My first experience with an Ebook Publisher

Kingson · Oct 27, 2012

Initially, I was excited to be offered a contract with an E-book publisher. I thought I'd give it a try since my books were not getting much traction on their own.

Imagine my shock and disappointment when I started reading through the published version of my book to discover it loaded with typos and awkward, sometimes nonsensical sentences! I have two full pages of typos and I'm only a third of the way through the book. Holy shit this can't be typical, right?

I already had the book professionally copy edited but I had to agree to go with their editor's decisions if they wanted to change something. I never thought they would publish a ms full of errors. Anyone else had this experience?

triceretops · Oct 27, 2012

Yep, six years ago. Two of my books ended up worse than the originals, a fault that came from the publisher's lack of editing and formatting skill. In spite of my protests and revisions, they went to print in poor shape and suffered for it. The publisher tanked two months later, stranding 26 writers. Right were eventually returned.

thothguard51 · Oct 27, 2012

Kingson said:
I never thought they would publish a ms full of errors. Anyone else had this experience?

As a reader, yes.

Since purchasing my Kindle Fire, I have been very discouraged about the lack of professional editing quality I have experienced in the past year. Mostly with self published works where the writer has not had the work professionally edited, or small e-pubs that do not have the experience or the capital.

And from what I read, many other readers are feeling the same way and it is turning them off from unknown self published writers and small indie publishers that they know nothing about...

Sheryl Nantus · Oct 27, 2012

Which publisher was this?

You may want to put a note in the B&BC about the company to warn others.

Maryn · Oct 27, 2012

I second that. Add to, or start, the publisher's thread in Bewares and Background Checks, so the next person considering them will see what happened to you.

I'm sorry this happened. Are you stuck with them via contract?

Maryn, with a hug

Kingson · Oct 27, 2012

At this point I'm not going to give out the publisher's name. I've expressed my anger and disappointment so they are aware of what I'm feeling. They're one of the first e-publishers, which was another reason I was so surprised. I'll see how things play out and if things continue to go downhill, perhaps I'll reveal who it is in the "Bewares" category.

I am under a three year contract, but he has stated in blog entries that he will let someone out of a contract if they want. I might as well see if they can sell some books before bailing out. In the mean time, I'm preparing a file of mistakes that he said he will definitely correct. But holy shit, I shouldn't be spending my limited and valuable writing time doing this! Thanks for the support.

amergina · Oct 27, 2012

I have an e-book coming out soon, and they've been very good at editing--exacting, both in terms of content and grammar. I'm not worried.

I think the quality of edits really depends on the publisher and the staff. If it's a one-person show, editing may suffer. I know several different folks combed over my manuscript.

But as a reader, yes, I've run across e-books that have editing that's less than stellar.

FabricatedParadise · Oct 27, 2012

Kingson said:
At this point I'm not going to give out the publisher's name. I've expressed my anger and disappointment so they are aware of what I'm feeling. They're one of the first e-publishers, which was another reason I was so surprised. I'll see how things play out and if things continue to go downhill, perhaps I'll reveal who it is in the "Bewares" category.

I am under a three year contract, but he has stated in blog entries that he will let someone out of a contract if they want. I might as well see if they can sell some books before bailing out. In the mean time, I'm preparing a file of mistakes that he said he will definitely correct. But holy shit, I shouldn't be spending my limited and valuable writing time doing this! Thanks for the support.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with that publisher. It always saddens me when I hear an author talk about an experience like yours with a small ePub.

Ideally, edits should be given back to you for review/approval before the book is published. It's not a bad idea to make sure the publisher offering you a contract does this, before you sign with them.

Something else, you may want to check for a termination clause in your contract. It's always in your best interest to have that written directly into the contract. In the future, Don't be afraid to have a lawyer look over your contract before signing. A good publisher will not only be okay with this, but will expect it. The contract you are offered, should be extensive and cover everything from royalties, to rights, to final approval on edits, and everything in between.

I would also encourage you to contact authors who've already contracted with the publisher you are considering. See what they have to say about their own experiences.

I hope your issues with your publisher iron out smoothly. Good luck!

Eden

Old Hack · Oct 27, 2012

I'm really sorry to hear you're having such a bad experience with your publisher, Kingson.

Kingson said:
I already had the book professionally copy edited but I had to agree to go with their editor's decisions if they wanted to change something. I never thought they would publish a ms full of errors. Anyone else had this experience?

It's the publisher's job to have a book edited, copy edited and proof read, not yours; but a writer should have the final say over how his book is edited and if he doesn't agree with suggested changes, he shouldn't have to make them. It sounds as if you weren't dealt with very well here, which is sad.

If you don't feel able to note this experience in your publisher's thread in BR&BC, which I can quite understand, you could let me or one of the other mods know so that we can do it for you.

bearilou · Oct 28, 2012

Old Hack said:
If you don't feel able to note this experience in your publisher's thread in BR&BC, which I can quite understand, you could let me or one of the other mods know so that we can do it for you.

I'm going to add a 'pleeeeeze' with puppydog eyes. As an author who will be submitting to epublishers, I'd like to know who to side-eye so I don't get caught in the same quagmire.

It's totally understandable you don't want to name names yourself. At the same time, this information is important for other writers, so it would be nice to know.

Kingson · Oct 28, 2012

FabricatedParadise said:
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with that publisher. It always saddens me when I hear an author talk about an experience like yours with a small ePub.

Ideally, edits should be given back to you for review/approval before the book is published. It's not a bad idea to make sure the publisher offering you a contract does this, before you sign with them.

Something else, you may want to check for a termination clause in your contract. It's always in your best interest to have that written directly into the contract. In the future, Don't be afraid to have a lawyer look over your contract before signing. A good publisher will not only be okay with this, but will expect it. The contract you are offered, should be extensive and cover everything from royalties, to rights, to final approval on edits, and everything in between.

I would also encourage you to contact authors who've already contracted with the publisher you are considering. See what they have to say about their own experiences.

I hope your issues with your publisher iron out smoothly. Good luck!

Eden

Thank you for your kind words.

Kingson · Oct 28, 2012

Old Hack said:
I'm really sorry to hear you're having such a bad experience with your publisher, Kingson.

It's the publisher's job to have a book edited, copy edited and proof read, not yours; but a writer should have the final say over how his book is edited and if he doesn't agree with suggested changes, he shouldn't have to make them. It sounds as if you weren't dealt with very well here, which is sad.

If you don't feel able to note this experience in your publisher's thread in BR&BC, which I can quite understand, you could let me or one of the other mods know so that we can do it for you.

Thank you, but I think I should just see how things play out for now. The e-pub is a small operation but they're not a fly-by-night company. In retrospect, I think they're going through growing pains and rushed my book.....OMG their website is missing... I think I'm going to throw up. I'll report back later...

Kingson · Oct 28, 2012

bearilou said:
I'm going to add a 'pleeeeeze' with puppydog eyes. As an author who will be submitting to epublishers, I'd like to know who to side-eye so I don't get caught in the same quagmire.

It's totally understandable you don't want to name names yourself. At the same time, this information is important for other writers, so it would be nice to know.

Okay, just give me a little more time. I just noticed their website has disappeared. Give me a couple days to see how this plays out. I'm gonna be sick.

FabricatedParadise · Oct 28, 2012

Kingson said:
Okay, just give me a little more time. I just noticed their website has disappeared. Give me a couple days to see how this plays out. I'm gonna be sick.

Hey, don't worry too much yet. We (Entranced Publishing) had our website go down about a month ago, (for several days) because our webhost was updating/moving things. It's not always a cause for concern. Just keep an eye on it and keep trying to get in touch with your editor. Don't worry yourself too much until you're sure there's something to worry about.

Kingson · Oct 29, 2012

FabricatedParadise said:
Hey, don't worry too much yet. We (Entranced Publishing) had our website go down about a month ago, (for several days) because our webhost was updating/moving things. It's not always a cause for concern. Just keep an eye on it and keep trying to get in touch with your editor. Don't worry yourself too much until you're sure there's something to worry about.

You're right. Just an ISP glitch.

Captcha · Oct 30, 2012

Were the errors things that were in the original MS and didn't get caught, or were they actually added by the publisher?

Kingson · Oct 30, 2012

Captcha said:
Were the errors things that were in the original MS and didn't get caught, or were they actually added by the publisher?

The MS had been professionally copy edited before I submitted it. These are all errors from the publisher's editor.

Hildegarde · Nov 7, 2012

Kingson said:
Imagine my shock and disappointment when I started reading through the published version of my book to discover it loaded with typos and awkward, sometimes nonsensical sentences! I have two full pages of typos and I'm only a third of the way through the book. Holy shit this can't be typical, right?

Holy cow! Did you not get a final proof? I'm so sorry this happened to you!

veinglory · Nov 7, 2012

I think compulsory acceptance of all of the editor's changes would be a deal killer in contract, if it was outside contract it would just be plain unprofessional. And that's before considering whether the editor is competent

Kingson · Nov 10, 2012

Update on typo scandal

So I went through the book, made a list of all the typos, sent them to the boss, who right away went to work on them and resubmitted to his distributors (Amazon and Untreed). He then gave me a little lecture on submitting a ms. that still had mistakes (I know, WTF?). I informed him that all of the mistakes were introduced during the editing process and offered to send him my original ms. to verify my claim. He responded that he was going to speak to the editor and find out how this could've happened and would get back to me.

The edits were not major revisions or anything. Mostly just rearranging some sentences, adding or taking out adjectives. A few times the editor added a some sentences to help clarify something etc.. The contract states that small stuff they could just change on their own. Maybe that's b.s., I don't know. Any way, I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt. The book came online in September. So we'll see. Thanks everyone for your input and thoughts. Any more thoughts are welcome.

amergina · Nov 10, 2012

Gah. As an editor and as a writer, the idea of an editor rearranging sentences or adding *any* text without author approval makes me wince.

Kingson · Nov 10, 2012

amergina said:
Gah. As an editor and as a writer, the idea of an editor rearranging sentences or adding *any* text without author approval makes me wince.

Okay, I appreciate your honesty. Now that the scales have fallen from my eyes, I'll know better next time. I think being the first time a "publisher" offered me a contract for something I wrote distorted my judgement, as if I had to just agree otherwise they might rescind the offer and I'd be left with no other offers ever, for the rest of my life. Live and learn.

Sheryl Nantus · Nov 10, 2012

Kingson said:
Okay, I appreciate your honesty. Now that the scales have fallen from my eyes, I'll know better next time. I think being the first time a "publisher" offered me a contract for something I wrote distorted my judgement, as if I had to just agree otherwise they might rescind the offer and I'd be left with no other offers ever, for the rest of my life. Live and learn.

I would encourage you to report them to Writer Beware and also either on their thread on BB&C and/or start up a separate thread.

This is unacceptable behavior, period. There's no wriggle room here, no way for a publisher to justify this.

Tell us who they are and let us help others keep far away from this joker outfit. They done you wrong and they'll do others if no one speaks up.

Deleted member 42 · Nov 10, 2012

Kingson said:
The edits were not major revisions or anything. Mostly just rearranging some sentences, adding or taking out adjectives. A few times the editor added a some sentences to help clarify something etc.. The contract states that small stuff they could just change on their own. Maybe that's b.s., I don't know.

That's out of line, and not the way professional editors work.

The editor can suggest changes, either via marked up hardcopy, or using Track Changes and Comments in a word processor file, or via an editorial letter or a combination of all three.

In general:

Editors. Do. Not. Make. Changes. By. Fiat.

Writer writes, revises, writes, revises many times.
Writer submits ms. (to agent or to editor) that is as ready as it can be.
Writer writes new book. Time passes. New book is revised, written, revised.
Ms. for first book is accepted; jubilation takes place, contract arrives.
Writer and agent/lawyer go over the contract, paying particular attention to all dates, all percentages, all terms and rights and especially things like reversion etc. Some changes may be negotiated, especially wrt roylties, deadlines, reversion, and advances.
Contract is signed and shipped.
Advance may arrive.
Writer waits for editorial letter etc.
Editorial letter and edited ms. arrives
Writer makes or approves changes via track changes.
Ms. returned.
Second chunk of advance may arrive.
Writer gets proof / ARC or galley or some kind of intermediate version to check carefully for anything thing that has been missed by editor, writer, copy editor, and possibly proofer. No Major Changes Are Made At This Point.
Proof is returned/letter about proof is returned.
Book is printed/produced, distributed.
Much jubilation occurs. Book may be fondled at bookstore. Authors copies may arrive. Final advance check may arrive.
Writer too busy finalizing second ms. to notice.
Second book is submitted . . .

Kingson · Nov 10, 2012

I get it. There is no excuse for this behavior. But let me see what they say regarding why this happened and then I'll report the publisher to a moderator who can then do what they do.

My first experience with an Ebook Publisher

Kingson

triceretops

thothguard51

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Sheryl Nantus

Holding out for a Superhero...

Maryn

At Sea

Kingson

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

FabricatedParadise

Can be bribed with circus peanuts

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

bearilou

DenturePunk writer

Kingson

Kingson

Kingson

FabricatedParadise

Can be bribed with circus peanuts

Kingson

Captcha

Kingson

Hildegarde

A newb in the fog

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Kingson

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

Kingson

Sheryl Nantus

Holding out for a Superhero...

Deleted member 42

Kingson