: Re: In the digital age of Kindle and POD is a book ever finished? About five years ago I self-published a novella "The Spoils of War". In the middle there's a section where the MC is packed

@Becky328

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For the record, I include an appendix in my ebook called "Version History" which keeps a record of how the ebook has changed with every edition. (I made a nifty template which -- now that I think about it -- I should put online for everyone to have access to). Most of the changes have to do with formatting and support for different reading devices. Some involve grammar, while once in a while there is something new added.

I think it's great that an author can have "second thoughts" about how to write a book. The great thing about ebooks is that you can publish simultaneously alternate endings/chapters in the same ebook if you wish. Generally readers won't have the patience to compare versions -- they only want the finished product without variants. You shouldn't try your reader's patience too much though. Maybe you can include some extra episodes in a postscript/appendix if it makes sense.

I maintain a story site under a pseudonym, and I am delighted to report that I do line edits quietly after first publishing it, so no one knows just how much I've been tinkering with it over the years. I've improved phrases and caught subtle grammar issues. Readers will never know (although to be fair -- I plan to release that as an ebook, and I probably won't tinker with it after that point).

Finally I'm working on a self-updating ebook project -- where the reader will expect that the ebook will be updated every two years or so. (This is for a nonfiction book that's more of a reference work that needs to stay up to date).

The problem with making too many changes to a single book is that a writer needs to move on at some point. But if you feel pretty sure that the end result will be better, why not?

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