Today was the day my new book was to ship from the warehouse to me. Unfortuantely, it is not happening. I have been on the phone with Storey, my publisher. The newest update is that “the book” will be in their warehouse October 31st. All I know is…. “there was a problem with the printer or the shipper in China.” But I have been told that, yes, now it is on a boat heading towards the USA.
I come to this whole author thing backwards. I worked for a yarn company for several years and I am no stranger to shipping delays. Here’s what we used to hear from our “freight forwarders” (the people who took the freight from the factory who made the yarn in a foreign country to the boat and tracked it until it got to a port in the States).
1. Your yarn got bumped for a load of roses. Roses have priority over yarn – they are perishable. (If yarn is perishable, what about books?)
2. The boat didn’t make it to the States yet. It took the slow route through the Mediterranean – stopping at every large port along the way, then stopped in Panama before it got to Boston. Yes, the trip took 3 months – that’s not unusual.
3. Your yarn is stuck in Boston. It came from Peru so they are opening every box and inspecting it with dogs for possible drugs. We're hoping they will be done with it by next week. And yes, the storage fees will continue to accumulate.
4. Remember that Letter of Credit you did for us so that we would get paid? Well, we were so late on the manufacturing that the L/C expired. You’ll have to open a new one and then we will ship to you.
As you can imagine, the list goes on and on. Stuff happens in business that is beyond control - especially an author's. I feel rather helpless at the moment. I have taken orders and I will keep you updated. But I promise you, the book is lovely and it will be worth the short wait.
In the meantime, I thank all of you who have ordered their own “autographed” copies from moi. It’s not too late to order and I will have them in stock, once they arrive in the USA, for a very long time. It has been great to have so much support from the on-line community in the way of personal orders.
To you, The Farmer, Julia, and I are eternally grateful.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Jane Brocket is an internet crush of mine. Her Yarnstorm was the first blog I stumbled upon many years ago. I didn't know what a blog... -
A few years ago I stumbled upon a beautifully designed book called " Itty Bitty Hats ." The concept and design of the spiral bound...
4 comments:
{HUGS}!
Not to be a crank here, but the real point is, what was the book doing in China in the first place? Why can't Storey use a domestic printer? The outrageous cost of shipping books from the other side of the planet, not to mention the human lives being lost in a war that is being fought to support our petroleum-guzzling lifestyles, could go to support fairly paid American workers. Those container ships measure their mileage in gallons per mile. Storey used to stand for right livelihood and a back-to-nature kind of thing, so it's pretty heartbreaking to hear they don't have enough respect for New England workers to find a printer close to home.
Kristin,
Thanks for being understanding about this book situation. I can promise everyone that the book is lovely/gorgeous/amazing and worth the wait. Apologies in advance to all fans!
Amy G.
Oh good, Kristin, I can still preorder. I'll get the Professor right on it to get my Christmas pressie.
Post a Comment