From the Chief Gecko: “Horse” Hardcover Hiccup

Great services are not canceled by one act or by one single error.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)

Maybe not, but it sure feels that way.

I’ve always liked to think of myself as a “straight shooter,” as someone who tells the truth, and tells it like it is, rather than hide behind the convenient or the easy. So here’s the deal: we messed up.

The first printing of the hardcover edition of Horse by Leon Berger had a printing error, and a rather large and unfortunately placed one, at that. There’s no text on the spine of the book jacket. No, you read that right, you’re not seeing things. Somehow, some way, throughout the long and tortuous process that is publishing a book, and despite the many, many eyes that see projects such as this, no one noticed.

So the first printing of the first edition is now something of a collectible, in that, once put on your shelf, it becomes impossible to know exactly which book it is. And it tends to blend in, having a black background to begin with. I chalk this up to a learning experience. One of the many growing pains that all new companies – especially publishers – experience, and one that we can, most certainly and without a shred of doubt, learn from.

We’ve already initiated the process of pulling the book from distribution until the error can be corrected. Fortunately, in the digital age, this is fairly quick. Because we use a Print-on-Demand printing model, only copies that have been sold have been printed, and there’s not a warehouse full of books that will have to be stripped of their book jackets – or, more likely, pulped and completely reprinted. This is just one reason I’m glad we use POD.

That said, it leaves us in something of a quandary. What do we do for our readers that purchased this edition of the book, expecting to receive a professionally-produced title, but instead receiving… well, it still looks pretty darn good and the content is all there. But it’s still not perfect, and certainly not what I’d expect after paying my hard-earned money. So what does Grey Gecko Press… what do I, as Chief Gecko… do for those readers?

Well, the only thing I can do, of course. The right thing.

Anyone who’s ordered a copy of the first printing of the hardcover edition of Horse will receive, at no cost, a corrected copy (with spine text) upon their request. If you’re one of those folks, please accept my personal apology for this error, and please send an email to support