Uncategorized – Edmund Axton

In my last blog I mentioned I was facing some technical challenges getting Raw Meat released. This blog is just an update on that situation.

The same day I published my previous blog, I had a bit of good news. The distributor sent me an email to let me know the ebook version had now been approved.

Despite the paperback version of the book remaining stuck in content review hell, I was relieved to know that at least the ebook would be released at the start of October. In fact, at the moment you can actually pre-order the ebook on amazon.co.uk. I even began preparing marketing material.

Unfortunately, today I had yet another email from the distributor to let me know that my account has been suspended. This is all still related to the technical problems. So one step forward and three steps back.

Still, they seemed able to resolve the issues with the ebook version, so hopefully they will be able to fix the issues with the paperback too.

Going into this year, my plan was to self-publish my novel Raw Meat around the start of October. Raw Meat is a dystopian urban fantasy horror set in a city struggling to control the spread of an endemic lycanthropic virus. Including rewrites and edits, the novel took me four years to complete.

You may have noticed that it is almost the start of October, and the novel is still not out. Unfortunately there have been some technical issues with the distributor, and I’m still waiting for those to be resolved. At the moment, I have no idea if or when those issues will ever be fixed, so as things stand the release is indefinitely paused. I can’t even release the novel for free here on my website, as this could potentially cause further complications in the future.

It goes without saying that falling at the last hurdle like this, after so much hard work, is disappointing. It’s made me question my approach to releasing my writing, especially self-publishing, which I’m now much more hesitant about in general. I had no idea technical problems like this could even happen, let alone cause such prolonged delays.

Earlier in the year I was making good progress on a horror novella, but for the past couple of weeks I have taken a break from writing fiction. I can’t bring myself to do it right now, after such a frustrating setback. Doubtless I will pick it up again soon, though. I always do.