A Lesson Learnt – SAVE YOUR FINAL MANUSCRIPT
Save Your FINAL Manuscript
Yeah I know we’ve all heard this one before! However, it is strange we all still loose full or parts of manuscripts. Yes I have done it as well. This time I was ready to publish, book cover done and do you think I could find the whole manuscript…NO
DAMN! I am so mad with myself. I know why this happened, I even know when it happened. Right at the end of January 2016 when I accidentally wiped my computer. Yeah, I hear you all saying “DUH.” Problem is I didn’t realise until it was to late. How can this be, you may ask. It’s called Windows 10 and my computer is a Lenovo. That’s my excuse anyway. In reality it is technology which caught me out.
In the past when you have needed to go back to factory settings or find a spot to jump to in time on you computer – you did just that. I’m not sure if it is just Lenovo or if Windows 10 contributed as well. Anyway it’s not called Factory Settings anymore…NO, aha…not this time. So yes I accidentally wiped everything. HOWEVER I’M GOOD...Well so I thought.
I save my manuscripts in dropbox, onedrive some in google drive, send them to friends via email and chat or just email them to myself. YAY ME. Off I went asking all my wonderful friends to send me copies back. Which of course they did. The rest of my stuff was on back up Memory Sticks or in emails. So very happy. Well that is until the day before Valentine’s Day
Opening a manuscript and found the last part missing – DAMN. It was an older version. Never mind i’ll have to re-write it again and publish later. BAH HUMBUG. Then I noted another was missing the last bit too, not that it worried me since this particular novel hasn’t been finished yet. Today!!
Today I found my latest work to be published…and nearly cried. SOB. Not only was the majority of it missing, all I had was a short story instead of a novella and it was one of the few books…well never mind. It was a good story and I doubt I can re-write it as good as it was.
So what happened to them. It’s simple I never saved a FINAL COPY of the manuscript on drop box, onedrive or google drive. No copies on my memory stick or emails. So here I am sending out a warning to you all.
6 Responses
Reblogged this on Claire Plaisted – Indie Author and commented:
LESSON LEARNT
Yes, I can well relate to that. I do know in the past I have lost short stories or bits or book chapters. At the time it mega disastrous, but I’ve since learnt that the rewrite comes out better than the original.
My worst disaster was a novel I wrote some years ago. I got it out last year and began rewriting only to realise the last quarter with the ending was missing. I searched all over and even downloaded a special program, all to no avail. Although I remember basics of the important last bit, I didn’t know how to rewrite it.
I still lament that story and know I’m going to have to face it soon and get it finished because it haunts me still.
Thanks Karen. Even with this post, I will probably not remember to back up…LOL
In as many different places as possible. The publisher of my book of poety Poems, Parables and Prayers for the 3rd Millennium passed a few years ago and I was planning to re-release but when we went to find the ms, no one could find it. Her husband doesn’t know what happened to her file and the DVD I burned is gone. The zip drive with the .doc files is also missing. So you may think you backed up enough, but you haven’t.
Ouch. I think I need a vault…lol
The good news is we can found a place to scan the book into an OCR file. But, yes, make muliple CD rom backups, and if you have a safety deposit box, put one copy there. Thanks for the suggestion.