My Lifesavers: Rik Hall and Jian Chan

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Formatting the paperback book with Createspace was a massive mistake. Every step takes them 5-10 business days. For five minutes of work. For an hour of work. For 6 hours of work. Doesn’t matter. It’s always 5-10 business days.

We are closing in on my release date. It’s now less than 5 weeks away. As of last week, they cannot guarantee I will have the paperback by my signings. But it may happen. That a serious five alarm fire problem that dropped into my lap on last Wednesday. After I hit the panic button, I dug into problem solving.

I found two other sources of book printing. Espresso Book Machine and Book Baby. But they need .pdf files formatted to their specifications for the interior and cover.

Luckily, my ebook formatter, the amazing Rik Hall, was ready, willing, and able to format the paperback interiors on zero notice.

He’s not just a formatting magician, but an actual magician.

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Jian Chan  jumped in to reformat the cover two more times to fit these book printers’ requirements.

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Jian isn’t just my cover designer and web designer. He’s a musician. A multi-dimensional artist.

Rik turned out a terrific interior in 4 days.

I am so grateful to have Rik and Jian on my team. Otherwise my entire book launch could have been derailed.

Lessons learned: 1) Never rely on one source for the paperback book and 2)  Hire Rik to format all ebooks and paperbacks. His turn around time is phenomenal. His customer service is top notch. His kindness is soothing to nerves more frayed than they should ever be.

And Jian. He’s a bastion of calm. He always gets things done before deadline. And he makes sure I’m in love with his work.

I think I’d be in a corner rocking and crying right now if it weren’t for these two amazing individuals.

How do you thank people for saving your butt over and over again? I can’t begin to figure it out. But I owe these dedicated, hard working wonderful guys so much! 1 million thankyous wouldn’t cover it! But I’d like to begin there. 🙂

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