NOT Thrilled But I Will Survive.

 I'd like to blame it all on First World Issues. I really would. I would like to say I only encounter petty problems and I'll just have to deal with them as they come along. For the most part, this is actually a true statement. I'm not dealing with physical issues or mental issues that create havoc in my life. I'm not dealing with external issues such as being bombed or having to worry about violence and criminal or war activities. For the most part, thank you, Jesus, I am really just dealing with small and inferior problems that I can pray about, work out, or just forget about.  This is a good thing. Let me tell you about my latest issue.

    Xlibris publishing won my bid for publishing my new book "Of Kilted Pleasure" but I can almost (almost) guarantee that I won't make that mistake again. I will likely go with Outskirts Press and I'll more than likely sing their praises as opposed to complaining. I really do hate complaining, and I thought about not complaining, but the truth is if I don't mention my experiences other authors will fall into the same traps I have. I want to at least do my part to help them not make the same folly I have made. 

    Xlibris was the choice due to two issues: (1) this book is a novel, it's not a picture book, and it's not a book with photos and captions. There are no slick pages in this book. (2) money.  They offered the same package that others offered; the exact same package, and they were about $500 less than the others. I should have gone with the others. There is something to be said about performance, accountability, trust, and relationships between authors and publishers. I will NOT make that mistake again. I can tell you that much. I also will never use Palmetto again, and if it sounds as if I am the problem, please let me remind anyone and everyone, that I am the one paying for the service. It really is my choice.

    Xlibris' project manager was great at getting me the discounts I wanted, and he promised me the Moon when it came to me being allowed to submit and resubmit my manuscript. I've been able to resubmit it several times, which is in and of itself GREAT, but also, I have been misled and flat misdirected on other issues, so, me sending my manuscript in one extra time for corrections isn't that big of a deal now, is it? Nope. Not in my eyes it's not.  The project manager promised me a LEVEL 3 illustration. I paid for it. I got a great discount, but I paid for a LEVEL 3. What I got was a cartoon coloring book illustration that was misdrawn and silly looking! It truly was a moronic thing on their part to think that ANY author, me included, would accept a cartoon coloring book illustration for a Highlander Romance novel. There are just some things even a 5th grader could understand...and it looked as if a 5th grader had drawn the cartoon! (Not going to lie, it was much better than I could have done.)

    After fighting over the cover not being an illustration since a more realistic and colored image would be out of the question for their artists who had not agreed to do the image for the price they quoted me, I ended up compromising my cover for their sake ONLY to be misled AGAIN by the team that puts things together. They told me to go to www.gettyimages.com and pick a photo. NO ONE told me it had to be a Royalty Free image. With Palmetto I had the option of using either; maybe I should NOT have assumed Xlibris was on the same playing field as Palmetto. As it turned out, the photo I chose was a paid image. The project manager did not tell me this, but the illustrator did. OK, it would have been great if they had mentioned it before I spent time looking for an image.

    Next, and this is HUGE, I was told by the illustrator to use a particular and very specific link, the link she sent me, to find an image on Getty Images. I did that. I looked and I found one. I sent it to her. The other lady, not my project manager but the one putting the book together, wrote to say it was also a paid image. WHAT? No, it's not. It clearly says "Royalty Free" on the side, and I took a Snip of it and sent it to her.  I may have also mentioned in all caps that I didn't appreciate being told to go to a specific link if it didn't have the images they could use. I have not heard back from them; I assume they are working on my book and will be that much happier to get rid of me as a client. No worries. The feeling is quite mutual.

    I really am not that hard to get along with. What I am is easy to deal with when you tell me the truth, when you do what you say you will do, and when you don't give me bad directions over and over again. I can't even get the project manager to call me back. He's too embarrassed! That is what the interior director told me. OK, so get over it, put in your time, and make your apologies. I guess in their culture it is best to just hide and never be seen again, but if they're going to work with Americans they need to understand we forgive people when they say they're sorry! We give two, three, four, and sometimes five chances. I draw the line at five really. I won't be using Xlibris in the future. 

    We will see if they use my image. I have asked them to manipulate the image if possible to raise the left side of the ruins. I hope they don't use a freaking pencil to do that! I wouldn't put it past them to try. Geez, Louise!

Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES (Royalty Free)