October 8, 2021

I started out September with an air of bliss, floating contently upon my decision to stop self-publishing and just write.

Then I received proofs for Of Gilded Flesh from IngramSpark that needed my approval before going to print. But I couldn't approve them. Nope. Something was wrong. The stress of publishing suddenly dammed up my stream of blissful contentment.

Somehow, an extra page had been inserted at the beginning of the document. It's not in the original Word file, but for some reason appeared when converted to PDF. This extra blank page caused the pagination to be off - what should have been odd pages were now even and vice-versa. You can imagine my dismay. Stress. And frustration.

Sure, it was an easy fix: remove the page and resubmit. But then comes the flood of anxiety, the loss of sleep, and the inability to focus on other tasks as I fret over what else I might have missed - things that won't appear until after publication as I randomly thumb through a printed copy months later. Or years later. (This happened with my first two books. You may recall my post Things Fall Apart [August, 2019])

Thankfully, I've now received print samples - hardcover and paperback - and all appears well. But it doesn't change anything. Walking away from self-publishing is still the right decision. I'm much happier to just write - my next novel, my memoir of fatherhood, these newsletters - without the worry and distraction of font sizes, typographical errors, and endless publishing minutia.

Until next time.

Gordon Gravley

To receive more content, only available to subscribers, sign up to my monthly newsletter, Chasing Words.