There is no mail service today (Jan 16th) because of Martin Luther King's Birthday (federal holiday here in the USA).

I realize now that I should not have mentioned that I received my author copies when I did. That created expectations that in retrospect I realize to be unrealistic.

The current economic reality is that many small businesses are not hiring new people, for reasons that are wa-a-ay off topic, and this is especially true for small specialty presses like Subterranean Press, Cemetery Dance, and NSB. They usually have only four or five people at most handling shipping, and the rule for shipping out books seems to be "first in, first out." Also, large dealer orders get priority because, let's face it, until they get the books the publisher doesn't get paid.

There is a similar problem being discussed on Facebook. Glen Hirshberg's new collection, JANUS, is in the warehouse at the publisher (Subterranean Press), but because there are other books ahead of it in the shipping queue it isn't being mailed out. Also, Amazon has canceled a number of advance orders that they had accepted. Sub Press does a lot of direct sales, yet I've had to wait six to eight weeks from the time I hear that the printer has delivered the books to the publisher for my copy to arrive. This is personally frustrating, but I understand their position, and getting angry doesn't do anything but screw up my blood pressure and sleep patterns.

NSB changed its business model since it first solicited subscriptions. Back then they did a lot of direct sales, but now they sell all their books through a distributor. This has improved their cash flow tremendously. Their shipping department is even smaller than Sub Press, but this works for dealer orders. Then along comes a legacy obligation like Miscellaneous Writings. It takes almost as long to package and address a package with one book as it does a case of 30, so things slow down. In the meantime, they still have to get out orders for books that arrived in the warehouse before MW. Like I said, first in first out.

Bottom line is that NSB, like Sub Press, is working as hard as it can to fulfill outstanding orders, but MW has to wait its turn to be shipped out. They are not deliberating snubbing, dissing, or ignoring the people who subscribed to the Collected Fantasies (who, I might add, instead of getting a thin trade paperback as a bonus are now getting a full-size hardcover book at no charge). This is reality, people! Publishers can't magically fulfill orders, not if they want to stay in business. If some of you feel better venting your frustration, fine, but it's not going to make the books arrive one nanosecond sooner, and the only person who is going to suffer because of it is you. I've waited a longer time for other books that I actually paid for and I feel no need to cast maledictions, even against one overseas publisher who I am fairly certain will never publish the books I advance ordered a couple of years ago. Why? Because it doesn't do any good.


Scott



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 16 Jan 12 | 05:30PM by Scott Connors.

I ordered my book from amazon.com about 2 weeks ago and i received it within 3-4 business days.

This is all very strange to me how Night Shade Books isnt sending the copies to people after the book was released so long ago.

Maybe its time for people to just give up and pay the 19$ on amazon and move on.

Jeremy

I received a nice email from Night Shade this weekend, after writing them a second time, promising that the contributor's copies would be distributed by the end of this month. Considering I am owed several books by probably the same European publisher Scott alludes to, was recently cheated out of $200 worth of books by another American publisher who shall remain unnamed, am still waiting on a book purchased in 2003 from CD (which also should finally be out this month), am out several subscriptions from magazines published in the 1980s, was owed at least one book by ScreamPress when it folded, etc., Night Shade's tardiness is inconveninent and frustrating, but has not upset me a great deal.

The first copies of the Le Fanu book I coedited for Hippocampus seem to have been dropshipped directly from the printer to Amazon at the end of November. The next batch then shipped directly from Lightning Source in the UK, so that we were receiving comments from the UK, Ireland, and Belgium long before even the publisher had received any copies. Gary Crawford and I did not receive ours from the publisher till last week. I do not blame the publisher for this - that just seems to be the way things work now, and I am glad to have the book.

Jim

I respect the rationale for the delay, but I don't accept that NSB have done much to ease the concerns of the subscribers: hence the legitimate ill feeling.

As I'm not personally involved in the NSB subscription debacle I don't feel that it can be claimed that I'm motivated by my personal woes nor that I am just self-destructively venting my spleen. I take issue that the subscribers have been intolerant or have too easily given in to their frustrations... In fact I'd say that most of the complaints have been fairly humorous and ironic, rather than raging rants.

The fact is if NSB took just ten minutes to email all of the subscribers once or twice over the last few years then much of that ill feeling would have been instantly eased. As far as I can tell, they didn't do that, they didn't attempt to do that, they didn't even consider doing that... And worse still, they've not always been forthcoming in responding to the queries and concerns of the subscribers. You can dress it up any way you like, but ultimately they have taken a substantial advance to help finance their business from the subscribers and have not treated them with any consideration or respect. Okay, in the wider scheme of things this isn't up there with the credit-crunch, but I don't think it's fair to suggest that the grievances felt by many of the subscribers is without merit or a hideous overreaction. If someone feels ripped off, then I for one am not going to suggest that they are wrong or that they should censor their complaints. I know in similar circumstances I too would feel annoyed. It would seem that the only resource NSB have left them is to complain about it online... Pissing in the wind and self-destructive, you might say, but why shouldn't they? Indeed, I'd argue that by complaining they have alerted me (and others) to a potential problem with NSB and the small press in general, thus at no point in the future will I succumb to the allure of a dodgy subscription deal. while NSB might have changed their distribution method thus this exact turn of events might not happen again, this (and the other bad press they have received lately) has ultimately hurt their rep and the loyalty of their customers, which may yet come back, in a small way, to haunt them.

As for the argument that other small press have been equally unreliable (or worse), therefore NSB subscribers have nothing to complain about and should then, presumably, shut up, seems unfair... If I get my wallet pinched on the bus, but in the past you had you house robbed, do I not have a right to complain too? Okay, my complaints should show some perspective, but I see no evidence that anyone has significantly over reacted to this. Indeed, I'd argue that you should make us aware as to which small press publisher you are talking about and what the circumstances were... If they just went bust.... well, them the breaks I guess... But if they're sitting pretty with no intention of giving their customers the goods they have in good faith paid for, then this is less forgiveable. If a bank or corporation was doing it then it wouldn't be tolerated? By publicly outing these companies, it makes them more accountable. By taking a "Que Sera, Sera..." stance then you're just letting them get away with it. Bend over, touch your toes and think of noble sacrifice you're making...

Okay, it might be a case of diminished returns in escalating complaints beyond a few utterances upon a forum or whatever, but I don't see why they should have to take a totally fatalistic stance either... I'm not saying that every small grievance and mistake should result in a boycotting of NSB or whoever and sure maybe we should cut them a bit of slack and give them a chance to fix things, but it would seem that for many that point has been surpassed with NSB.

"As for the argument that other small press have been equally unreliable (or worse), therefore NSB subscribers have nothing to complain about and should then, presumably, shut up, seems unfair... "

That is not what I meant to imply at all. It is simply that due to I do not know how many factors, not all of them within the control of the small press publishers, this phenomenon seems to be occurring more frequently, and this particular incident, irritating as it is, is relatively benign.

Night Shade has not cheated me by taking my money without sending me the books I ordered (yes, the book is delayed, but I know I will receive it). Nor have they asked me to do work for them, then failed to either pay me or even send the book they asked me to assist them with. Those sins are unforgivable, and I am happy to say that Night Shade has not committed either of them. Most of the small presses I have dealt with have treated me fairly, as a customer and as an "employee". I am merely a(n impatient) customer of Night Shade.

I completely agree with you that Night Shade could have spared their customers a great deal of frustration and themselves not only a great deal of ill will, but also what must have amounted to a deluge of unhappy emails if they had either preemptively or reactively sent messages to their subscribers explaining the situation and offering some kind of timeline for delivery of the book they ordered so many years ago.

On the other hand, anyone here who may have preordered the 25th Anniversary Edition of LITTLE, BIG is doubtless aware that sometimes regular updates do NOT help allay the concerns of subscribers. That book is now at least 6 years overdue, and the updates I receive every other month or so, with their terminology of "final lockdown", etc. ceased to mean any more than "we still do not have it finished and the completion date keeps moving towards the horizon". I have no reason to doubt their sincerity, and the book looks as if it is going to be gorgeous when it finally appears, but I no longer find anything reassuring in these updates after having received so many variations on them for so many years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17 Jan 12 | 01:08PM by jimrockhill2001.

jimrockhill2001 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Night Shade has not cheated me by taking my money
> without sending me the books I ordered (yes, the
> book is delayed, but I know I will receive it).
> Nor have they asked me to do work for them, then
> failed to either pay me or even send the book they
> asked me to assist them with. Those sins are
> unforgivable, and I am happy to say that Night
> Shade has not committed either of them.

Not against you, perhaps, and perhaps not recently, but certainly against other people.

For me, though not terribly upset about it, I do think this has been handled in a very inept and unprofessional manner where their customers are concerned, especially those who provided "seed money" (as it were) for the project. Things happen, delays take place, yes; and I think most (including myself) would be more than willing to accommodate and even be sympathetic with such things... provided that those who did subscribe were updated in a reasonable fashion about such things, and were not made to feel (as so many do, including myself, though to a lesser degree than some I think) that those who were there to support such projects when it was still just a proposal, are among the last to receive consideration when it is done. That is simply bad business practice. I have worked an awful lot of customer service positions in my lifetime, and I've seen a lot of businesses suffer and even go under due to such a lack, when all it would take to either alleviate or eliminate the problem is a simple bit of communication.

Nor would that take a lot of time. Set up a program to send out a mass email to the subscribers periodically, letting them know the book has been delayed, or is expected on X date; or even explaining some of the points give above (such as the publishers not receiving copies of the books themselves until some other sources do). A brief email now and again to those customers would make a world of difference, and would have saved them a ton of ill-will. Any business relies to a great extent on the good will of its customers; and in the current situation, where negative views can be propagated very widely very quickly, it behooves any business to keep that in mind. While a specialty publisher doesn't have to worry about that as much as, say, a general retail business -- given they are likely to be the only publisher putting out a particular item -- nonetheless, they do run the risk of enough people getting fed up with this to where they do no business with them, even through distributors, but will look for such items second-hand. That can create a major difficulty for them in the long run, and perhaps even short-term as well. This is especially true given the current economic scenario, and are likely to become a bit more picky in who they deal with.

NSB may be able to repair bridges with some of this, but I get the feeling a lot of people have simply become so fed up that they are going to be more inclined to what I mention above, rather than buying their wares new. And that, of course, means that eventually they may be left sitting in a warehouse eating up overhead for a longer and longer period... again, something no business (most particularly a small business) can well afford. For their own sake, I hope they learn a lesson from this about customer service and improve in future. We've lost a few too many small presses over the years, especially in the field of the fantastic, and I'd just as soon not see another join that number when a fairly minimal effort might avoid such an outcome.

All joking aside, I do sympathise with Scott Connors and his "overseas publisher" dilemma. What kind of a company would take maybe thousands of dollars up-front, then string their customers along for years with flimsy excuses, before finally admitting that the promised title will never appear? They should be ashamed.

Good news, I received the book today in New York State and I hope that all of the subscribers get theirs soon.

I also sent an email to NSB last week, as follows:

Any idea what's going on with the delayed shipment of MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS?
I have to agree with the many pissed-off subscribers who are still waiting for their books some 10 weeks after publication.
Any encouraging news will help!

The response basically reiterated the lack of manpower issue, but also said the books were now shipping and would continue for the next few weeks. So unfortunately it sounds like the shipping will continue to be a slow process. Sorry guys . . . hope you all receive your books ASAP.
-Ron

I have not got mine yet either, but I am excited about this! The fact that it will be a matching hardcover with dust-jacket and still free is pretty cool! Worth the extra year wait!

The Miscellaneous Writings arrived two days ago; excellent in all aspects! Leaving the numerous fragmentary works out seems right-- as well as choosing original version of "The Hashish-Eater"... Arkham House would have done well to include "Fungi From Yuggoth" in Dagon[i][/i]instead of the early tales, in my opinion

January 30th (Day 2481)
Another Monday, another blank. Perhaps NSB's distributor wears a red suit.

February 6th (Day 2488)
Another Monday and still Batbintless.
And the unlucky ones wait in Casablanca. And wait. And wait. And wait ....

asshurbanipal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> February 6th (Day 2488)
> Another Monday and still Batbintless.
> And the unlucky ones wait in Casablanca. And wait.
> And wait. And wait ....

Yikes! I got mine 2 or 3 weeks ago. You may be the winner of the "He Who Got Their's Last" award. That is not a coveted award. :-)