Last night I received the printed proof copies of LA ULTIMA CRUZADA ... and discovered to my horror that during the printing process some of the formatting has been removed or altered, with the effect that a number of blank spaces have appeared in the text where they should not be and the pagination has been altered, leaving the Contents page with incorrect page numbers for each section and chapter.
I compared the printed version of the book with my original .docx file, and I could find no reason for this to happen. I then contacted Lulu.com in the hope that they could sort the situation out, because until it is, I cannot release the book for publication.
Some time later ...
Amber, one of Lulu.co's online support workers, spent a hour helping me to solve the problem. It appears that if I upload the book as a .docx format file, the conversion process can alter the publication's formatting. She advised me that this can be avoided by uploading the book in PDF format. However, when I tried to do this there were problems with the upload, which kept telling me that there were errors relating to embedded fonts in the file. In the end I sent the file directly to Amber, who was able to upload it for me.
On her advice I downloaded and checked the PDF file that will be used to print the book, and I have ordered another printed proof copy to make doubly sure that it is exactly the way I want it to be before releasing it for publication. Hopefully this printed proof copy will arrive within a week or so, but if it doesn't I might miss the Christmas deadline I set for the book's publication.
I compared the printed version of the book with my original .docx file, and I could find no reason for this to happen. I then contacted Lulu.com in the hope that they could sort the situation out, because until it is, I cannot release the book for publication.
Some time later ...
Amber, one of Lulu.co's online support workers, spent a hour helping me to solve the problem. It appears that if I upload the book as a .docx format file, the conversion process can alter the publication's formatting. She advised me that this can be avoided by uploading the book in PDF format. However, when I tried to do this there were problems with the upload, which kept telling me that there were errors relating to embedded fonts in the file. In the end I sent the file directly to Amber, who was able to upload it for me.
On her advice I downloaded and checked the PDF file that will be used to print the book, and I have ordered another printed proof copy to make doubly sure that it is exactly the way I want it to be before releasing it for publication. Hopefully this printed proof copy will arrive within a week or so, but if it doesn't I might miss the Christmas deadline I set for the book's publication.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat is a blow for sure but at least they were able to arrive at a workable solution for you. I am sure it will get there in the end and be available close to when you wanted it to be.
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteHad this been my first book, I can understand why the problems might have arisen, but as I have already published several books using this method, it came as a rather nasty shock when it didn't work.
It is rather annoying that my publication schedule has been thrown out of kilter, but I have learned a very useful lesson, and I hope not to make that same mistake again. With luck the book will be published by Christmas, even if purchasers have to wait until the New Year to receive their copies.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI still have this on my Xmas list so as soon as you are good to go I will be 'in like Flynn' so to speak.
Not that I need another distraction though....:-)
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteIt's good to know that I will at least sell one copy!
All the best,
Bob
Well done for watching things like a hawk and keeping everybody informed!
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exile FoG,
DeleteI've learned from long experience to check, check, and check again. I will never find all the faults or mistakes, but I can at least minimise the number that slip through.
As to keeping possible purchasers up to date with the current state of play with regard to the book's publication date ... well it makes sense if I want to avoid disappointing people.
All the best,
Bob
Well, much better to catch this in pre-production!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Freitag,
DeleteTrue, but annoying none the less. Hopefully the next batch of books will be laid out the way I designed them to be.
All the best,
Bob