I've learned so much today that I feel as if I deserve to take a nap and it's only 12:20 p.m. Man, it's like crazy learning time for me today. I was given an email from my publisher saying that it was possible for me to upload my revised file for "Of Kilted Pleasure" and that there would be no charge to do so, other than the standard $25 revision charge. As long as my revisions were strictly interior, they weren't going to change the title information, the font size, etc. OK, this made me so happy. Then, when I tried to do that, I was stopped. Not good.
The publisher, because it's a self-publisher, isn't all that user-friendly. They send you basic, vague, sometimes cryptic instructions which absolutely assume that the user, me, will know what the heck they're talking about when they say things like not all the fonts are embedded. I have ZERO idea what that means. When I say ZERO, I mean, there is no registration whatsoever as to what that might mean. I called in the big dogs, my kid; and all she could do was ask me to watch a video online. OK...we tried that, and it didn't help whatsoever.
The reason the videos didn't help was that I was (a) using the most updated version of Adobe DC to read the PDF file I had uploaded, and (b) the videos were shot before the newer version of Adobe DC came out, so yeah, they were all saying "Just go to the file menu and click on properties" which would have been wonderful if there was a freaking FILE menu. There was a menu, and under it there was no place to click on either file or properties. NO ONE (in my house) knew that you could undo the latest version by clicking the menu selection telling you to undo the latest version. It wasn't something we were wired to do; it seemed as if that would be a dumb thing to do. It was the right thing to do.
I broke down and called the 800 number for Adobe. Do yourself a HUGE service and just call them. Don't do what I do. Don't be me. Go straight to the source. I called the 800 number, it makes you jump a few hoops to get to the right people, and when you do you're directed to knowledgeable people who know exactly what you need. This is a really good thing. I spent the next 11-15 minutes on the phone with their great customer service guy who asked if he could take control of my computer remotely...YES. Please do!! He did.
I could watch him zip-zap through the things most people would just shake their heads at, but the entire time he was zipping and zapping he was also telling me what he was doing, why he was doing it, and he assured me that I would never have to do it myself if I continued to pay for the Adobe service. OK...that's easy. I think I'll drop Adobe as a subscription until I need to use their customer service again, he even suggested that, as the $19.99 monthly can be a bit annoying if you're not needing it. I didn't have to pay for it today as I have a 7-day free trial. I think, if I played my cards correctly, and he confirmed, I can just stop following them, and then pick the 7-day free trial back up whenever I need help. Bingo!! That's a good plan.
The Adobe guy told me that they don't mind helping people who only have the 7-day free trial, as it gives them experience as well. They are all working toward speaking better English; it's a win-win. I LOVE IT. My book was uploaded a 2nd time, and it was accepted. I paid the $25.00 revision charge and now I wait 3 days for the new galley, so I can go through it and see if the 12 oops I made on the original book are gone. How good is that? YES. I'm hoping that's all I have to do. If that's the case I will laugh that I didn't do it a month ago, but you can only do what you know when you know it, and I was just too scared to jump into the techy side of it.
Tech scares me. I'm not going to lie. I can do Excel to a degree. I am almost Google certified, but I don't really understand the background of any of it. I know there are things I'll never understand, and I just do what everyone says to do. I have no understanding whatsoever as to how the internet works, how signals from the air end up on paper, or anything. I just turn on the A/C when it's hot, and I lift up the tap faucet to get the water. I'm not one to ask about how anything is made. I made three kids, and have no idea how a placenta is formed. It is what it is. God's hand. I just appreciate Him and anyone who can help in these matters.
I'm about to finish "Murder Book" so my Adobe guy helped me save that file in Adobe so when I make the changes in Word I can replace the saved files in PDF format. I will then send them to the publisher and create that book. It will be a bit more than the $25 since it's a new book. I'll need to create a cover and have it all formatted. I think Ingram Spark is far cheaper than the other publishers I've used in the past. I'll find out in about a month. I won't submit this one until I've gone through it 10x and have waited 2 weeks to do it again, just to be sure. I hate mistakes. I found one in a Perry Mason book though, and I took a picture of it, and sent it to my friend to prove it's not just me!!!
THANK YOU Adobe man!! So good.
Photo Credit: adobe.com
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