Not What it Seems

The thing that drives Amazon and makes people flock to it is the ease of use. This also translates to their Kindle publishing service. But automated systems come with inherent problems of their own, not that they are so different from those in the analog world…

What I thought was the end of results for my first marketing campaign turns out to be a glitch at their end – not that I have seen any official word from Amazon on the matter.

Over at the Kindleboards there are several discussions regarding a slow down, delay or no reporting of sales (or at least a trickling of sales). A few authors are watching their rankings going up with no sales for several days – which I think we can all agree is impossible.

On the one hand, this is a relief because it means that all I have to do is wait for the glitch to be straightened out. On the other hand, it brings up an interesting issue. If authors are not notified when there is a glitch, how are we to know that their reporting is accurate?

It is not a perfect system but I prefer the virtual immediacy of it as compared to say royalty statements from a trade publisher, which are so far behind and inaccurate it is the stuff of legend.

There are many things happening at once and none will have immediate results. I believe the Spanish version of “Maya” will be shelved because my editor has gone completely AWOL and until I find a reliable and trustworthy editor to replace her, I am not comfortable going forward with it. This is only a momentary setback. “Maya” may still the light of an electronic bookstore some day, just not this week.

I wish my friend Carlos were around, especially because he was the one who encouraged me to self-publish anyway.