More Surprises!

Boy was I misinformed! Just when I think I've got it all figured out-I don't. What I received was a layout but the book isn't laid out! I was so excited when I saw the entire book formatted. I glossed over the fine print in the accompanying instructions. I dashed out the door downtown and printed all 401 pages for review. The review copy will come after the book is laid out! We are a ways yet from an advanced reading galley copy. I had a good discussion with the publisher's distribution manager this week and she estimates we won't make the January release date. Try February. The advance copies need to be in the hands of the media for four to six months in order for them to read, appraise and order the book for their stores and/or write the reviews that will hopefully be forth coming. The galley copies are actual books printed on cheaper paper and labeled as advanced reading copies-not for sale. If the galley copies require further revision, then they won't be in the hands of the media by November. Any time less than four months won't work.


I also learned about the various ways the book will be sold. The books will be purchased from (1) my website when it comes online, (2) direct from the publisher, but the books aren't returnable,(3) Itasca, my distributor, and (4) the wholesalers Itasca sells to. Books are returnable from Itasca and any other wholesaler such as Ingram. The book will be available from Amazon and all the major online retailers. In general, unless a book is returnable, carried by a wholesaler such as Ingram opposed to a "print-on-demand" publisher, the book won't be available from Barnes & Noble or Border's Books. The independent book stores may vary in how they buy books. Self-published books aren't sold in most stores because they aren't distributed through a wholesaler and are not returnable back to a distributor. Does that make sense?


The first inventory of books will be used to fulfill requests from queries submitted by the independent book stores who are members of Indiebound. Those stores receive an Advanced Access Newsletter with my title. If I've done a good enough job writing the 50 word synopsis for the book, the stores may want to look at my book and can request a complimentary copy before they order it from their wholesaler. The publisher will decide, based on the amount of interest generated from the advanced reading program, how much inventory to create. The inventory will be created from an off set print technique that is cheaper than digital printing used to make smaller inventories. The cheaper the print costs, the better.