Did you know that, when you set up a book on Amazon for pre-order, you lock in a deadline beyond which you cannot make any changes to the ebook file until after launch?
I didn’t.
The lockout went into effect on Monday, which wasn’t a problem, because the last edits had been finished last week . . . Wait, there’s a problem?
So, bottom line, I didn’t hear back from one proofreader until yesterday. She’d volunteered to do one final fast-pass, and unbeknownst to both of us the window for edits had closed. I’m glad she did it, though, because she found a big OOPS. In a key climactic scene the names of two characters had gotten swapped somehow. Or rather, their rolls had been swapped earlier and not all of the spots where they’re named got fixed. The result was a major discontinuity in two of the last chapters.
So I reached out to Kindle Publishing Direct, and they confirmed there was no way for them to unlock the pre-ordered book link to swap in the corrected file. They recommended just uploading the corrected file tomorrow, when the book would be published and the lock would be gone. I could let everyone know about the correction, and they could go back on their account management page and download the corrected file.
The other option was to cancel the pre-order. Of course this would void everyone’s hold on the book. It would also ban me from using the pre-order option again with Amazon for one year.
I slept on it and then decided to cancel the pre-order. Why? Because a lot of people pre-ordered the book. They were going to get the notice from Amazon the instant it published, or just open their Kindle and find the book link ready for download. And it would contain the OOPS.
And chances are at least some of my readers would have then read the book before seeing any notice about the OOPS. I’m not sure how many first-reads it would have spoiled, but I decided it wasn’t worth it just to have the pre-order/publication go smooth. So I canceled the pre-order, then promptly resubmitted the book, going through all the steps again. In my experience, although Amazon says it can take up to 72 hours to process a submission, going from clicking the Publish icon to actual publication generally takes only 2 to 6 hours; worst-case scenario for me, it would have popped up as available overnight.
I got the best-case, so here it is, finally. Book 7 in the Wearing the Cape series, Recursion.
Sorry for the mess-up, and I hope you all enjoy it.
Marion G. Harmon
Marion G. Harmon, A Writer in Vegas. 
Thanks for the information and details.
I am still seeing my pre-ordered Kindle version on my Amazon account. Should I cancel it and re-order?
Just ignore it. You would have only been charged when the pre-order was fulfilled for everyone, and now that won’t happen. So you need to re-order.
Thanks! Cancelled the old, and purchased the “new”.
Found It, Purchased It and Finished Reading It. Wow! Just Wow! 😀
That has happened to me. Got the wrong name in a situation. Anyway, congratulations on your seventh novel. I will look forward to reading it.
Yeah, that was … unexpected. Seriously … Jim?
Also, I hope someone had the decency to explain to Kaminari why all the deception. Might be too much to ask, of course.
You gave me a terrible scare, Marion. With the end of Ex-Heroes and Please Don’t Tell My Parents, I was under the impression the series was suddenly cancelled.
Thank you for coming up with a good solution. One thing you might raise with the people at Amazon is possibly allowing an author to include a link or text blurb in the email notice they send out about the cancellation. I think most will know to check here, but for readers unaware of your blog, it would be a quick way to redirect them to it as a source of more information.
There’s still a fair few typos in the book. Though I don’t know whether the swap in name for Astra’s maul from Malleus to Malius was intentional, there’s others I am sure of. Do you want a list?
Absolutely! No matter how I try, I always wind up with a few typos in the published book. Fortunately I can fix them.
Chapter 10:
Dr. Pelagrini’s current location
Chapter 18:
His target being a mass-murdering breakthrough supremacist supervillain, so I
couldn’t disagree with his ambition.
the ‘so’ is out of place
Chapter 23:
“Since Kitsune got herself shot while looking the supervillain mastermind behind
what’s been happening,”
looking => looking for
Chapter 27:
“Warp!” I choked out through rising nausea. Focus focus where—boosted— “Shell, he’s boosted!”
I remembered his attack, almost three years agot to Future-Me, and this was a lot wose.
==> worse, not wose.
Chapter 31:
warrenty -> warranty
If Kitsune hadn’t been after him, if he’d carried the op through, he’d have succeeded and we
<>
might have taken the first steps towards a civil war. Or maybe …
Oops, didn’t realize it would format that out. The last entry, angle brackets held the sentence “paragraph break, which should not be here”
Noticed a few minor typos but, like normal, I never keep something yo hand to not them on. The only one that really sticks in my memory was an early one. Chapter two header, Temblor instead of Tremblor.
Chapter 5
If I wore it, would the press make a big dial about my changing measurements?
dial => deal
Sorry about the delay, I’ve had a lousy week. Leaving out typos others spotted & working backwards, I have
Chapter Twenty Seven
Therefor, we must
Therefore, we must
three years agot
three years ago
Chapter Twenty Eight
into innert dust.
into inert dust.
Chapter Thirty One
when all want is
when all we want is
Glossary
seriel webcomic.)
serial webcomic.)
Young Sentenels
Young Sentinels
unrecognizably transformation himself
unrecognizably transform himself
the witch Momby.
the witch Mombi.
tweek them to make them
tweak them to make them
manifested an A Class Aeriokinetic-Type
manifested an A Class Aerokinetic-Type
One non-typo note: despite Bruce Willis’s movie, breaking up an asteroid before it hits Earth doesn’t help a great deal. You wouldn’t get the sort of single impact that might trigger a supervolcano but you do get everything else, explosions, firestorms, debris in the air like a volcanic eruption. It’s the same amount of mass and kinetic energy incoming after all and much of it will be around the same time/location. And if you break it up with nukes you also get to deal with radioactive debris.
Despite that quibble
Chapter Twenty
“Tremblor, the terrakinetic
“Temblor, the terrakinetic
Chapter Twenty Two
Malius is used instead of Malleus repeatedly in this chapter.
Chapter Twenty Four
reported airborn risk
reported airborne risk
Also, early in the chapter the poison is identified as cyanide, later as arsenic. The former seems more likely.
Chapter Twenty Five
virtual-tactil finger
virtual-tactile finger
Despite that quibble (the asteroid) this is another really good book. Thumbs up.
Chapter Sixteen
SS kidnapped, Poles,
SS kidnapped Poles,
Chapter Nineteen
Ms. Free is reputably
Ms. Free is reputedly
After grabbing Malius,
After grabbling Malleus,
(assuming that the old name is right)
I’ll finish my list tomorrow.
Thank you for these. Some, but not all, have been caught by others. I’m going to have to start formally crowd-sourcing my editing.
Chapter Two
he turned in air
he turned in the air
Chapter Four
already hate of me
already hate me
Chapter Five
costume rout
costume route
Chapter Six
can potentiually do
can potentially do
Chapter Seven
Temporal superimposition?
Temporal superposition?
Chapter Ten
usual zones or employment
usual zones of employment
That’s me finished now.
I wouldn’t worry too much. Every book has typos. I think the Hunger Games has about 2000. Most fans don’t worry about them too much and those that do are sometimes wrong. I panic over them myself sometimes, though, I admit.
Love it !!!
You will need to relink the book as part of the series as well, still only list 6 books.
Also, I think you published it without your middle initial, so I don’t see it in your author page.
George, A courageous move, and much appreciated. Can’t wait to start reading once my work day has finished. I’m sure it will be just as good as your previous novels.
Thanks again,
K
Having slept on it, I would say my favorite exchange is between H and J & S.
“Do you love him?”
“I don’t know! I won him in a game of truth or dare!”
I do like that line.
Great line but i suppose if the genders had been reversed would brand George as a “sexist” author.
Just tried to buy the book, twice. Amazon reports there is a problem processing your order, call or try again later, so something is screwy. Tried once from the website and once from my kindle. Also, book did not show up on the Marion G harmon page, had to search for it by name.
Ok, just tried again and it worked. But, the book still doesn’t appear on the Marion G Harmon page, you have to search for it by name, not listed with the other WTC books.
Problem solved?
It’s showing on your author page now. (Still listed as Marion Harmon (With the name a NOT hyper link). Unlike the rest which show as Marion G Harmon, hyperlinked)
But not part of the book series.
Did you get it sorted out?
I applaud your decision. One other thing you might want to be aware of is that the book in the link you posted is listed as by Marion Harmon, and when I did a search on Marion G. Harmon, which is how all the others in the series are listed, all of the others came up and Recursion did not.
Really enjoyed the book I’m glad you managed to sort out that error in the chapters so there would be no confusion just for curiosities sake who’s names were switched?
Rush and Sifu.
Just finished Recursion and while I’ll never be a fan of Kitsune over Atlas or Seven, I will say it was a great book and I appreciated all the continuity nods.
Here’s my review! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2367847724?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
CT, please remove the spoilers from your Amazon and Goodreads reviews!
A good read and fun.
You have a character position problem in ch. 29
“Eric—Gantry, left back of hall.”
“Grendel, left middle.”
“If-Man, right middle.”
*-*
“Ozma? Are you ready?”
“Grendel and I are in the Pit with Vulcan and Ambrosius. Good luck.”
Well, it certainly passed the its 1am and I don’t want to put this down test, at least for me. I’d rate it as definatly better than the last two installments,
So, no preorders on the next book, assuming it is ready within a year? A small price to pay, I think. I have read it, and I loved the cameos from your supporter’s characters!
Coolest WTC since Ronin Games but the worst editing job I’ve ever seen: confused Brian and Brandon at least twice, used “both” to refer to a sentence containing three characters, and many times it’s difficult to figure out which character is speaking.
Downloaded on the. (The nineteenth, before the preorder download Date.)
Thank you for the explanation. I think you made the right call. It was good customer service for your fans. I am going to go order and download it now 🙂