The Check is in the Mail and Other Black Comedies

[rolanni]

Today, kinzel and I drove out to the post office and thence roundabout to Augusta, where we visited Staples on behalf of SRM and Barnes and Noble on behalf of ourselves.

Our contact at B&N, who watches over the science fiction section as if it were his own child, spent a sizable chunk of time with us, digging deep inside the guts of the computer system, and explaining what's needed to get Corporate to model a book. Selling five books isn't necessarily enough to get more ordered in; selling five books in two days or otherwise creating a pop that gets the attention of Corporate -- that gets the book modeled. Usually.

In other news, he had ordered eleven Crystal Dragon, none of which have arrived. Indeed, there's no sign of the books yet in the regional warehouse, which in practical terms means they're out of his reach. And there was much gnashing of teeth.

We've also had news from at least one Alert Shopper that the ISBN for Crystal Dragon, when fed into the Ingram catalog, produces -- wait for it -- Class Dis-Mythed by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. Those who need to special order, please do be aware of this glitch and encourage the clerk to search by title or author.

The afternoon has been filled with various tasks -- kinzel is laying out Calamity's Child, and I contributed some cover copy and an updated authors' bio, before getting a start on the next chapter in the Book Without A Name.

I need to do a post sometime soon about the revelations and inversions of Second Life, but today is not the day.

And -- drum roll, please -- kinzel and I have, after a careful consideration of our *cough* finances, opened the Dulsey Defense Fund for contributions. We do not, as a rule, ask other people to help us take care of our cats, but this past year's financial adventures have tapped us out. If you have any spare change that you'd like to send Dulsey's way, we thank you.

EDITED TO ADD: PayPal's helpful addition of a $5 s/h charge has now been turned off in both places.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Amazon delivered my 4 copies of Crystal Dragon finally! Hope that small bit of good news makes your day better.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! I hope you enjoy the story.

[damara.livejournal.com]

I'm in the middle of writing an essay so haven't had the chance to look at it. Though just knowing it is there waiting for me is very distracting. I've enjoyed all the rest of the Liaden books I've been able to get my hands on. I am /really/ looking forward to this one.

And yes, that was me posting anonymously, since I didn't notice I'd been logged off of LJ.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

PayPal's helpful addition of a $5 s/h charge has now been turned off in both places.

Not as of 727pm CST.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Not as of 727pm CST.

...and I'm at wit's end. I've dug around in the guts of this thing and all the shipping is set to $0.00

Gah.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I revisited the site using a different computer--it is indeed set to $0.00 on the invoice page as well. I had emptied the cache on the desktop before checking, but I'm wondering if it still held on to the old page.

Even if it remained, a person could simply deduct $5 from their donation and let the S/H add it in.

[aitchellsee.livejournal.com]

When I tested it out just now, there were no nasssty ssshipping feesssssssssss mentioned at all, so I'd guess rolanni had triumphed over Paypal at last :-)

Dulsey Defense Fund

[(Anonymous)]

I too had a long-time feline companion with expensive to treat Liver Failure. So from Muppet to Patia's sister Dulsey, a donation towards good health...Shawna

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I hope our donation helps.
- Serge & Sue.

Yea!! I have a copy of Crystal Soldier

[(Anonymous)]

Am still waiting for Crystal Dragon. I just returned from Barnes and Noble and they said to check back in another week. I ordered the books a little over a week ago.

But I am just glad to have the one.

Thanks for the effort that helped make this possible.

Helen

Modeled?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I just haven't been paying enough attention, but what does it mean to have a book modeled? I know about having a dress modeled, where one drapes it upon a young, hopefully esthetic body in the hopes that it will sell wildly. I also know about modeling a software system or some other engineering reality, to attempt to create an easily manipulated version. But having Corporate model a book is a usage that I'm not quite sure I understand. It sounds evil, actually? Corporate modeled the book, and then they burned the original, since they no longer had need of it :-)

Just wondering. Please do not evade other pressing matters to respond.

Re: Modeled?

[(Anonymous)]

What is modeled is not the book itself, but the sales pattern of the book, and the desired stocking level. The following link describes the process.

http://www.fonerbooks.com/distribu.htm

Re: Modeled?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Ah! So this is an inventory control model, which attempts to predict what an appropriate level is. Given how little real information they have to base such a model on, it must be painful prognostication. And when they miss, people complain that they can't get the book, or that there are all those remainders just sitting there eating up stock space.

Thanks! Now I wonder if that usage is going to get into the dictionaries. It's an interesting one.