Not Again!

I've learned a lot the past month in trying to get Keeping Secrets off the ground and to readers. One of the biggest mistakes I made was not hiring someone to do a quick edit check on the manuscript. I'm pretty good at checking mistakes, but when it's your own work you tend to overlook things.

The other mistake was not hiring a formatter. I finally got the hang of it, but in the hours I spent in editing and formatting I could have had the rough draft for Breaking Promises nearly finished. I made a decision, after resubmitting the files one more time this morning, that I would NOT fix anything else. There are no longer any huge mistakes, so little ones will have to slide. Hopefully, there won't be too many.

So, imagine my surprise when, this morning, it happened again. Another mistake on my work. Not in the manuscript, but in my book trailer for Keeping Secrets. I was looking at the trailer when it jumped from the page. The stock art on one slide had the company's name across it.

I thought I was going to pull my hair out. The last thing I wanted to deal with was an error in a book trailer. As it turns out, I didn't even purchase that particular picture from that company, but found it at another site. However, since the trailer is on Youtube, I had little choice but to replace the picture because of licensing issues.

That's when I got my second, nasty surprise.

I had deleted all the pictures from Windows Movie Maker last week when I started working on the book trailer for Breaking Promises. Instead of my pictures, there were all these nasty little red "x"s on the pictures. I had no choice but to upload the picture and rebuild the trailer.

Needless to say, I won't get those two hours back.

I am glad to report, however, that the updated version is now on Youtube, my website, my Facebook page, and my Goodreads author page. There shouldn't be any licensing issues with this one. I checked and doublechecked again. I have learned another valuable lesson to add to the long list of those I've already learned this month. Don't delete pictures from Windows Movie Maker, and always, always, always be sure to doublecheck that you've used the ones you've purchased, and not those you are just "playing around with."

Keeping Secrets is due to be released this Thursday, May 29. My Goodreads giveaway for 5 free autograph books is close to 550 as of now. If you haven't entered, be sure to do so.