The copies were flagged, returned, and correctly reprinted & replaced. The printer made the error and paid the expense.

Granted, two pages off the end is not as huge a mistake, but it's big to YOU. You're doing the right kind of first aid, but you shouldn't have to. I'm glad they're printing correct copies, but still.

I didn't have time to read the whole post, so I don't know if you contacted your editor right away. It's an embarrassment to her if she lets flubs like this pass. Gosh how we love to gossip about 'em too!

(Jane Smith? Yeah, she let 20K copies of Nora Roberts' new hardcover ship before they found out the last chapter was missing! Yuh-huh, they so fired her ass. Jane, that is, not Nora.) http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

PS--the "Jane Smith" thing above is something I made up as an example! Of course, in publishing as in any business heads have rolled for less...

[AnneMarble]

Anyway, I have to ask (read beg/plead/whine/grovel) Would you ladies and gents pass on the word to anyone who might be interetsed that the missing pages are available on my website, alissa-johnson.com, and will also be available on dorchester's site? I would really appreciate it. :Hug2:
I posted about it on the RTR board at All About Romance:
http://aarboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=47021#47021

Edited to Add:
There's already a response from someone who read it!

Okay,I'm going back to the booze now. Will return later.
We'll join you.
:e2drunk:

[AnneMarble]

I considered this angle. Trouble is, how to advertise a flaw and the product at the same time? It's hard to say "there's something wrong with this. You should buy it." Eek. I'm sure it could be done, but it would take someone with more promotional savy than I can lay claim to. I'm hoping, at this point, to just keep the "what the #%*! is up with this epilogue?" down to a minimum.

Did you ever hear about the notorious cover on Suzanne Brockmann's much anticipated Get Lucky, where the superbly fit Navy SEAL looked more like the Pillsbury doughboy (http://www.suzannebrockmann.com/Lucky_Cover.htm)?
:e2thud:

She used this in her marketing efforts, sending free smiley face stickers to fans so that they could stick them on the hero on the cover. :D She even included an example...
http://www.suzannebrockmann.com/luckysf.cov.jpg

I wonder if there's the equivalent of a smiley face sticker for missing pages? Maybe you can run a contest and send an autographed epilogue to the winner. :)

[Deb Kinnard]

Congrats on the release. That's the truly important thing, not the production glitch. I recall one publisher who got the hero's & heroine's names BOTH wrong on the back cover copy of a romance novel...bet the author was grinding her teeth.

Here's a chocolate martini -- why not combine the best of both worlds?

:e2woo: on the book!

[aliajohnson]

Hey everyone!

One hugely frightening emergency (see prayer thread if you like) and a string of smaller ones has put me behind on pretty much everything, so I'm going to continue being mostly awol for the next few weeks. But I wanted to pop in and say thank you for the wonderful support and the great ideas. I really, really appreciate it!

:Hug2: