Dismayed to see bad printing of pics in some copies of part autobiography; How to handle such scenarios in future

Last updated on 3rd Nov. 2019

Update on 3rd Nov. 2019: I did get the 2 replacement copies which were printed properly (by Manipal printer) in end Sept./early Oct. 2019. So Notion Press resolved the issue to my satisfaction.

------
Update on 14th Sept. 2019. Notion Press has said it will send me 2 replacement copies for the 2 copies that I found with bad printing of some pics issues. I am satisfied by that commitment from Notion Press. These copies are to be sent to me along with an order of 12 copies (minimum author copy order) that I recently made with Notion Press and which will be printed by the first printer (based in Manipal) who had delivered two sets of good paperback copies in the past, without such bad printing of pics issues.

------
Update on 9th Sept. 2019: Feedback from some recent recipients of my part autobio book is that their copies do not have the dark patches problem for many pics printed in the book. One said that his copy is fine. Another said that only one pic did not print well. Yet another said that some certificate pics have been printed in blurred way (that could be due to original pic having some parts that are light gray which print in a faint way).

So I am glad to know that the bad printing (with dark patches/bands) of pics I found in 2 paperback copies of the part autobio book which I mentioned in below post contents, seems to be limited to few copies.

==========================================
Yesterday (7th Sept.), I was dismayed to see that a paperback copy of my book, "Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant – Part 1" that I had ordered from Flipkart,  https://www.flipkart.com/autobiography-indian-software-techie-spiritual-aspirant-part-1/p/itmeb37e55629d21?pid=9781645874089, which was fulfilled (sold) by Notion Press, had dark patches on print of some pics in inner contents of the book, which made those pics look very bad in the book. [Flipkart also lists another seller - 'Repro Books on Demand' besides Notion Press.]

Note that I have received many book copies of the same book from Notion Press where these pics (black & white/grayscale) have been printed well. All inner content pics in the book are black & white/grayscale.

Ensuring good quality of printing, especially of pics in inner content of book, is a problematic thing with the Print-On-Demand style of self-publishing system that I have used. Potentially each single copy may be printed in a separate print run! Further, when I make an order on the publisher's website to be delivered to somebody else, I don't get to see the printed book and so don't know if it has been printed well!

Here's the main message I wrote to Flipkart on its web form for reporting such problems:

The paperback book delivery I got for my Flipkart Order ID OD116386526725524000 for Order placed on Aug 28, 2019, and delivered on or around 5th Sept. 2019, has bad printing problems with some pictures in the inner content of the book.

If you want I can send a picture I took of Page 23 of the book with my mobile camera. As I am the author of the book, I also have the PDF inner contents for the book. I can also provide you a  pic of screenshot of Page 23 from the inner contents PDF file for the printed book. [I do not see any facility to attach pics in this message box and so am not able to attach these pics.]

From the two pics, you can see clearly that the picture of Cardinal Gracias High School Leaving Certificate is printed very badly with lots of dark patches.

Similar dark patches problem is there for pictures printed on pages 73, 90, 92, 93, 94 and 117.

I therefore would like to return this book.

--- end main message to Flipkart ---

I have chosen to get a replacement, and to Flipkart's credit they quickly accepted my request to return and get a replacement. The courier is supposed to come to my flat and pick it up to be returned to vendor (Notion Press) who will be providing me a replacement.

Given below are the pics mentioned above, first is pic of the printed page and second is screenshot of that page in book inner contents PDF file.

[To open pic in larger resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

Here's relevant part of what I wrote to one person for whom I had ordered the book on Notion Press website and which order got fulfilled by the book being sent directly to the person (without me being able to see the book):

But now I wonder whether you too have faced this problem with your book copy! If so, I am sorry about it but please understand that this problem is beyond my control. As some days have passed since you got the copy it may be just too late to explore the possibility of return/refund. All I can say is that if you encounter some pics which are badly printed (say with dark patches), I have typically given a blog link have the same pic (in colour) on the Internet.  You may visit that link to see the proper pic. Alternatively you could see the free download ebook which has the same pic - ebook download links are here: https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/autobiography-of-indian-software-techie.html .

--- end part of message I wrote to one person ---

Note that some pics in the inner contents of this book copy have been printed well. So this problem is not for all the pics printed in this book copy but some of them.

Now I also had ordered some "author copies" which come in set of (minimum) 12 copies. The first two such orders I made with Notion Press, were delivered with plastic covers on 2 sets of 5 books and 1 set of 2 books (making up 12 copies). I cut open the plastic covers and checked each book's printing quality quickly by flipping the pages of the book, before I passed on the book to somebody. All these books were printed quite well and I did not face any dark patches in pics printing problem.

The last set of author copies (12) that I got was packed differently (it was from a different printer that Notion Press used to fulfill the order, as the courier delivery time from the first printer was taking too long). Each copy was shrink-wrapped in transparent plastic. I thought the transparent plastic shrink-wrap may be useful in case of any rain while the copy was being passed on to somebody. I was also quite confident that the printing would be good based on my previous deliveries from Notion Press. So I did not cut open the transparent plastic shrink-wrap and check the inner contents printing of the book.

Yesterday (7th Sept.), I first encountered the dark patches printing problem with a single copy delivery from Flipkart. Later yesterday, I opened the last one of the shrinkwrapped book copies in the last author copies set I had ordered from Notion Press, and, to my dismay, found that there is a similar problem of dark patches with pics printed on pages 23, 73, 90, 92, 93, 94 and 117. These pics are printed very badly in that book copy. Note that the problem of dark patches has impacted same pics in both the problem copies I have mentioned. Perhaps they were produced in the same "print run" even if one got dispatched to me as Flipkart order fulfillment (by Notion Press) and another as part of author copies order fulfillment from Notion Press website.

Given below is a pic of bad printing of pics on pages 92 & 93.

Given below are book inner contents PDF file screenshots for the above pages:

I was aghast that there was a possibility that all 12 copies in this set had that problem and that I had passed on 11 copies to others. So today (8th Sept.), I went on a round of telling about the possible problem via messaging/mailing or explaining in person to some of these people. I hope to do that in the near future with the few of the people that I have not yet been able to contact on this matter.

A big learning for me is that for book copies that come to me from Notion Press or from Pothi.com (the two self-publishing companies that I use), I must check each copy before I give it to somebody else. This becomes the personal Q.A. work that I do, as the printers that the self-publishing companies use, do not seem to have good Q.A.

But what about orders where the book copy is sent directly by the self-publishing company's printer to the recipient/buyer? I know how the text and pics should appear in the print but others (recipients/buyers) would not know. They may think that a picture has been printed badly because the original pic itself is of poor quality!

I think a partial solution lies in providing the book inner contents PDF submission I made to the self-publishers, publicly on the Internet and informing readers about it on my blog page having the paperback book sale links. Then informed buyers/recipients can simply check the inner contents PDF file to see whether the original pic is poor quality or only the printing is poor quality. And if they find that only the printing is poor quality (with PDF file pic being good quality), they should demand a good replacement copy or a refund, like I have done with my Flipkart order.

9th Sep. 2019 Update: Added a section titled, "Bad print of paperback copy? How to confirm that print is bad and not original (PDF) book contents, and if so, demand replacement/refund." in my blog page: Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant – Part 1: Ebook free download and printed copy links, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/autobiography-of-indian-software-techie.html. To see the contents of the section, please visit above link.

But some who directly land up on the sale links and make a purchase, may not get to read about the inner contents PDF file being available publicly. So they may not know of a way to find out whether a badly printed pic in the book is due to bad printing quality or due to the original pic itself being bad quality.

I should also mention that some original pics have parts that are in light gray colour. These may print faintly in the book. That is an acceptable matter. What is not acceptable is large dark patches or bands which seem to be ink spread issues while printing some of the pictures.
================================