I spend a good deal of time reviewing comments about my books online and also responding to reader questions sent to my email. It’s important to me that you feel you receive the full value of your hard earned money when buying one of my books, so I continually seek to improve them. However, one issue I can’t control is the damaged book. When reading one series of comments lately, I found that the readers weren’t complaining about the quality of the content, but rather the quality of the book materials, which is not something I can control.
The problem is made worse because I often have no way to contact readers who leave a comment on places like Amazon.com. In the interest of customer privacy, I’m unable to obtain an email address for these readers so that I might address their needs. This is why you should always contact me at [email protected] when you have any issues with my books.
The publisher isn’t able to obtain your email address either. So, the publisher is equally unable to help you when you post a book material complaint on websites, rather than contact the publisher. One of the publishers I work with most often is Wiley. Here is the advice I received from my editor there regarding book damage:
In cases of damage or misprinting, it depends on the specific issue, cause of the damage, and the seller whether Wiley can replace a copy or not. For example, if purchased from a third-party seller on Amazon and damaged in transit, that’s out of our control, as third-party sellers are not direct partners or buyers from Wiley. If it’s a printing issue like this one [referring to spotting in one of my books], that is a manufacturing issue within our control, and Wiley would very likely replace the copy. Here is a link customers can visit https://support.dummies.com/s/. They can also email [email protected].
In cases of possible errata: The readers should fill out an Errata PDF form available here: https://support.dummies.com/s/article/reporting-a-wiley-book-error and email it to the Customer Service Team at [email protected] with the subject line “Possible Book Errata Submission”.
The bottom line is that the publisher and I want you to be happy. Make this possible by contacting us about any book damage, rather than posting a public comment that we can’t address.