Eff Up of the Century

*Edit: Amazon is sending emails to everyone who ordered copies. You can easily download the proper book in “manage your content and devices.”

I want to cry.

Last night, my husband proudly mentioned he has been reading my latest novel, In Her Father’s Shadow. I didn’t believe him (he hasn't read a book in years), so he proceeded to tell me all about the hero Ben and Lake Shetek. I stopped him right there, saying he was talking about Woman Over the Edge, a book that has yet to be released. “There’s no way you downloaded that one,” I told him.

So he showed me.

And there it was, the unmistakable cover of In Her Father’s Shadow with the manuscript of Woman Over the Edge.

I think I was in shock.

I went to bed, baffled. But I couldn’t sleep (a common occurrence these days). Finally, around 4 am, I pulled up a preview of In Her Father’s Shadow on Amazon, and there it was again.

The. Wrong. Damn. Book.

I dashed through the house in my pajamas to my freezing cold office, heart racing and mind frantic. When had I uploaded the wrong file? How many readers have reviewed the wrong book? I was sure I would vomit.

I suppose this is one of the dangerous things about being self-published. There’s no one to watch my back. Aside from my editor, who only has my manuscripts for a time then sets them free, there’s no one to check whether or not I’ve crossed my T’s and dotted my i’s. There’s no one to tap me on the shoulder after I’ve put in a 13 hour day to tell me, “hey, genius, you uploaded the wrong damn book.”

This was also a good lesson on why one should never finish writing two books within weeks of each other, then proceed to both edit and promote them simultaneously. What a disaster.

I don’t know how long I’ve been offering the wrong book. If you’re reading this, and you recently downloaded In Her Father’s Shadow only to read a story about Mia’s missing sister rather than Sienna/Rowan dealing with the aftermath of her father’s evil deeds, please contact me via email: quinn@quinnavery.com. I want to make it right. I NEED to make it right.

I also need a vacation. And a drink. A very strong, very massive drink.