Skip
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Michael, what's the story with Death of Dulgath being out of stock at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble? Ludicrous. Your publisher is not doing its job. Maybe Robin can help? :-)
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey Skip, This should be resolved now. Let me fill you in on the "behind the scenes."
Well, first off, we are the publisher - so the buck stops with us. We self-published Death of Dulgath - BUT are using Mascot Books as a fulfillment partner.
So, books have to make quite a trek to get into Amazon's and B&N's warehouses it goes something like this.
1. They have to leave the printer in Wisconsin and make their way to Mascot's warehouse in Virginia.
2. Once checked in there - Amazon & B&N's orders can be fulfilled. This means the books leave Virginia and got to warehouses at the various resellers throughout the country. For B&N - they order what they had on pre-orders and a bit more for the online stores so at some point they showed up "in stock" online. But...that doesn't mean they are in the store yet.
3. The B&N science fiction and fantasy buying rep has to review the book and determine if the quality is sufficient to stock it in stores. Usually they get the books months and months before release date, but because we didn't have any books until mid December - the earliest they could get their copies were then.
4. B&N decided (sometime in January) that they would carry them in the stores so they make a large order that again has to move from Virginia to B&N warehouses.
5. Then the books have to go from B&N Warehouses to the final stores.
In any case, they are in stock now. We were under a tight deadline on this so there wasn't the "built in padding" that comes with most releases. So that meant we had to wait for the books as they travel around the country getting to their various distribution centers. I hope that helps to explain what was going on.
Well, first off, we are the publisher - so the buck stops with us. We self-published Death of Dulgath - BUT are using Mascot Books as a fulfillment partner.
So, books have to make quite a trek to get into Amazon's and B&N's warehouses it goes something like this.
1. They have to leave the printer in Wisconsin and make their way to Mascot's warehouse in Virginia.
2. Once checked in there - Amazon & B&N's orders can be fulfilled. This means the books leave Virginia and got to warehouses at the various resellers throughout the country. For B&N - they order what they had on pre-orders and a bit more for the online stores so at some point they showed up "in stock" online. But...that doesn't mean they are in the store yet.
3. The B&N science fiction and fantasy buying rep has to review the book and determine if the quality is sufficient to stock it in stores. Usually they get the books months and months before release date, but because we didn't have any books until mid December - the earliest they could get their copies were then.
4. B&N decided (sometime in January) that they would carry them in the stores so they make a large order that again has to move from Virginia to B&N warehouses.
5. Then the books have to go from B&N Warehouses to the final stores.
In any case, they are in stock now. We were under a tight deadline on this so there wasn't the "built in padding" that comes with most releases. So that meant we had to wait for the books as they travel around the country getting to their various distribution centers. I hope that helps to explain what was going on.
More Answered Questions
Weston Kincade
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
In my experience a good small to midsize publisher can be quite helpful, but I've wondered if, or when, authors should branch out? When in an author's career would it be a good idea to query the big 5 or an agent with a new book (as in, when are they likely to really consider your work since they take so few authors early in their careers)? Or would you advise going that route at all?
Lee Dunning
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
I was told recently that editors are disliking the use of euphemisms. They don't want you to use anything other than pronouns and the character's name. So, in other words, you can't refer to one of your characters at the 'big warrior', or call someone as 'Fred's mother'. This also goes for body parts. You have to call an eye an eye, you can't call it an orb or any other descriptive word. Have you run into this?
Jon Zimmerman
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
I do not have a question...or maybe one. I want to let you know that I started reading your work and it has been the best journey for me. I first met your work on Audible and listened to Age of Myth. I loved the book so I ended up reading the series. Now I am on The Riyria Revelations and it is great. Great job with the characters and plot. My question is if there is any plans to make this into movies?
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