Saturday, September 22, 2012

Apologies, Time-off, and Sunshine on the Beach

UPDATE: as of 9/23/2012 Ashes to Ashes & Cinder to Cinder is available again. Not free yet. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut is today and Mary Mary Quite Contrary http://amzn.to/PWSrTA
tomorrow 9/24/2012

Huh. Where do I begin.
Ok, As you know Ashes to Ashes & Cinder to Cinder is unavailable on amazon.com for the second day now. The reason is, according to amazon, that a reader/readers complained about having no table of contents ( in a short story? * scratching my head * ) and that readers with color devices can't read on black backgrounds. ( I remember when we used to read real books, I think we didn't have that option even when you tucked yourself under the blanket with a flash light in your hands, you couldn't turn that page black, damn! )

So I fixed that and send the file back to amazon, totally neglecting the divine coincidence that this happened the day the book was free in what looked liked a successful 5 free day promo, and totally neglecting Amazon's refusal to refund that free  day ( we get 5 free days from amazon every 90 days in exchange of making our books exclusive to them ) . They sent me an email saying that my book is back to life. I go check it. It's still unavailable. So I send them back, blah blah blah. And they say it still needs fixing, which at this moment is beyond my expertise. I checked the book on several devices, it works like a charm. I guess my charm didn't have the power to enchant that specific complaining reader yet.

PS. i want to note that I totally owe amazon, because without them I wouldn't have met all the lovely readers I have now. They have a keen customer service that really cares about both readers and writers, and I thank them for that, but when they do something that I can't understand, I point it out.

So basically, this is almost a dead end for the book. I sent the poor 30 pages to a professional book formatter and I am awaiting a reply, wondering if this is the Queen of Sorrow's curse or something.

OF  COURSE THE BIGGEST VICTIM IN ALL THAT ARE THE READERS WHO WERE PROMISED A 5 DAY FREE OFFER. 
Well, the offer is still on, following the dates we agreed upon. It is possible to read to books 1,3,4,5 and then later read 2. You will not miss alot. They are supposed to be separated diaries of different characters. All I can do is apologize and apologize, and then maybe apologize some more, even though I almost have nothing to do with this, and I will surely lose alot by hosting an unsuccessful event where I wanted to put my books out for free.

Now here is why I am writing this post: I am not going to mention all the stupid bad things from hate emails to plagiarism accusations to bad mouthing me on twitter. Although I didn't expect all that, I always convinced myself that I had nothing to do with that. I am peaceful dude who just loves to write. I actually love to write more than I love to get published. The idea of writing itself and messing around with my characters is all the fun I had in this journey. That someone else liked what I spilled out of my brain makes the fun double.
But now all this nonsense is wearing me out. I haven't slept well the last months, sitting in front of a lab top, waiting for amazon to approve my book, or answering every email.
Then I suddenly remembered. "Hey Cameron, Wuzzup. You used to have a life, right? What happened to that?"
So I really rather go to the beach, shake my ass to some music, drink up, and have fun with friends. I feel like Al Pacino in the movies HEAT ( yeah, I know old movie ) when he finally was fed up with chasing Robert De Niro and remembered he had a life that is ten times better than chasing criminals.

So expect me to disappear for a while. i need to clear my head, have fun, and best off all have time to write. And to all those net haters, I have these words for you, like Decca Tenderstone said to the Faya audience in the Zeppelins in the I Am Alive series: Go have a life! Go love somebody, grow up, have fun, and if you can't a smile on your grumpy face, trying to putting on someone else's. And I will add: the hell with grammar, the hell with spelling mistakes, and formatting, and haters, and competitors. Go to the beach and shake you ass to some Rihanna or Gaga music. Live instead of watching life happen on the your computer screen.
God bless all the Monsters and thank HIM for giving us fairy tales.
Over and out:)
Cameron










7 comments:

  1. I noticed the craziness!! I was all what the... Sometimes (as I have said to other authors I speak to) some people just live for negative energy. Sucks that the ruined it for eveyone :( However I will tweet extra today and maybe things will get back on track <3

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  2. Thanks Tiffany
    apologies for your readers. I will make another free offer in the future. Maybe with the Grimm Prequel 6:)

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  3. Oh Cam! That totally sucks! All of it. Some people are just not happy unless they are making others miserable! But you know what, they are only doing it because they are jealous that they aren't awesome! In australia, it is called the tall poppy syndrome, where people hate when someone shines brighter than everyone else. Some people don't want other's bright light outshining their poor excuse for a light.

    Hold your head up high mate, party like there's no tomorrow and enjoy your downtime. Everyone needs it! And you most definitely deserve it after all the crap you've hd to go through!

    Drop me a line if you need to vent! That's what friends are for...remember.

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  4. Yeah, I noticed it all day, weird! Anyway, sorry it happened to you on your Promo week. When it's available again I'll get it. I finished Snow White, Blood Red already and written a review that I want my sis to look over just to make sure everything sounds right before posting it. I enjoyed it!

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  5. Some people live to make others miserable! I love the books, love the series!

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  6. Take your time Sean. I am glad you can finally get the series:)

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  7. Thanks Donna:) Ashes to Ashe is now available but I don't know when I am going to make it free. I will post about it soon.

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