It feels like it's been a lifetime, waiting for each ebook retailer to make my book available. But just like lights in a city in the early hours of breaking dawn, one turning on and twinkling here, then another there, until houses up and down the streets are lit brightly as people ready themselves for their early morning commute to work, so is the appearance of my book on each ebook shelf.
Barnes & Noble I had expected to see by last week at the latest, but even when the distributor says it will appear within days of "shipment" (hmmm, an ebook being shipped) sometimes glitches happen, and that, my dear followers, can make a writer crazy. But you can't do anything about it except ask the distributor is there a hiccup in the system. Then they "reship." (Hmmm, an ebook being reshipped.)
Apple's iBookstore is another matter. Once it receives the electronic file, staff manually review the product to make sure it's 100% perfect. I haven't seen in print anywhere what they are checking for. Are they looking for formatting glitches that haven't translated well in the Smashwords formatting process? Are they checking for my i's to be dotted and t's crossed? Heaven help me if I missed something like that while typing my manuscript. I'm tempted to ask Smashwords what it is Apple's iBook store is looking for. But it's been long enough now I should hear in the next week whether they found thread loose in the ebook binding. So stick with me on this adventure and we'll all find out . . . maybe.
Barnes & Noble I had expected to see by last week at the latest, but even when the distributor says it will appear within days of "shipment" (hmmm, an ebook being shipped) sometimes glitches happen, and that, my dear followers, can make a writer crazy. But you can't do anything about it except ask the distributor is there a hiccup in the system. Then they "reship." (Hmmm, an ebook being reshipped.)
Apple's iBookstore is another matter. Once it receives the electronic file, staff manually review the product to make sure it's 100% perfect. I haven't seen in print anywhere what they are checking for. Are they looking for formatting glitches that haven't translated well in the Smashwords formatting process? Are they checking for my i's to be dotted and t's crossed? Heaven help me if I missed something like that while typing my manuscript. I'm tempted to ask Smashwords what it is Apple's iBook store is looking for. But it's been long enough now I should hear in the next week whether they found thread loose in the ebook binding. So stick with me on this adventure and we'll all find out . . . maybe.