Weekly Uplink: Failure to Widen, Socially Exhausted, and The Syncing Feeling of Lost Edits

My content calendar insists today is for a personal update, so here we are, broadcasting another Weekly Uplink straight from the Verastiqui neural stack. Let’s get into it before the system times out.

Going W̶i̶d̶e̶ Right Back to Amazon

I still don’t know what to do about Amazon. Ethically? Logistically? Existentially? I wrote about it last week in more detail, but here’s the short version: I tried going wide. I really did. But IngramSpark’s pricing is a deal-breaker, not just in royalties, but in barrier-to-entry costs for readers.

If a new author asked me for advice today, I’d tell them to stick with Amazon. Not because it’s virtuous, but because it’s easier. Stupidly easy.

As an experiment, I uploaded the second edition of Veneer and my standalone novella Bartering Nola last Friday. Today is Monday, and my proof copies are already out for delivery. That’s the kind of turnaround IngramSpark couldn’t achieve with a blood sacrifice and a handwritten plea to Jeebus and his despicables.

I’m curious to see how Amazon handles merging Veneer’s first and second editions—or if I’ll need to... ugh... contact support.

Until then, I’ll be watching my porch for my delivery.

Summit Wicked This Way Comes

Last week, we had a departmental summit here in Austin (or more accurately, Bee Cave), which meant all of my remote coworkers flew in and I got to meet them in person, proving once and for all that they are, in fact, real people and not just AI actors in some long con put on by my manager.

Like most people who have been forced to RTO whether we like it or not, I only go into the office to attend Zoom calls with my distributed team. So naturally, when everyone was physically present, we... sat quietly and stared at screens. IRL Zoom. You gotta love it.

While I genuinely enjoyed the human contact (and learning what everyone looks like from the neck down), the week wasn’t without its costs. I didn’t get to work out, didn’t get to write, and had to leave the house at an ungodly hour to arrive at the office by 8:00 a.m. By the time I got home each night, it was straight into bedtime for the kids—and, frankly, for me too.

Oh, and I also humiliated myself on the race track in front of my entire department. But I’ll save that delightful story for Wednesday’s essay.

For now, I’m just grateful to be back in my natural habitat: stuffy home office, sugary caffeine drinks, and a blinking cursor.

Lost Edits & Synology Sync Shenanigans

I lost some edits. Real ones. Three chapters’ worth of thoughtful, intentional improvements to House of Nepenthe. And honestly, I should’ve seen it coming.

It started with my Synology server whining that it couldn’t access local files, which is never a great sign. Synology can be a pain sometimes, but I put up with it because it’s the beating heart of my Plex server, and I need a way to stream Dogma, Super Mario Bros, and Weekend at Bernie's in the living room.

In trying to fix the sync issue, I ended up reinstalling the OneDrive sync app on the Synology server. It then decided to reindex everything. Which triggered my computer and laptop to reindex everything. This is also never good, but I shrugged and let it ride.

Cut to this morning, when I open Draft 4 of Nepenthe and discover three chapters of edits are missing. In their place: a mysterious file with “synology_sync_conflict” tacked on the end. Inside were some of my changes, but not all of them. Just enough to remind me of what I’d done… and what I’d lost.

I don’t hate redoing work because of the time. I hate it because I can never be sure I’m solving the same problem in the same way, and that uncertainty sticks like a bad rewrite.

Still, we press on. Maybe I'll find a better way to protect my manuscripts. Maybe OneDrive and I will one day trust each other again.

Maybe.

On Deck: Public Humiliation, with Lap Times

This Wednesday, I’ll be recounting the exact moment I died inside, which was somewhere between turn three and the finish line at K1 Speed. What started as a friendly go-kart race with coworkers turned into a full-body lesson in humility, velocity, and the burning sensation of being in the spotlight.

Tune in Wednesday for the full account. Or don't. I'm not your manager.

Other Tidbits

• My son turned eight years old!
• My daughter potty-trained herself!
• I saw David Sedaris at the Paramount, and he was awesome.
• I'm currently watching Younger on Netflix. It stars Coco from Flight of the Conchords, and she's delightful.
• I've started taking black and white photos of tree canopies, which I find oddly satisfying.

Yes, barbecue was present at all three. Welcome to Texas.

Final Byte

If you’ve read Vise Manor and haven’t left a review yet, now would be a great time. A recent two-star rating is currently dragging my average down, and while I respect everyone’s right to dislike... ahem... font size, it would be nice to tip the algorithmic scales back in my favor.

Seriously, reviews matter. They help other readers find the book, and they help me pretend this is all going according to plan.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Uplink. See you Wednesday for tales of speed, shame, and rubber-scented regret.