This is just another update on the status of my novel Raw Meat. Following months of technical problems with Amazon, I’ve decided to withdraw the book and find another way of distributing it next year.
None of this is Amazon’s fault, exactly. The process for registering ISBN numbers and releasing books is complicated, and I was doing it all for the first time. I made the mistake of registering the ISBN number several weeks in advance of self-publishing the book, and that seemed to cause some truly monumental issues with Amazon’s content review system.
I’m grateful for the help Amazon’s support staff have offered. Unfortunately, the technical issues started to get so serious that they were affecting my account, and I don’t feel confident releasing Raw Meat on Amazon any longer in case it results in me being unable to self-publish future projects with them.
There a couple of reasons I’m now postponing the release until next year. The main one is that I’m obliged to honour a 90-day period of exclusivity with Amazon. But honestly, even if I did not have to wait out the exclusivity period, I’m also just exhausted. This process has been stressful and demoralising, and I need a break for a few months before I try to take on the release process all over again.
I’m sincerely sorry to anyone who was thinking about buying the book and hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I will find a way to publish it next year, even if it’s just making it available to read here on my website.
In the meantime, I’m going to focus on my latest writing project and learn whatever lessons I can from everything that went wrong with this attempted release!
Edmund Axton 