Production Update Questions

[Brian861]

Like I said, I'm naive in the ways of the small press. I'm gonna tell my boss today, "Don't pressure me or I'm not doing shit". Then I'll get to go home and find another job But if the business model is the creatives have you by the balls, so be it. Throw the customers balls in there for good measure as well.

[Brian James Freeman]

Here is the latest update from one of the artists:

“Sorry for not getting in touch before, but the latest weeks have been quite a mess over here as we had a national crisis in Chile in early October that became a major civil problem and had us with the infrastructure, business activities and normal routine turned upside down for over 7 weeks (including state of emergency, curfews and calls to the national guard in the first days).

Because of that, most of us here spent the last 2 weeks catching up with work and trying to recover a closer to normal routine.
Next to that, basic public services and private business (like mailing companies) started to get back to their usual work on late November.
Because of that, I was still unable to send back the already signed sheets, but I'm hoping to be able to do it finally during the weekend or very early next week. I think I do have the print guide with the mail return instructions, so I'm hoping not to have problems with that. If I do, I'll let you know and will ask for help.

Once again, I'm very sorry for this delay, but as you could imagine, some sort of unexpected events are simply unmanageably big at times.

Hope to be able to confirm the package is on its way very soon.“

[slayn666]

But in this one instance, 2 years of waiting

Let's not pretend this is a one-off deal here. For better or worse, a two-year wait is business as usual for CD. Dan and Brian have both said repeatedly they're trying to fix that, and Rich has said the same in interviews, and that's great and I wish them all the best in that endeavor, but to be perfectly frank, Strange Weather is not even late by CD standards.

Comedy response: Dan and Brian, you guys need to tell that Stephen King slacker to hurry the hell up with the intro to Dark Debts, that thing went on sale three years ago. Lazy bastard needs to honor his contract!

[jeffingoff]

I don't disagree, but these aren't lawyers and engineers you're dealing with. You ruffle their feathers too hard and they'll just not work with you in the future. Which may or may not be the same conclusion CD (or any other publisher) comes to due to delays in completing the terms of a contract, be it turning in art or signing signature sheets.

To put it another way, CD has around a long time. Don't you think if playing hardass about contractual obligations worked to get their books out quicker, they'd have been doing it all along?

As a creative myself (a marketing creative which is a lot different than an artist or author, but a creative professional nonetheless) I totally agree that squeezing creatives and being a hardass is not the way to go. This is a relationship-driven business and creatives totally need their space to their best work. But in this one instance, 2 years of waiting (that's just after it went up for presale--that's not counting all the time that led up to it with contracts being signed and things getting put into place before the public announcement) is a generous amount of time. No one could accuse CD of being a hardass for wanting the signature sheets finished. It's not like we're only 2 months or 6 months or even 1 year late. The artists have some expectations to be a little more professional.

[slayn666]

I don't disagree, but these aren't lawyers and engineers you're dealing with. You ruffle their feathers too hard and they'll just not work with you in the future. Which may or may not be the same conclusion CD (or any other publisher) comes to due to delays in completing the terms of a contract, be it turning in art or signing signature sheets.

To put it another way, CD has around a long time. Don't you think if playing hardass about contractual obligations worked to get their books out quicker, they'd have been doing it all along?

[bsaenz24]

It's generally not a good idea for a company that relies on creatives to piss those creatives off. Aside from almost certainly alienating the two artists in question, word will get around that CD is difficult to do business with, which will make other creatives think twice about signing a contract.

I assume "creative" people have bills to pay too. Paying bills means making money to pay those bill, which means completing your end of the contract. For some "creatives", that means signing signature sheets. It's not something terribly creative, just work. Publishers should not need to wait such an insane length of time for sheets to be signed. The "creative" aspect has nothing to do with signing sheets.

A company may use the services of creatives, but those creatives are doing a job. A creative job, but still a job. If you can't do the job in a reasonable timeframe, don't accept the job.

[slayn666]

It's generally not a good idea for a company that relies on creatives to piss those creatives off. Aside from almost certainly alienating the two artists in question, word will get around that CD is difficult to do business with, which will make other creatives think twice about signing a contract.

[Brian861]

Two sets of signature sheets still with the respective artists on that one.

Brian

If they can find them in their busy schedules to get it done. Not a jab at you, Brian but your (CD's) customers have been waiting on the publication of this book for over two years now. It's time they are told to take a day or two and get this done. The time for asking politely is behind us. I understand I'm extremely naive in the world of the small press, but is there nothing in the contract that states all parties involved need to meet their obligations by a certain date? And if they fail to do that, maybe they shouldn't be invited back for future projects. It seems from the outside looking in, that authors, artist, whomever can take their sweet ass time getting around to it.

My rant has nothing to do with the printer problems you guys experienced. Completely understandable and out of your control. This project (Strange Weather), IMO, should just be waiting to be printed vs waiting on folks to sign.

[Brian James Freeman]

Dan, would any of that happen to include STRANGE WEATHER by Joe Hill?

Two sets of signature sheets still with the respective artists on that one.

Brian

[RonClinton]

I don't really know what the printer schedule is outside of what's currently at the printer and what I'm hoping to send in the next couple of weeks.

Dan, would any of that happen to include STRANGE WEATHER by Joe Hill?

[Dan Hocker]

Any updates/eta regarding the remaining titles in the "2018 Forthcoming" Grab Bag? Saw the recent e-mailer for the new grab bag but am hesitant to jump into another grab bag while this one still hasn't been resolved. As always, any info is appreciated. Thanks!!!

2 different grab bags. The new grab bag is a Review Copy grab bag. Which we shipped the previous one a couple weeks ago. The books in the grab bag you're talking about should be going to the printer in 2020. I don't want to be specific as I don't really know what the printer schedule is outside of what's currently at the printer and what I'm hoping to send in the next couple of weeks.

[sholloman81]

Any updates/eta regarding the remaining titles in the "2018 Forthcoming" Grab Bag? Saw the recent e-mailer for the new grab bag but am hesitant to jump into another grab bag while this one still hasn't been resolved. As always, any info is appreciated. Thanks!!!

[Marmaduke Grigsby]

Which boat did you sail? It was my first cruise ever and we were on the Fantasy. I loved it. I'll do it again once I have $15k just sitting around. Other more experienced cruisers said our boat was way too crowded. I agree, but I also had nothing to compare it to.

We were on the Disney Dream which was a new ship at the time. It's the only cruise I've ever been on.

[Martin]

WELL it is a . . . um . . . small world! Did she enjoy it? The FB group chatter after the cruise indicated that this particular cruise was more crowded and bumpy than the norm. I loved it, though.

She loved it but did say it was a bumpy ride. Not stormy but enough motion to feel it in the room.

[jeffingoff]

So, a coworker of mine returned to work today from a Disney cruise. She does Disney vacations twice a year. Next year she is doing Disney France. I asked her what ship she was on and she said The Fantasy.

WELL it is a . . . um . . . small world! Did she enjoy it? The FB group chatter after the cruise indicated that this particular cruise was more crowded and bumpy than the norm. I loved it, though.