Digital Publishing – Unexpected Delays

publishing.pngThere are some strange things around digital publishing. For example, how long it takes something to go “live”.

As Alliteration Ink, I’m the publisher of The Crimson Pact1. It’s a new anthology edited Paul Genesse, and I’m really happy to bring it to you.

Well, as much as I can.

I had problems with the hotel wi-fi when I tried to upload it to Amazon, B&N, and Google the day before the official release. I woke up early on Sunday, reconnected, uploaded it… and then watched them all start “processing” the book. I then installed new shopping cart software on the Crimson Pact site (I’m using E-junkie2)… and after installing an entirely new store, discovered that they were all still “processing”.

By the time Millennicon was over, only Barnes & Noble had the book “live”. I uploaded it to GoodReads as well – that only took a few moments – almost as fast as e-Junkie. Amazon is still (as of right now) processing, as is Google Books.

What annoys me about this is that the files are good. I should know – I converted and tested them. This is simply a matter of adding the thing to a database.

Smashwords? Overnight to “process”, and I’m still dealing with its “conversion” incompatibilities… I mean, “quirks”.

So it’s funny that a smaller company can let me sell this eBook – and make more money for the authors – so easily, but the big players make everyone wait around for their convenience. You’d think the big companies had things, I dunno, efficient.

You can currently buy The Crimson Pact: Volume One at our website or clicking this link: (PDF/Kindle/ePub format in a ZIP file), or in ePub formats at GoodReads and Barnes & Noble.

[Edit: You can now buy The Crimson Pact at Amazon as well. Though I couldn’t list all of the authors, and it sorted them strangely.]

1 The Crimson Pact vowed to destroy the demons of the Rusted Vale – but something went wrong. The demons had their own secret plan and escaped, invading dozens of worlds across the multiverse. Read 26 stories set in those many different worlds about the men and women who refused to let the demons win.
2 I’m recommending E-Junkie, by the way. ZenCart had a bazillion features – most of which I didn’t need and slowed down the server. SimpleIPN worked well, but wouldn’t let me do coupons. E-Junkie isn’t free, but the lack of worries around it make it worthwhile for me.