So after going through the whole process of making the numerous corrections needed on my printed edition of Flight. I uploaded the new file to Amazon, which is where this current blog post beings. Unlike ebooks, I found out you can’t just update your current printed book copy that’s being distributed on Amazon. Instead you have to relist the new printed revision as if you were doing a newly published book.
After going through this process, in my opinion you might as well consider it a new book, whether or not it’s the same edition or not. The reason I say this is because of these things: First, you have to get a new ISBN or ASIN. Second, you have to completely re-create a new profile for the book as if it was a new novel. Third, the book now shows up on Amazon as a separate book. Fourth, even though the new book edition has the same name as your original book and it’s listed as the next edition, this doesn’t mean Amazon automatically removes the old version and just puts this book in its place. No, you have to ask Amazon to remove the first edition and make it no longer published. Lastly, you have to go through the process of getting all your reviews and listing properly setup once again.
This last part is tricky and much more complicated then I would have initially thought. The reviews for the first edition of your book are actually tied to the book itself. When Amazon unpublished the previous edition, all of the reviews that people left for that version of your novel are removed too. You have to ask Amazon to put back the reviews for your book, relist your new printed edition as the current paperback book and link it back with your ebook and audio book.
I learned this the hard way directly from Amazon when I realized my new edition wasn’t listed. Upon discussing this with their Service Desk the representative explained that I would have to have the first edition unpublished and said they would assist me with this process. Unfortunately this didn’t mean all of these little things were caught by the representative. I would have thought this would have been a built in process for setting up a new edition, but obviously this is not the case. Instead, I learned each of these parts while working with the Service Desk over the next two days.
Even now, four days later, I still only have 31 out of my 44 reviews being listed. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating that is. For those of you who don’t know, getting any reviews are hard and getting positive reviews are even harder. Most people who like a story buy the book and then say “Hey that was awesome, can’t wait for book two.” and then go on to the next book. A handful of people say, “Hey that book sucked and write a scathing review.”, while a very small handful say, “Hey that book was great, I’m going to let people know how much I enjoyed reading it.” So for us writers, these reviews, especially the good ones, are priceless. These reviews are not just priceless for the fact that it helps improve our writing and lets us know how we are doing. It also helps more people get interested in our books and encourages more readers to check us out, which in the end means more books get written =D
While for many of us Indie Writers, the printed edition might not mean much, because we tend to sell so few in comparison to our ebooks and audio books. It does become an issue if we need to share our story with a news paper, professional reviewer or a friend that wants to buy our book as a gift for a friend or family member. Suddenly, that bad grammar edition that you fixed up six months ago is being share out in all of its unfinished and embarrassing glory. I discovered this firsthand when a couple friends said they wanted to buy my book as a gift for their husband or wife. All of a sudden that forgotten printed book takes on a whole new level of importance. Thankfully I had just received my second edition prints when a reporter from the Stars and Stripes asked for a copy of my novel for a story they were working on for local writers that support the troops.
Anyway, it’s very late and way past my bed time. Although before I call it a night I’ll share some pictures my wife took on Sunday.
After going through this process, in my opinion you might as well consider it a new book, whether or not it’s the same edition or not. The reason I say this is because of these things: First, you have to get a new ISBN or ASIN. Second, you have to completely re-create a new profile for the book as if it was a new novel. Third, the book now shows up on Amazon as a separate book. Fourth, even though the new book edition has the same name as your original book and it’s listed as the next edition, this doesn’t mean Amazon automatically removes the old version and just puts this book in its place. No, you have to ask Amazon to remove the first edition and make it no longer published. Lastly, you have to go through the process of getting all your reviews and listing properly setup once again.
This last part is tricky and much more complicated then I would have initially thought. The reviews for the first edition of your book are actually tied to the book itself. When Amazon unpublished the previous edition, all of the reviews that people left for that version of your novel are removed too. You have to ask Amazon to put back the reviews for your book, relist your new printed edition as the current paperback book and link it back with your ebook and audio book.
I learned this the hard way directly from Amazon when I realized my new edition wasn’t listed. Upon discussing this with their Service Desk the representative explained that I would have to have the first edition unpublished and said they would assist me with this process. Unfortunately this didn’t mean all of these little things were caught by the representative. I would have thought this would have been a built in process for setting up a new edition, but obviously this is not the case. Instead, I learned each of these parts while working with the Service Desk over the next two days.
Even now, four days later, I still only have 31 out of my 44 reviews being listed. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating that is. For those of you who don’t know, getting any reviews are hard and getting positive reviews are even harder. Most people who like a story buy the book and then say “Hey that was awesome, can’t wait for book two.” and then go on to the next book. A handful of people say, “Hey that book sucked and write a scathing review.”, while a very small handful say, “Hey that book was great, I’m going to let people know how much I enjoyed reading it.” So for us writers, these reviews, especially the good ones, are priceless. These reviews are not just priceless for the fact that it helps improve our writing and lets us know how we are doing. It also helps more people get interested in our books and encourages more readers to check us out, which in the end means more books get written =D
While for many of us Indie Writers, the printed edition might not mean much, because we tend to sell so few in comparison to our ebooks and audio books. It does become an issue if we need to share our story with a news paper, professional reviewer or a friend that wants to buy our book as a gift for a friend or family member. Suddenly, that bad grammar edition that you fixed up six months ago is being share out in all of its unfinished and embarrassing glory. I discovered this firsthand when a couple friends said they wanted to buy my book as a gift for their husband or wife. All of a sudden that forgotten printed book takes on a whole new level of importance. Thankfully I had just received my second edition prints when a reporter from the Stars and Stripes asked for a copy of my novel for a story they were working on for local writers that support the troops.
Anyway, it’s very late and way past my bed time. Although before I call it a night I’ll share some pictures my wife took on Sunday.
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