The work of Schlock shipping does not end with our two large shipping days. There is a lull right after, but then the errors and damaged books begin to make themselves known. I’ve been very pleased with this shipping experience so far. I’ve gotten many messages from happy customers whose books arrived with no trouble. It has even been a pleasure to deal with the customers who’ve had problems. They’ve all been very courteous and it pleases me to be able to solve the problem in a way that makes them happy. Thus far only three books have come back to us, two with incomplete addresses and one lacking a customs form. They’ve gone back out. The remaining problems are all one of three things, An incorrect sketch (only two of these), only one book sent when there should have been two (around 5 of these), or postal service mangled books (about 10 so far).
Once the kids are off at school, I plow through my email. I exchange messages to identify books that need to be redrawn and re-sent. I process any new orders that have come in (3-6 new orders per day right now, It’ll slow down in January.) Then I print out all the postage and package up the books. At less busy times of year I’ll just let my mail carrier pick them up at the house, but right now I’m driving things to the post office. This gets the packages out a little faster and it is no extra trouble for me because I need to be checking our PO box daily anyway. All of this takes an hour or two depending on the number of orders. Experience tells me that it takes about 6 weeks after a big shipment for all the problems to surface.
One thing that I feared for this mailing has not materialized. I’ve yet to have someone who ordered via Media Mail email me in a panic because they wanted their books for Christmas. This makes me glad because once things are in the mail system I have no control over how fast they go. It is odd that some books arrive in Australia before other books arrive in Connecticut, but it is true.
I finally rescued my book from the apartment office, and it looks great! I’ve enjoyed your choices for margin sketches, so far.
Glad to hear it!
EVen if the problems take 6 weeks, 17 assorted “errors” (though I dunno if you can count the post office mangling them an error, or at least not one we should attribute to Tayler Corp.) is amazingly love.
The order I placed basicly right before the book party Saturday arrived at it’s destination yesterday, btw. I think I’m just a little nervous, unsure if the reciever will like them. While *I* think Schlock is the funniest thing ever, I can’t be sure EVERYONE feels the same. I guess I have to trust that gamers will “get” Scholck…
The courtesy you get from us customers comes from the courtesy you give. The way you and Howard run your business is both friendly and transparent. Many or most of us interact with you either in person or online, and we know from experience what nice people you are. We see in your blogs the lengths that you go to and the things you sacrifice in order to take such good care of us. How could we not respond well to that?
Arrival date
Our books were delivered on Christmas Eve Day, which was amusing, because my husband is Jewish. He was delighted to get them regardless. Next time I order, I will have to remember how long the media mail delivery is.
Re: Arrival date
Glad the book arrived. Media Mail is faster during other months of the year, but not by much.
Re: Arrival date
I wasn’t really worried, because I wasn’t in a rush for them for any particular reason. I figured he’d be happy to get them whenever they got there. Next time I would probably pick regular postage though, just so we don’t have to wait so long to see them! It was hard to imagine not being able to wait when I was making the decision ten weeks in advance. 🙂 For the record, I cannot wait until Book 2 comes out. When I finished Book 1, I was tempted to spend time reading the connecting comics online, even though I still remember what happens.
He was amused that I got him two artists sketches. When Howard first announced that he was planning to publish book one, I sneakily managed to ask him what his favorite characters were, and he said he couldn’t decide between Kevin and Schlock, so I got both. 🙂
Would you ever consider opening up another time when Howard would sketch art in the earlier books? I missed getting an artist edition of Under New Management.
Re: Arrival date
We’ll probably do new sketch editions for Under New Management when we sell out of the first printing and have to reprint. Reprint may become necessary within the next year or so.