While this is an embarrising story, I feel like it is one I must share. Not only does it show that the indie author journey is full of unexpected bumps, but also it warns any who come after me to not make this same mistake.

First, you need to know I am publishing my book through both IngramSparks and KDP. I keep jumping back and forth to make sure all the information is the same between the two. While looking at the pricing page on the KDP website, I didn’t realize it was the final page before you agree to publish your book. I clicked what I thought was “save and continue,” but it turned out to be “publish your paperback book.” internalized screaming

My heart sank into my stomach when I got an unexpected pop-up box. It said my book would be available for sale within 72 hours because I am still putting the finishing touches on the manuscript. The book was going to be published with all the the issues I caught in my final edits! What I felt was nothing less than panic.

After talking to a representative, who informed me there was nothing they could do to reverse this, I made a plan to finish the edits on my book as quickly as possible. Once it hit the virtual shevles, I would be able to tweak the interor as long as only 10% on the manuscript was changed. The next 12 hours of my life was just one big ball of stress; I wasn’t going to be able to do it all before people could buy the book.

As you might have noticed, my title says that I ALMOST destroyed my book. Thank the merciful book gods there were issues with my manuscript that KDP bounced back, namely that I hadn’t included my ISBN in the interior. The crisis was averted, but what a horrible possibility, to have your book published unfinished. If I had tried to remove it, I would’ve lost my ISBN and rights to my title.

From now on, I will be meticulously mindful of that bottom right button, and I urge anyone who is using KDP to do the same.