Production Update Questions

[Brian James Freeman]

STRANGE WEATHER update:

The interiors of all four volumes are designed and being proofread now, but that process is basically done.

The signature sheets are being printed now (we needed the artwork for the sheets to finish them) and the sheets will be circulating among the author and the artists as soon as possible. The timing will vary based on their schedules. Once we have a better idea of when each artist will be done signing their sheets, we'll be able to figure out when this is going to the printer.

Thank you for your patience!

[bsaenz24]

STRANGE WEATHER update:

The interiors of all four volumes are designed and being proofread now, but that process is basically done.

The signature sheets are being printed now (we needed the artwork for the sheets to finish them) and the sheets will be circulating among the author and the artists as soon as possible. The timing will vary based on their schedules. Once we have a better idea of when each artist will be done signing their sheets, we'll be able to figure out when this is going to the printer.

Thank you for your patience!

Thanks Brian! This is going to be a gorgeous addition to my CD collection!

[Ben Staad]

I read the update on "City of Mirrors" however can you provide any further information on this title?

[Brian James Freeman]

I read the update on "City of Mirrors" however can you provide any further information on this title?

I'm going to use your question as a jumping off point to finally be able to post something I've wanted to share but couldn't, and hopefully it'll help answer your question a little bit.

The specific answer to your question is, "I'm not sure when it'll get slotted yet, but we are aware it's a high priority."

Watch for my next post for a more general reason of WHY I'm not sure of the specific timing yet.

Thank you for your patience!

Brian

[Brian James Freeman]

Now that Sleeping Beauties is done, we can share something that was happening behind the scenes...

As you all know by now, last June one of our printers closed their doors without warning -- and with Sleeping Beauties and other projects trapped inside. (And their deposit payments, never to be seen again, unfortunately.)

We shifted gears, moved the projects around to our other two printers, and got things rolling again... but a few weeks after we started Sleeping Beauties at the oldest of our printers, the one we printed our very first book with in 1992 (!), they also privately notified us that they had entered bankruptcy proceedings...

This slowed the production process WAY down, which is why the printing took nearly six months to finish. Every time they went to order in a special material, they had to pay upfront, etc. They’ve been losing trained staff along the way as people have left. Our favorite account rep at any of the vendors we work with had to bail, which I’m still bummed about.

We also didn’t -- for the obvious reasons -- start any new books with them! That means a lot of books have been getting to the "ready for the printer" stage without one of our main printers to go to...

The good news is, one of our other printers has completed the process of buying our original printer out of bankruptcy! Their facility is getting rolled into this much bigger and healthier company, and lots of books will get rolling again this summer! The list of books we have ready to printer is long, though, so we're still figuring out how to juggle what needs done. We'll post more specific updates as the plans lock into place.

Also, we didn’t post about this situation sooner because we knew they would finish Sleeping Beauties no matter how the process played out, even if it was the last book they printed and there was one guy there doing it by candlelight, and generally speaking we didn’t want to cause a panic among our collectors given the trouble this book had already gone through.

Thanks again for your patience, and we look forward to catching up on a lot of books later this year!

Brian

[Ben Staad]

Thank you for the update. Business is fun, fun, fun!

[Brian861]

Although I don't have a dog in the fight as far as SB, I do appreciate the transparency when it can be provided. I think most of us (collectors) will be ok as long as we know what's going on. It's the not knowing or not being informed that's killer. Understanding that you (CD) can't always provided details due to obligations and whatnot.

I'm a relatively new collector among most here (5 years or less) but, when a big title is announced by CD, I've come to expect a 2 to 3 year turnaround. That's probably not the case with every title and a generalization. From the outside looking in; I believe most of these projects are funded up front via preorders and the delay begins immediately because the project hasn't started yet. The amount of money it would take to get a big project off the ground and then sell it is probably tremendous. The only way for us not see the long delays would be to wait until the project is weeks away from completion and then an announcement could be made. When we preorder, we're there for every delay. Of course, many of these big productions would never get off the ground without up front funding I'm assuming. Just an opinion from a guy who has no clue what it takes to run a publishing company

[c marvel]

Now that Sleeping Beauties is done, we can share something that was happening behind the scenes...

As you all know by now, last June one of our printers closed their doors without warning -- and with Sleeping Beauties and other projects trapped inside. (And their deposit payments, never to be seen again, unfortunately.)

We shifted gears, moved the projects around to our other two printers, and got things rolling again... but a few weeks after we started Sleeping Beauties at the oldest of our printers, the one we printed our very first book with in 1992 (!), they also privately notified us that they had entered bankruptcy proceedings...

This slowed the production process WAY down, which is why the printing took nearly six months to finish. Every time they went to order in a special material, they had to pay upfront, etc. They’ve been losing trained staff along the way as people have left. Our favorite account rep at any of the vendors we work with had to bail, which I’m still bummed about.

We also didn’t -- for the obvious reasons -- start any new books with them! That means a lot of books have been getting to the "ready for the printer" stage without one of our main printers to go to...

The good news is, one of our other printers has completed the process of buying our original printer out of bankruptcy! Their facility is getting rolled into this much bigger and healthier company, and lots of books will get rolling again this summer! The list of books we have ready to printer is long, though, so we're still figuring out how to juggle what needs done. We'll post more specific updates as the plans lock into place.

Also, we didn’t post about this situation sooner because we knew they would finish Sleeping Beauties no matter how the process played out, even if it was the last book they printed and there was one guy there doing it by candlelight, and generally speaking we didn’t want to cause a panic among our collectors given the trouble this book had already gone through.

Thanks again for your patience, and we look forward to catching up on a lot of books later this year!

Brian

Wow! First, one printer goes belly up and than the first printer used by CD starts bankruptcy proceedings. With the news of the second printer that had to hurt you (CD) badly. I hope the situation improves for you and everyone involved. This is just my opinion -- What you described sounds darn scary.

Cap

[HumphreyBear]

Thanks for the Heads up, Brian.

I am happy to wait long periods for the books, and it really helps to know what's causing the delays - even at a fairly superficial level. I don't expect that you will share every little bump that comes along with us. Regular updating via the production updates should be enough for most of us to be reassured that things will come down the pipeline eventually.

[bookworm 1]

Now that Sleeping Beauties is done, we can share something that was happening behind the scenes...

As you all know by now, last June one of our printers closed their doors without warning -- and with Sleeping Beauties and other projects trapped inside. (And their deposit payments, never to be seen again, unfortunately.)

We shifted gears, moved the projects around to our other two printers, and got things rolling again... but a few weeks after we started Sleeping Beauties at the oldest of our printers, the one we printed our very first book with in 1992 (!), they also privately notified us that they had entered bankruptcy proceedings...

This slowed the production process WAY down, which is why the printing took nearly six months to finish. Every time they went to order in a special material, they had to pay upfront, etc. They’ve been losing trained staff along the way as people have left. Our favorite account rep at any of the vendors we work with had to bail, which I’m still bummed about.

We also didn’t -- for the obvious reasons -- start any new books with them! That means a lot of books have been getting to the "ready for the printer" stage without one of our main printers to go to...

The good news is, one of our other printers has completed the process of buying our original printer out of bankruptcy! Their facility is getting rolled into this much bigger and healthier company, and lots of books will get rolling again this summer! The list of books we have ready to printer is long, though, so we're still figuring out how to juggle what needs done. We'll post more specific updates as the plans lock into place.

Also, we didn’t post about this situation sooner because we knew they would finish Sleeping Beauties no matter how the process played out, even if it was the last book they printed and there was one guy there doing it by candlelight, and generally speaking we didn’t want to cause a panic among our collectors given the trouble this book had already gone through.

Thanks again for your patience, and we look forward to catching up on a lot of books later this year!

Brian

Thanks for the update. This must have been a very stressful year for everyone at CD. I'm very happy that things are getting back on track.

[Ranger]

I should actually have a really good idea of where this one stands in about 30 days. We're looking at a plan with one of our high end vendors that would take on some of the larger jobs from our usual traycase maker. Normally, they're not a good fit for these, but they have some slow time coming up. Ping me in early May and I will know if Damnation Game is one of those, and where it stands in their queue if it is. (I'll try to remember to post on my own, but things get crazy busy at times and I forget!) Thanks for your patience!

Brian

Brian

Any updates on the status of Damnation Game lettered. Thanks.

[Dan Hocker]

Any updates on the status of Damnation Game lettered. Thanks.

It's in the queue, but there's no update to share yet. I think the case makers who do the normal lettered editions are currently working on a bunch of stuff that's older than Damnation Game, so it could be a little while before they have room in their schedules. We've been making really good progress at finally catching up with the backlogged lettered tray cases. So we're finally getting towards the light at the end of that tunnel.

[Brian James Freeman]

Thanks for the update. This must have been a very stressful year for everyone at CD. I'm very happy that things are getting back on track.

What we learned AFTER this update is that our printer didn't just get absorbed into this bigger company, but their actual facility is being cleared out. All of the presses are being sold, and the building will be turned into a warehouse for PAPER. That bums us out because we really liked that team we worked with for many, many years, and we hoped we'd be able to keep on rolling along with them until the new company's ownership.

Some of those employees will be joining the bigger company, but things are never quite the same when you go from the a smaller company to a bigger company, and we hope everything goes well for them. The other employees seem to be landing jobs at other local printing companies -- the area they are in is well-known for their printing businesses -- so that's good news, at least.

Brian

[Ranger]

It's in the queue, but there's no update to share yet. I think the case makers who do the normal lettered editions are currently working on a bunch of stuff that's older than Damnation Game, so it could be a little while before they have room in their schedules. We've been making really good progress at finally catching up with the backlogged lettered tray cases. So we're finally getting towards the light at the end of that tunnel.

Brian mentioned in the post I've quoted the possibility that one of your "high end vendors ... would take on some of the larger jobs from our usual traycase maker". Has this not happened?
Your post seems to suggest that it's the 'normal' case maker who will be working through the backlog.

[Dan Hocker]

Brian mentioned in the post I've quoted the possibility that one of your "high end vendors ... would take on some of the larger jobs from our usual traycase maker". Has this not happened?
Your post seems to suggest that it's the 'normal' case maker who will be working through the backlog.

That's still a possibility, but it hasn't happened yet, and until it does I'm going to continue tempering expectations as if it won't happen. Currently the big vendors are handling some big jobs.