I was under contract with Wings EPress, an electronic and trade paperback publisher, with my novel, "Cover Story." Publication was scheduled for February 1, 2004. During the month of January, after enormous stress with cover art work (I had my own artist but still had to pay their artist a fee and suffer through insulting email from her because I didn't choose her work), I was sent the first PDF file for read-through and errata list. There were errors, some NOT found in my original manuscript, all of which I corrected under huge stress because of the time line (less than two weeks from publication.) I then received the "corrected" PDF file. Much to my shock, it contained MORE errors, few of which were in the first PDF file. I then read through the entire manuscript and corrected THOSE errors, again under great stress from the time factor. With less than one week before publication, I received the "final" PDF file. It was a horror! Words, sentences, entire PARAGRAPHS were either just NOT present or MOVED to other places in the ms. I corrected YET AGAIN, working all day and night.
At that point, I was frantic. I went to some search engines in an attempt fo "find" Wings EPress and found SOME links but most of them didn't work. They had MY BABY (er, book.) I sent the Editor In Chief an hysterical email, asking if my errata list had been incorporated in the final PDF pass. I received NO response. I went to my contract and found the telephone number for Wings Epress and called. It was HER HOME! She finally called me back (45 minutes later) and told me that my manuscript had been sent to GALLEYS for publication in two days WITHOUT the changes I had made in the last of the seemingly endless string of PDF files! I FREAKED OUT (understandably??) I withdrew my manuscript from publication that night on the telephone and in email and did receive a Reversion of Rights letter (thank GOD). I don't know WHAT to think about that organization but I do feel the need to warn other writers about them.
At that point, I was frantic. I went to some search engines in an attempt fo "find" Wings EPress and found SOME links but most of them didn't work. They had MY BABY (er, book.) I sent the Editor In Chief an hysterical email, asking if my errata list had been incorporated in the final PDF pass. I received NO response. I went to my contract and found the telephone number for Wings Epress and called. It was HER HOME! She finally called me back (45 minutes later) and told me that my manuscript had been sent to GALLEYS for publication in two days WITHOUT the changes I had made in the last of the seemingly endless string of PDF files! I FREAKED OUT (understandably??) I withdrew my manuscript from publication that night on the telephone and in email and did receive a Reversion of Rights letter (thank GOD). I don't know WHAT to think about that organization but I do feel the need to warn other writers about them.
