Technology is a wonderful thing. It has provided us with many great advances. The Train. The Plane. The Automobile and the Internet, to name a few.
Generally speaking, when something breaks, we get it fixed by an expert, but as we rely more and more on technology things tend to go a little wonky. I remember when the check engine light came on my very first minivan and the mechanic said, “lets hook it up to the computer to see what’s wrong.” Snarky me asked, “what if your computer is currently suffering from some virus or is experiencing a glitch and it tells you the wrong thing is broken?” He didn’t like that.
Bob Mayer has been working on two books recently. One is a fiction book titled NightStalkers where his Special Forces Team deals with all the things that go bump in the night. The other book is a non-fiction book (still working on title) that is about how to survive the end of the world and zombies. He’s been talking a lot about these two books and I find it all very fascinating, but also scary, especially when Bob sends me this link.
Meanwhile, I’ve been noticing on many of the writer loops indie authors getting upset over books being stuck over at Kobo, not being able to get a real person at Apple, KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) experiencing an error and other technology glitches. I’ve answered a few of these calls to help by sharing my experience, which is usually, if its an error then reload and try again, if its stuck, then contact, and basically to be patient. Stuff happens.
Technology is a tool and it often times fails and when it does it leaves us very frustrated. I totally understand this frustration, but I also know that sometimes its simply just a matter of a glitch and it will get sorted out. My advice to anyone who is experience technical difficulties to problem solve either with their own skills, or the skills of experts before totally going off the deep end.
My entire business and professional life relies heavily on technology. I spend a fair amount of time trouble shooting and reporting bugs (why I’m good at beta testing things). However, I have to say its pretty scary to think something could seriously go ‘bump in the night’.
It is one of the reasons that we should keep some of our “Old World” skills, too. Learn grammar and how to spell. Don’t rely on machines. Keep hard copies. Build relationships with people. I keep an SAS Survival Guide handy just in case. Really looking forward to Bob’s addition!
Ooooh, zombies! I’m so there. I have been noticing with more and more Indie publishing that writers are being made aware of how on top of things we will have to be.
I’m glad I can afford the experts to do the formatting stuff for me.
so I can spend my time worrying about zombies…
I am happy to have people to help with formatting and what not. That is so not my cup of tea, but I know it’s a necessary evil so I’m trying to learn.
But not sure I want to have to worry about zombies. My plate is full already, lol.
The Technology part of our Indie Epublishing route is my personal Fear Factor, Jen. Why? Because I simply don’t have the skills to problem solve my way out of a glitch.
What I do have is the persistence to see it through to a solution by relying on experts I’ve gotten to know throughout my journey. But I ain’t gonna fib, it still freaks me out every time it happens!
Most recently, I can’t get one particular cover image to load on Audible ACX, so I’m waiting to hear back as to why it won’t work, and what I need to have done to it.
Sometimes I really hate technology. It especially seems to crash on me when I need to get something done within five to ten minutes. Just sending an attachment on an email when you’re in a hurry won’t even work.
I’m keeping back ups of back ups. I keep paper copies of finished manuscripts.
What I always tell my son, and I need to remember this too, is when it get frustrating it’s time to do something else. Get away from the computer or the video game or whatever it is and do something else. It’s always better to go back to it later when you’re not frustrated.