Major Problem Resolved

I just got a major problem resolved. The problem was major in that if a person went to my Amazon page, scrolled down and clicked on the paperback version of my book What’s True About Christmas they were taken to another book by another author!

You see what I mean by major problem?

But it was more than that. The book it took people to when clicked had a similar title but was not one that I as a Christian wanted to be connected with. Not only would this man have gotten sales originally meant for my book, but it brought in reviews that I didn’t want either.

And on top of all that, it had the potential to damage my reputation.

After the break I will tell you what happened.

T&R Independent Books brings you this blog post or podcast to keep you informed on the issues of today. Authors need to stay informed so that they can relate to their readers facts as well as entertain them with their imagination.

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Now back to the article.

Fortunately, I have a friend who knew what I should do. Basically, it was as follows:

Goto https://kdp.Amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200736410Scroll down to Contact Us (yellow button)Click on Manage Your Books and SeriesClick on Republish or update a published bookClick on Phone Call UsType in phone numberClick on Request CallExplain problemDo not do a chat

I followed these instructions and the agent that I spoke to took care of the problem right away. I was told it might take 24 to 72 hours for the changes to take effect, but I noticed changes within a matter of a few hours. Needless to say, but I will, I was thoroughly pleased!

These steps should work for any problem you might have with Amazon regarding your book(s). The key is to clearly state your problem so that the agent can recognize the problem and fix it. So, before taking the steps listed above, I would suggest you first sit down and write out a description of the problem. If you have the description in front of you it is likely that you will be able to provide the agent with a brief, accurate description of it, thus facilitating a quick response and fix.

The problem was fixed for me rather quickly and now the book is available once again to potential readers. The only remaining thing is that I might change the book cover and see if that impacts sales any.

But this whole episode brought home to me a truth that I had not really considered prior to this problem happening to me. Periodically, it would be a good practice to visit your book(s) on Amazon and make sure the links work!It would truly be tragic to invest a lot of money into advertising your work only to have the potential sale go to another author.

Another advantage of doing that would be that such an examination of your book(s) would reveal any other problems that might exist with it, such as Out of Stock, wrong price, or wrong book cover. In the digital age we live in there are any number of problems that could exist. They can happen without your knowledge and cost you a ton of money. So, being proactive is a good idea.

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that I was moving my website. Well, I have made my initial step by signing up with Site Ground and buying the plan Grow Big. They have other plans, but I like this one and expect to get it up and running before my WordPress site ends in April.

By the way, I will still be using Word Press. I will be moving the entire site over to Siteground.com where I will then work on improving the design and overall look and feel of the site. My goal will be to create a site where the customers can visit, relax, and find something of value to them.

The primary difference between Word Press hosting and Site Ground hosting is in the price tag and possibly other features, as well. Eventually, I plan on having three domains with a Primary domain for the website, another domain for me, and a third domain for my wife. This will allow us as authors to market our name and our books seamlessly to our potential readers and provide a direct link to the primary site.

2021 was a great year for Teresa (Tess) and me in that it moved us into a better marketing position. But I truly believe that 2022 will be our best year ever. That is because we will soon have a stronger website using tools that I am already familiar with, plus we will have the expertise of the Christian Authors Community behind us providing knowledge, experience, and support all along the way. This connection is already beneficial to us! It was through them that we learned about siteground.com and bluehost.com. That in itself was beneficial, but we have also met some great people who share our desire to write!

If you are an author or you want to be one it would be a great move for you to check them out. Go to the website and check them out. You will be impressed with what they offer. I know I was impressed!

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