Any updates on when the limited and lettered GWENDY'S MAGIC FEATHER might be shipping (along with the free ARC that I received in a dream I had the other night).
With more content for the website planned, starting this summer!
03-20-2020 08:17 AM
Brian James Freeman
Quote:
Originally Posted by ur2ndbiggestfan
Any updates on when the limited and lettered GWENDY'S MAGIC FEATHER might be shipping (along with the free ARC that I received in a dream I had the other night).
I think these editions will go to the printer after The Best of Cemetery Dance 2 and Night Shift have been completed and shipped to us. We'd like to see how those two bigger projects turn out before sending anything else big to the new printer. (Less complicated projects are continuing to be sent to our small local printer that we've worked with for years, but they cannot print a "regular" Lettered Edition, let alone something on the scale of these SK projects.)
Brian
03-20-2020 08:19 AM
Brian James Freeman
Quote:
Originally Posted by amd013
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ari_Racing
Hello, Brian!
Don't forget about my email please :) :)
I sent you one two or three weeks ago too.
Catching up on my email this weekend. It's been a little hectic these past few weeks! :panic:
I have to admit, unfortunately, that my first thought upon hearing that there is another Richard Chizmar book, was that it will almost certainly be printed, bound, and released before the book I pre-ordered in October 2015, or the one I pre-ordered in May of 2016, or the one I pre-ordered in September of 2016...
Spoiler:
Or the one from July 2017, or the one from September 2017, or the one from January 2018, or the one from February 2018, or the one from...
Widow's Point was announced in November 2017, after five of my pre-ordered books were already paid for, and made it to release in February 2018, just as I was pre-ordering The Southern Reach Trilogy (still not released).
Gwendy's Magic Feather was announced in May 2019 and the trade was published in November (yes I remember that this was a different case, as both the numbered and lettered are experiencing the usual delays).
Yesterday I get an announcement that Stephen King - Revisited is up for pre-order and scheduled for Fall 2020. Would anyone like to take bets that this book, through some miracle of printing and binding prowess, will not see any delays at all?
I have a spreadsheet of all of my pre-orders. If all of my CD pre-orders were to arrive today, the average time between pre-order and release would be 459 days. The longest is 1613 days and counting. The average time would actually be longer, but earlier this year I cancelled 4 different orders that were between 575 and 1155 days past pre-order.
For comparison, the average time between pre-order and release for Sub Press is 165 days, and the longest outstanding is 303 days (156 days shorter than the average CD release).
Brian, Dan, I believe that both of you are doing the best job that you can do. I believe that you are trying to make up the deficit as best as you can, and I recognize that for obvious reasons, this deficit is likely to grow rather than shrink this year. I appreciate, Brian, that you have taken some of the lessons learned from CD and tried to use them to make LetterPress a better small press. I appreciate, Dan, that when the books actually arrive, you have to make decisions about what to ship first and thus which customers to make angry, and I think you handle this very well. So please know that I (and I think most of us) recognize that this is not you guys messing up, and that I (and I think most of us) are actually very happy with the support and help that you two provide.
But at what point do you think this starts to look like 2007, when this thread started?
At what point can you reasonably say to Richard "this press is badly mismanaged and we need to make some fundamental changes?"
The announcement of Stephen King - Revisited was my catalyst here. What absolutely horrible optics, announcing and releasing Chizmar's books on time, while literally every high profile author CD publishes (Clvie Barker, Gillian Flynn, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Jeff VanderMeer) has delays ranging from 1 to 5+ years :frown2:
Spoiler:
OK my other catalyst is the current stressful situation of having all of my work travel cancelled indefinitely, leaving me much more time than usual to do things like calculate and compare the average lag between announcement and delivery for multiple publishers. So that's definitely not on you guys...
EDIT: I should be clear - I'm not fishing for a "this will all be done ASAP, we are gonna get so much out the door, etc" response. I know you guys are working hard. For the purposes of this thread, you can treat my questions as rhetorical. What I really want to know, but what I don't expect you to post here, because it's CD's internal company business, is at what point do these delays upon delays upon delays actually result in real, actionable changes in the way that CD operates? Again, you can treat this as rhetorical. I mean, we'll see that change, if it ever happens. I promise, I'll notice when my delayed books start showing up. I'll notice when the lag between pre-order and delivery is 6-12 months, instead of 15-60 months.
I have to admit, unfortunately, that my first thought upon hearing that there is another Richard Chizmar book, was that it will almost certainly be printed, bound, and released before the book I pre-ordered in October 2015, or the one I pre-ordered in May of 2016, or the one I pre-ordered in September of 2016...
Spoiler:
Or the one from July 2017, or the one from September 2017, or the one from January 2018, or the one from February 2018, or the one from...
Widow's Point was announced in November 2017, after five of my pre-ordered books were already paid for, and made it to release in February 2018, just as I was pre-ordering The Southern Reach Trilogy (still not released).
Gwendy's Magic Feather was announced in May 2019 and the trade was published in November (yes I remember that this was a different case, as both the numbered and lettered are experiencing the usual delays).
Yesterday I get an announcement that Stephen King - Revisited is up for pre-order and scheduled for Fall 2020. Would anyone like to take bets that this book, through some miracle of printing and binding prowess, will not see any delays at all?
I have a spreadsheet of all of my pre-orders. If all of my CD pre-orders were to arrive today, the average time between pre-order and release would be 459 days. The longest is 1613 days and counting. The average time would actually be longer, but earlier this year I cancelled 4 different orders that were between 575 and 1155 days past pre-order.
For comparison, the average time between pre-order and release for Sub Press is 165 days, and the longest outstanding is 303 days (156 days shorter than the average CD release).
Brian, Dan, I believe that both of you are doing the best job that you can do. I believe that you are trying to make up the deficit as best as you can, and I recognize that for obvious reasons, this deficit is likely to grow rather than shrink this year. I appreciate, Brian, that you have taken some of the lessons learned from CD and tried to use them to make LetterPress a better small press. I appreciate, Dan, that when the books actually arrive, you have to make decisions about what to ship first and thus which customers to make angry, and I think you handle this very well. So please know that I (and I think most of us) recognize that this is not you guys messing up, and that I (and I think most of us) are actually very happy with the support and help that you two provide.
But at what point do you think this starts to look like 2007, when this thread started?
At what point can you reasonably say to Richard "this press is badly mismanaged and we need to make some fundamental changes?"
The announcement of Stephen King - Revisited was my catalyst here. What absolutely horrible optics, announcing and releasing Chizmar's books on time, while literally every high profile author CD publishes (Clvie Barker, Gillian Flynn, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Jeff VanderMeer) has delays ranging from 1 to 5+ years :frown2:
Spoiler:
OK my other catalyst is the current stressful situation of having all of my work travel cancelled indefinitely, leaving me much more time than usual to do things like calculate and compare the average lag between announcement and delivery for multiple publishers. So that's definitely not on you guys...
unfortunately I had this EXACT same reaction to the news of this book. I agree with every last bit of this post.
03-20-2020 10:02 AM
Ricky
Yup, me too. I roll my eyes every time I get a CD newsletter that says another Chizmar book is being announced and printed while there's books I've had on order for years that are likely to not see the light of day anytime soon.
03-20-2020 10:06 AM
Brian James Freeman
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We always forward your feedback in case it might prove helpful for the decision makers, which Dan and I are not.
Brian
03-20-2020 10:09 AM
Kingfan24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian James Freeman
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We always forward your feedback in case it might prove helpful for the decision makers, which Dan and I are not.
Brian
Good luck Brian - solid leadership and decision making are paramount right now.
03-20-2020 10:10 AM
jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian James Freeman
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We always forward your feedback in case it might prove helpful for the decision makers, which Dan and I are not.
Brian
If you ever run for office, I will vote for you. I don't care what party you'd run under. But the way you said everything you needed to say in this post is really well-played.
03-20-2020 10:26 AM
Randall Flagg
Not that I am recommending it, but people boycotting the purchase of Chizmar books (with a specific note indicating why you are not buying the book) would send a clear message.
03-20-2020 10:26 AM
Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
03-20-2020 10:43 AM
jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
03-20-2020 10:57 AM
jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
EDIT: I thought FOUR HALLOWEENS was the name of the book, not how long I'd have to wait. God, I hope it doesn't go to FIVE HALLOWEENS.
03-20-2020 11:34 AM
Br!an
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
EDIT: I thought FOUR HALLOWEENS was the name of the book, not how long I'd have to wait. God, I hope it doesn't go to FIVE HALLOWEENS.
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
EDIT: I thought FOUR HALLOWEENS was the name of the book, not how long I'd have to wait. God, I hope it doesn't go to FIVE HALLOWEENS.
Hahahaha you were downright clairvoyant in 2015! It's a joke that gets less funny the more Halloweens we pass.
03-20-2020 11:41 AM
ur2ndbiggestfan
I did a mental count of how many books I have coming, bought and paid for, from various publishers, and came up with 15, which may or may not be accurate. About 4 of them are from Cemetery Dance (including one slipcase). To me, that's not too bad. The other publishers are Subterranean Press, PS Publishing, Meteor House, Charnel House and Suntup Press.
03-20-2020 11:45 AM
Br!an
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Br!an
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
EDIT: I thought FOUR HALLOWEENS was the name of the book, not how long I'd have to wait. God, I hope it doesn't go to FIVE HALLOWEENS.
Hahahaha you were downright clairvoyant in 2015! It's a joke that gets less funny the more Halloweens we pass.
Turn down the lights is my oldest outstanding CD order.
11/11/2013 1 Turn Down the Lights artist edition
03-20-2020 12:06 PM
jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by ur2ndbiggestfan
I did a mental count of how many books I have coming, bought and paid for, from various publishers, and came up with 15, which may or may not be accurate. About 4 of them are from Cemetery Dance (including one slipcase). To me, that's not too bad. The other publishers are Subterranean Press, PS Publishing, Meteor House, Charnel House and Suntup Press.
Out of 34 preorders:
19 Cemetery Dance
6 Suntup
5 SST
2 DRP
1 SubPress
1 PS
03-20-2020 12:09 PM
Hunchback Jack
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunchback Jack
Based on your dates, I think you and I have more or less the same titles on preorder, lotuz. :D
I think i might die if TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS ever ships. It will at least make me question who I am. Because for so long I have been The One Who Waits for TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. I don't know how to be The One Who Holds TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS. My tremendous patience for TDTL has underscored my identity as a collector. Once I have the book, I won't be able to point to Order #218768 from November 22nd 2013 as testimony to my loyalty and self discipline. For that, I'd have to turn to Order #288275 from November 2nd 2015 for FOUR HALLOWEENS 2.
EDIT: I thought FOUR HALLOWEENS was the name of the book, not how long I'd have to wait. God, I hope it doesn't go to FIVE HALLOWEENS.
That was damned funny, Jeff.
(I got you beat though - my oldest order is from October 2012. I am also waiting for Turn Down the Lights, though)