Grrr... Call me a perfectionist, or it may be down to the fact that I come from an advertising agency background, but I expect my books to print perfectly every time, regardless of the printer. I publish through CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) and, when you order printed proofs, you order them from the States. Every copy I have received from the States so far - copies of both my books - have been spot-on perfect. It's the UK printers that have let me down.
On Saturday I received a delivery of 12 books (which I ordered from Amazon.co.uk, therefore printed by Amazon in the UK) which I want to distribute to various eating disorder charities - and Professor Janet Treasure and Gill Todd. Yet virtually each one was different in quality. Not the interior, but the printing of the cover.
All had a distinct green tinge and, on some copies, the green was far worse - a kind of lurid green with additions of some unwanted pink stripes and sometimes a white stripe, too. On all of them, the author photo of me on the back cover tends to look a bit like a faded version of Shrek...
It seems that, unlike the States, Amazon's printer has no Quality Control in place. The books have been printed, boxed and shipped. Oh, I was so disappointed. And, to me, it's not acceptable.
Some other people have come back to say their copy has a green tinge. But, thankfully, they're not too bothered because the inside is fine and, after all, that's what's important.
But, to me, I want the outside to look like the excellent printed proofs from the States. So I am returning the box of 12 to Amazon and firing off a Big Complaint because I need assurance that a Quality Control procedure will be put in place - for each of my books that is printed in the UK.
Meanwhile, I am awaiting delivery of a further 12, this time direct from CreateSpace in the States. So hopefully the quality will be excellent again. And I will use these to distribute to the eating disorder charities, Janet Treasure, etc, and then order more from the States because I always like to have a few extra copies at hand for direct orders, like those I get from bookshops and friends.
I only wish the shipping wasn't so prohibitively expensive when ordering copies from the States!
Looking for information on eating disorders in boys? Worried that your son has an eating disorder? How can you tell if a boy has an eating disorder? In 2009 my 15-year-old son developed anorexia. Now, aged 28, he is recovered & studying psychology in order to help others. This blog tells the story of my son's recovery from anorexia as well as raising awareness of eating disorders in boys.
No comments:
Post a Comment