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The Nightmare That Is Pre-order

3K views 35 replies 30 participants last post by  UnicornEmily 
#1 ·
After spending way too long writing A Stolen Woman, I rushed the launch. I posted about that. That was the foreshadowing of things to come. So, one component of my launch was pre-order. Tons of time, I thought. Tons!

So it's up on pre-order for an introductory price of 99c. I didn't pay a structural editor. I know how to structure a book by now. But I did pay a proofreader. He picked up a lot, offered changes I didn't like, but my books are set in Ohio, and I'm not. All is going fine. The formatter is set for the 15th (or so I think) and the launch date, the 25th. Tons of time. *Pfft*

Then the formatter emails me on the 9th. Am I ready? What? Um...yeah, okay. Apparently it was the 10th, not the 15th. But that's okay. I'm in control.

My first couple of betas come back and tell me there are still typos. That's also okay. Remember? Tons of time.

The formatter corrects the typos, and I relax. The useless launch begins to kick in and I discover to my delight that I have 68 pre-orders. My last pre-order attracted five, so in comparison, I'm Nora Roberts. Meanwhile, one of my alpha betas comes back to tell me there are a couple of minor continuity errors. She's not finished, though. Evidently, she has a list. Crap! I list those errors to be fixed, wondering what all the others are, when the second alpha beta comes back to tell me she's just started the book, and also has a list.

OMG! And now I have 71 pre-orders, two lists of errors, and three days to get the final ms in.

Time passes like a freight train. The betas are still reading. But how do you hurry someone who's doing you a favor?

I check the KDP site to find I now have seven hours to get the final manuscript up because it has to be up 72 hours before publication. I have seven hours to get an already p***d off formatter to correct issues I haven't received yet, and I have to be at work in 45 minutes for a four-hour shift. I contact alpha beta #2 and explain. She's in the bath, but grabs her Kindle and starts messaging me errors on Facebook. But I'm on the other side of the world and I have to leave for work. I have a four-hour shift from 8am to 12. The pre-order is due to lock me out at 12:52pm. The instant noon ticks over I race home from work to find alpha beta #2 has sent me her notes...then discover that the email I sent warning the formatter about my impending deadline has come back to me because...I replied to my own email and sent it to myself.

I dash off another email and at 12:35pm, the formatter emails me - he'll do his best but he's just started the changes. I have a previous version ready to push publish on, but the errors are awful. I'm dithering. Do I publish? Do I wait? The suspense is killing me.

I'm still dithering when Amazon tells me I have 7 minutes to upload my final draft. I'm just about having a heart attack. Sweat bursts on my brow. Then the formatter sends back. With four minutes on the clock, I upload the file and collapse in a heap as Amazon clicks and whirs, then locks me out with one minute to go and the latest version loaded.

Does this sound like you? Or am I the only one?
 
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#3 ·
I think pre-orders work best when you have everything ready by the time you put up the pre-order. But that can be hard for those of us who are impatient.

I've done pre-orders with the first book in each of my series, but overall I was underwhelmed. Since a big chunk of my readers come through KU, pre-orders don't do a lot for me.
 
#7 ·
I cannot tell you how relieved I am that your story has a happy ending. I was terrified it was going to be one of those just-missed-it ones. Congrats! And now you have an even longer list of things-not-to-do-when-launching. So it's all good, right? ;D Just another learning experience, and not a disaster.
 
#8 ·
I'm so glad you made the deadline, and congrats on all of those pre-orders! Give yourself a good break (no longer than 10 minutes) and then get back to work on the next book. ;)

Catherine Lea said:
Does this sound like you? Or am I the only one?
The files I upload to pre-order are finished except for the final proofreading pass. People will have different opinions on this, but I prefer alpha readers to betas. They read the book before proofing so I can fix the problems from largest to smallest (i.e. plot holes>continuity errors>proofreading). The heart attack scenario you described is precisely the reason I don't upload a pre-order until the book is virtually done.
 
#9 ·
PermaStudent said:
I'm so glad you made the deadline, and congrats on all of those pre-orders! Give yourself a good break (no longer than 10 minutes) and then get back to work on the next book. ;)

The files I upload to pre-order are finished except for the final proofreading pass. People will have different opinions on this, but I prefer alpha readers to betas. They read the book before proofing so I can fix the problems from largest to smallest (i.e. plot holes>continuity errors>proofreading). The heart attack scenario you described is precisely the reason I don't upload a pre-order until the book is virtually done.
Lesson well and truly learned. :)
 
#14 ·
Totally me. I can actually top that, maybe - for one of my preorders, the one right before the last one, I got it in late. Why? Apparently Amazon randomly changed the time of my preorder from 5 to 4. No idea why, except maybe Daylight Savings Time affected it? Dunno, but I tried to upload it at 4:50, only to find out that I was locked out. It worked out, though, because I was able to push out the new file before everybody got their book.

I'm going to really, really try hard not to push it this time. It's too stressful! After my last preorder, I went and got my nails done and drank three glasses of Mimosa while I was there. It was so nice...

So no, you're not the only one, not by a long shot! :)
 
#15 ·
LilyBLily said:
I have a couple of pre-orders right now and it doesn't help my nerves that Amazon emails me every night at midnight (!) telling me to make sure I have the next pre-order in place by the deadline. Final files have been in place for weeks, but the notices still spook me a little.
Yeah those emails are so stressful. It was better in the old days when you could tell them it was your final file and they'd shut up.
 
#19 ·
Ryan W. Mueller said:
Since a big chunk of my readers come through KU, pre-orders don't do a lot for me.
That's what my testing has shown. Sure it might be cool and give your readers and idea of what is coming but you can do that with a piece of text at the end of the book that says, book 2 will be ready next month. Then email them once and then release.
 
#20 ·
thevoiceofone said:
Rule of thumb, dont do pre-orders. You don't get the jump from Amazon anyway. Just get it all ready then release, then move on to the next, get it read and release. I don't see the point in doing pre-orders.
My impression exactly!
 
#21 ·
thevoiceofone said:
Rule of thumb, dont do pre-orders. You don't get the jump from Amazon anyway. Just get it all ready then release, then move on to the next, get it read and release. I don't see the point in doing pre-orders.
Rule of thumb, don't listen to people who say don't... :)

There are good reasons to do pre-orders, like getting an ASIN ahead of time to set up promo, getting also-boughts up and running, having a relaxing launch day without wondering is it live yet, is it live yet for hours. That and locking in guaranteed sales and a very nice lump sum on launch day. I find it workd very well with a series with reasonably swift releases - as each book releases, the next in series is already on pre-order. Pre-orders aren't always the best option, but they can work very well.

The moral of this thread is to get the pre-order book ready well ahead of time. It's NOT to not do pre-orders.
 
#23 ·
PaulineMRoss said:
I cannot tell you how relieved I am that your story has a happy ending. I was terrified it was going to be one of those just-missed-it ones. Congrats! And now you have an even longer list of things-not-to-do-when-launching. So it's all good, right? ;D Just another learning experience, and not a disaster.
I second this! Also, your formatter is incredibly kind for allowing you ANY changes after you've sent along the manuscript. Making changes once formatting has already been started can be a royal pain in the butt (for print anyway, less so for ebooks) and most formatters will only accept the final MS after double and triple checking that it's 100% edited and proofread. In that regard, it pays to learn to format yourself, however, all of this is easily avoided by actually giving yourself enough time to publish. Congrats on all ending well!
 
#25 ·
I just released my latest book and had considered doing a pre-order. But after some basic research here, I found that some writers ended up having their previous drafts released on the day their books went live instead of the latest versions they had uploaded. It was too much of a risk for me, so I'm avoiding pre-orders for at least the near future.
 
#26 ·
Has preorder changed?

I thought it had to be uploaded 10 days before publication date, and you were locked out that entire time.

???
 
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