Ahh, Libraries...

 

I sent a request to the "librarians" at Goodreads (that term is quite a conceit, I must say), asking them to delete one of my novels from my collection. I noted in my message that I had unpublished it. Their response was, "What do you mean, 'unpublished'?" 

Hmmm....what could that mean? 

I realize that Goodreads is kind of a snooty outfit ~ all the best-selling authors' works are featured there ~ but I'm pretty certain that self-published authors far outweigh the number of  famous names that publishing houses slip onto its database. So, for them to claim they don't know what "unpublish" means is either really imbecilic or really snarky. My Amazon bookshelf lists the unpublish option specifically as "unpublish eBook", and since Amazon owns Goodreads, one would think they'd be on the same page with regard to terminology.

Maybe no other indie author has ever unpublished a book before, at least permanently. Maybe everyone but me thinks their every word is gold, or they know something is dreck but are too stubborn or lazy to take it down. Regardless, if "unpublished" is too foreign a term for them, my novel can stay there, for all I care. Nobody's going to buy it, because even if they wanted to, it no longer exists. 

On the plus side, I received a notification from Library Thing that my giveaway is approved. Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute to notify the author, since it has now officially begun. I had no intention of going into this blind, but I rather did. I "think" I remember listing the formats the book is available in when I signed up, and I don't remember choosing Kindle, but maybe I did...If that is the case, I'm screwed, money-wise. I tried checking, but there is apparently no way to retrieve that info. The site is a giant mess, and apparently its "librarians" are even more clueless than the ones at Goodreads. It will be interesting, however, to monitor the giveaway's progress. Will anyone even enter? This thing lasts the entire month of February, so it's possible that one or two people might be interested. That much I can afford, even if they do request Kindle copies.

Trust me, I won't be wading into these waters again. It's too stressful and hardly worth it. But it is what it is. All for a stupid $1.99 book. What the hell was I thinking? 

Put me down as an ex-marketer. Or "unmarketed", as the case may be.