Eagles Over the Kennebec

Those following along at home will recall that some Kindle users, after downloading Fortune's Favors,
found that the Kindle had helpfully opened the book to "Interludes," which those readers quite reasonably
understood to be the first chapter of the book, and so started reading.

In fact, "Interludes" is. . .a series of interludes that take place between Chapter One and Two*. 
I could not replicate this error, either on my own Kindle app or on Amazon's publishing tool on-site. 
I therefore wrote to Amazon, asking them to fix the error which they had clearly generated.

I have this morning received Amazon's reply, which I reproduce below in its entirety.
 

Hello Sharon,  I hope this email finds you well!  I checked the uploaded and converted content files of your eBook and can confirm that there is no issue with it. The content is opening on the cover of the book.  If any of the customers are facing any issue with their devices, then I would request you to inform them to contact our Kindle Customer Service team directly for assistance.  They can contact our Kindle Customer Service team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using the below links:   www.amazon.com/clicktocallwww.amazon.com/clicktochat  *****  Further, if you can provide us with some screenshots of the page where the error is appearing, then we can reach out to our Technical team for investigation.  Thanks for your understanding and support.   Regards,  Nathan  Kindle Direct Publishing

has opened a book or a story to the correct first page.  ALWAYS page back to the front of the book,
or the cover, then page forward, just like you would if you were reading a paper book. 
You cannot trust your device to be working in your best interests in this.

__________

*We are skipping lightly over the authors' feelings regarding the fact that Amazon essentially served a
broken story to those readers -- an aspect of the case that we have no hope of making plain to Amazon,
though, in my opinion, the worst wrong done in the whole muddle.

Here are a few good links to help you along.

You may purchase ebooks from these fine vendors, among others:
Baen Books:  Here's your link
Angus & Robertson:  Here's your link
BN:  Here's your link
Kobo:  Here's your link
Apple:  Here's your link
Scribd:  Here's your link

You may purchase an ebook OR a paper copy from:
Amazon:  Here's your link

Enjoy!

So! Amazon has let the paper edition of Fortune's Favors out into the wild early.  If you order it today, you can have it in your hands, it says here, on Wednesday.

The electronic editions will be released on April 15; I cannot undo this, so Waiting Is.

Below is a revised list of buy-links and! for the very most patient among us, a snippet from the chapbook.

BUY LINKS for FORTUNE'S FAVORS

Available NOW: paper edition, from Amazon only:  here's your link

If you want to preorder the ebook edition of Fortune's Favors, the following vendors are alleged to be standing by for you:
Amazon:  here's your link
Angus & Robertson:  here's your link
Apple:  here's your link
BN/Nook:  here's your link
Kobo:  here's your link

SNIPPET FROM FORTUNE'S FAVORS
©2019 Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

It was to the gayn'Urlez Hell in lower Low Port that his feet finally brought him, over the objections of most of himself.

There were those who dismissed Low Port as a miserable pit of vicious humanity where lived predators and prey; the roles subject to reversal without notice.

Those contended that there was nothing of value in Low Port; that it was worth the life of any honorable person to even attempt to walk such streets.

They. . .were not wrong, those who lived in the comfort of Mid Port and the luxury of High; and who bothered to give Low Port half a thought down the course of a Standard Year.

They were not wrong.

But they lacked discrimination.

It was true that there were very many bad and dangerous streets inside the uneasy boundaries of Low Port, and then –

There were worse.

The gayn'Urlez Gaming Hell occupied the corner of two such thoroughfares, and the best that could be said of them is that they were. . .somewhat less unsafe than the Hell itself.

Mar Tyn eys'Ornstahl had made it a policy – insofar as he was able to make policy – not to enter gayn'Urlez, much less work there.

Today, his feet had trampled policy, and Mar Tyn only hoped that he would survive the experience.

So anxious was he for that outcome, in fact, that he took the extreme action of. . .arguing. . .with his feet.

On the very corner, directly across from the most dangerous Hell in Low Port, Mar Tyn – turned to the right.

His feet hesitated, then strode out promptly enough, even turning right at the next corner, with no prompting from him, toward the somewhat safer streets where he was at least known.

Another might have assumed victory, just there, but Mar Tyn had lived with his feet for many years. It thus came as no surprise when they failed to take his direction at the next corner, bearing left, rather than right, until they stopped once more across the street from Hell.

He sighed. That was how it was going to be, was it?

Best to get on with it, then.

#

The barkeep was a thick woman with cropped grey hair and a prosthetic eye. She gave him a glance as he approached and leaned her elbows on the bar.

"Got reg'lars on tonight," she told him, pleasant enough. "Two days down there’s a bed open, if you want to reserve in advance. Reservation includes a drink tonight and a hour to study the layout. The House takes six."

Mar Tyn smiled at her over the bar.

"I'm not a pleasure-worker," he said, gently.

She frowned.

"What are you, then?"

"A Luck."

. . .here endeth the snippet