MAJOR PUBLISHING MISTAKES

We all know that being a perfectionist is not always a good thing. Flexibility is the name of the game today. However, it seems that due diligence is the key to success.
 
Last week when I shared my books one-year anniversary with you, I discussed the learning curve that comes with publishing a book. My first venture into the publishing world was not easy. Though I surrounded myself with professionals and kept my hands on my baby, problems and mistakes were and are a part of this game. Sadly, not all of them can be corrected—some of them come with a high price, like this one: Pinnacle Lust’s cover failed to mention that it’s a TRILOGY or FIRST IN A SERIES or TO BE CONTINUED

​First In A Series/Trilogy
Oops! None of the formats of Pinnacle Lust states that the book is the first of a trilogy. Period. How could I miss this one? How could any of the people involved in the publishing of this book miss this? There is probably no good answer for this. Unfortunately, the readers and reviewers don’t know any of this—they judge only the end result. With this said, my mishap caused a handful of readers to react negatively to the end of the book and give me poor ratings, saying that the future of the story is left hanging and unanswered. How I wish I could reach out to those disappointed readers and tell them yes, the Pinnacle story continues! 

​Losing Momentum
Since many of my readers don’t know that Sharon’s and Leigh’s story will continue in book two, I lost the momentum I had built up by the end of book one. Many of my readers have moved on, and now I find myself having to start almost from scratch to build up my reader base again. Oops. Now I know—a bit too late—that it’s customary for authors to write To Be Continued, include an excerpt from book two, or share in some way that there will be a sequel.
 
Now, I’m hard at work on wrapping up the writing for book two of the Pinnacle trilogy, but I can’t help but wonder how many readers I’ve lost by my one small mistake. I can only hope that those who enjoyed Pinnacle Lust might stop by my author website to see if, by chance, there’s a sequel—and I hope they will be pleasantly surprised to see there is one.

Well, as the saying goes, you live and learn.

Michelle