Book Discussion Groups

[LarsHedbor]

"Problems are inevitable in the course of business. How problems are addressed, though, is what separates businesses that will retain their customers from the rest, in the long term."
- Small Business Projects/CRM, forthcoming, Q4 2006

When I approved the final galleys on my book last month, I was excited to see this longtime goal coming to fruition. I had been telling my clients, friends and business associates to look for the book's availability for some time, and so when it became orderable on Amazon, etc., there was a good deal of pent-up demand.

Several of them ordered copies; some ordered multiple copies. I was eager to see the physical book myself, and was quite pleased when the package finally arrived from AuthorHouse with my complimentary copy.

My pleasure turned to dismay as I began paging through it. A serious production error had occurred, rendering the book largely unusable. While I was frustrated at the problem, I was sure that AuthorHouse was a business that values its clients and that you would make it right, both for me and for my customers.

I called on Monday, the 3rd, and spoke to a nice representative, who said that your staff would need to see the book before taking action. In hopes of jump-starting the process, I went to the trouble to scan an example of the error, and e-mailed that, together with the letter requesting correction of the problem, on Tuesday.

I heard nothing back, so on Thursday, the 6th, I called again, hoping to learn that the problem was clearly demonstrated by the material I'd e-mailed, and that the issue was on its way to resolution. Instead, I was told again that I had to send the physical book back before any action could be taken.

I can only assume that this is to guard against the possibility that an author is somehow mistaken about a production issue, but in my case, I don't feel that this was a justifiable position. Moreover, to verify the problem (if authors are not to be trusted), all one would need to do is have a copy created on your presses, rather than insisting that they send away their first, precious physical manifestation of their work.

In any event, I sent the book via overnight mail (at a cost of $20), in order to expedite resolution of the problem. At this point, I was aware of one purchaser who had bought 20 copies of the book, to share with her clients. I was becoming increasingly concerned about these flawed copies of the book that were even then being delivered, and was anxious to see the damage come to an end.

Following up on the shipment today, I first spoke to a representative who said that she'd follow up with me in fifteen minutes or so. After half an hour, I called back, and spoke with another representative, who was able to lay hands on the book and confirmed what I'd been saying all week - there was a serious variance from the electronic galleys to the press.

He said that the problem would be fixed and I could expect to receive a fresh complimentary copy of the book within two weeks. At that point, I inquired about the customers who had ordered the book, wanting to be sure that they could receive replacement copies, as well. After conferring with a supervisor, I was told that no, they would not be made whole. The entire extent of your resolution to this easily-detected and serious problem was that I would get a replacement complimentary copy of the book.

I was further told that AuthorHouse actively discourages authors from promoting their books until such time as they've received their complimentary copy. Now, I've since reviewed the correspondence that I've received from AuthorHouse in the course of the book's production, and I do not find anything that remotely resembles this policy, so perhaps this was spoken in error, but it's something that should either be clarified or implemented with more emphasis.

I asked to speak to the supervisor myself, so that I could attempt to make the case for what seems to me to just be the right thing to do. After a brief hold, I was informed that no, I could not speak to a supervisor. This shocked me, as I have a background in call centers - both working in one myself, and in the theory and practice of running a call center, and I've NEVER found one where a request to speak to a supervisor was rebuffed.

I carefully explained my position one more time, including the fact that I had at least one customer sitting on some $400 in unusable books, and was told that there was no way that AuthorHouse would resolve this issue. I expressed my frustration (calmly, as my experience in a call center has left me with no inclination to be unpleasant with people I'm dealing with there), and said goodbye.

I am downright livid on behalf of my early purchasers, and remain stunned at the bureaucratic and customer-unfriendly practices that I encountered at several junctures through this process. Perhaps the self-publishing market is not as competitive as I had thought it to be, and perhaps your organization does not value its hard-won customers highly, but this seems unlikely to me, based on my experience with other groups within AuthorHouse, and my understanding of the marketplace in general.

At this point, as I told the representative, I cannot in good conscience recommend AuthorHouse to anyone who would like to publish a book, and I will be looking elsewhere for my own future plans. Furthermore, I plan to share this correspondence on the Web site that I’ve built for my books’ audience, so that they may gauge for themselves what sort of business AuthorHouse is.

My fondest hope is that, in response to this account, AuthorHouse will agree to my request that my buyers receive replacement copies of the book. I’d even be willing to handle finding the buyers and distributing the copies, providing that you will cover shipping to me, and to my buyers. I would also like to be compensated for the necessity of sending my complimentary copy via overnight mail, as I firmly believe that the e-mailed information should have been more than adequate to act upon for resolution of the problem. I am not happy at the prospect of being at odds with my publisher, and sincerely hope that you can act to restore the confidence that I had placed in your organization.

“An unhappy customer who takes the time to complain is giving you a chance to earn his loyalty - or his enmity - forever.”
- Small Business Projects/CRM, forthcoming, Q4 2006

What will you choose?
- Lars D. H. Hedbor
Author, Small Business Projects/INTERNET

[LarsHedbor]

I received a phone call this afternoon from Sandra Powell at AuthorHouse, and she explained exactly what they were doing to resolve the technical problem (which turned out to be an issue with how their press print driver handled the formatting I had placed on those subheads).

She also said that she would take care of getting replacement copies of the book out to purchasers, once I have seen my copy of the book and confirmed that the issue has been resolved. I will find out more about the details of how that will be handled when I speak with her again.

Color me completely satisfied! Given the pace at which most of the publishing business seems to run, this is a lightning-fast response.

Thanks for your patience to those who've been inconvenienced by this problem, but rest assured, we're going to take care of you.

- Lars