We now have a confirmed ship date of August 15th. I realize this is not as soon as we might have preferred, but there we are. We also have a signed agreement with Transcontinental that the books will be ready for shipping on that date against a default of fifteen percent of the printing fees for those volumes (which would result in a modest refund to each of you). Presumably everybody watns the books in hand as much as I want them there, but feel free to hope for either outcome as you prefer.
Now, everything seems to be in place, my filing is up-to-date, there are a few things still extant, but they'll hold for a couple of weeks. I am claiming my two weeks vacation during which I shall read on hilltops in the park, enjoy the fresh swampy smog air of Houston, see family, all those lovely things. What this means for all of you: Hopefully, nothing. As of this weekend, I have gotten confirmation from every subscriber for address and some form of contact information--hurrah!--so there should be no worries about having the books shipped properly. If any emergencies crop up between now and, let's say, the 29th, please contact my office at 713-861-3600. I intend to keep my email checking to a minimum, hopefully no more than once every two to three days, but I will be checking if you want to try to get through. Compliments and niceties will be printed out for my scrapbook while complaints and death threats will be archived pending my inevitable return.
While I'm rambling on, I would like to take a moment to address our shipping arrangements for the first set of books. In the interest of saving some time and getting things out a bit faster, we're opting to bear the extra expense and have the first set shipped directly by Transcontinental. They are a rather large printing company with quite a lot of experience in the field. Nonetheless, we want to be informed if there are any problems with the packaging or books as they arrive. I'll reiterate this in roughly a month--Happy Bastille Day, incidentally--but if there are any problems, don't hesitate to contact us immediately.
Sean Thompson
Monday, July 14, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
I've been emailing updates to subscribers for the last month and so just realized that independent observers might want to know what's happening. Okay, I'll admit, I forgot about the blog for a little bit.
To summarize all of the updates--which I've cut and paste below--we worked with Transcontinental to figure out why they were having a problem with the hot stamping of covers, decided on a solution, and it is now being implemented. Transcontinental was out for two days on civic holiday--their celebration of gaining independence as I understand it--and are now back, working on the last two stages before shipping--each stage was originally estimated as taking two-three days each for, presumably, a remaining four to six business days before the books are ready to pack and ship--and are getting me a final ship date.
It's the end of the day and I haven't gotten a date from them yet so I'll go ahead and post this and then edit it when I receive an actual date.
To All,
Our Transcontinental prepress contact has organized a meeting with the printing plant managers for Monday to figure out where the problem with the covers lies. We'll find out if it's on their end or ours.
In either case, here's what needs to happen at this point:
If it turns out that there's just no good way to get the iconography onto the leather and have it look good, I'm going to cut our losses, stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, as it were, and restrict the iconography use to the title pages from here on.
If we can get the icons to turn out nicely--and that would be such a gratifying end to this chapter--we'll have the series logo and the volume logo on the top and bottom of the spine, respectively, keep the cover simple and neat, and that will be that.
When I hear back about the meeting results, I'll let everybody know how that influences where things stand.
I apologize for all the delays that have taken place. Everything else is proceeding along smoothly, once we work this out, there should be no more foreseeable delays between ow and the publication of the last of the books.
Sincerely,
Sean Thompson
Virginia Edition Publishing Company
To All,
Our Transcontinental prepress contact has organized a meeting with the printing plant managers for Monday to figure out where the problem with the covers lies. We'll find out if it's on their end or ours.
In either case, here's what needs to happen at this point:
If it turns out that there's just no good way to get the iconography onto the leather and have it look good, I'm going to cut our losses, stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, as it were, and restrict the iconography use to the title pages from here on.
If we can get the icons to turn out nicely--and that would be such a gratifying end to this chapter--we'll have the series logo and the volume logo on the top and bottom of the spine, respectively, keep the cover simple and neat, and that will be that.
When I hear back about the meeting results, I'll let everybody know how that influences where things stand.
I apologize for all the delays that have taken place. Everything else is proceeding along smoothly, once we work this out, there should be no more foreseeable delays between ow and the publication of the last of the books.
Sincerely,
Sean Thompson
Virginia Edition Publishing Company
To All,
The stamping test was successfully carried out at Transcontinental's
facilities. They believe that they've done a superior job with this
batch and are overnighting the samples to me. They will arrive
tomorrow and I will then be able to give yea/nay approval on the work.
Sean M. Thompson
Hello everybody,
Okay, I've received and reviewed the results of the stamp test and I have to agree that it definitely looks better--Transcontinental actually took the time to do the test on seven different materials so we could have a spread to choose from. At the moment, I think we're best going with the matte finish on the original material, but I want to get Mr. Dula's rather more worldly perspective before I rush the decision out the door. Art is out of the office and so I'm going to try and talk with him either over the weekend or first thing Monday to see what he thinks before I let Transcontinental know our decision.
Have a good weekend,
Sean Thompson
Dear Homeown--Bookowner,
After review, it does seem that Transcontinental can do a much better job at stamping than their originally hired contractor. We are sending them updated cover files and will receive a response with an estimated ship date which I will pass on to each of you. As the volumes ship, I will send the tracking number of your package to you.
Also, I have sent queries to everybody to confirm your mailing address. If you are reading this message, but have not a) seen a message from me to confirm your address or b) bothered to respond, please contact me by the end of the week to help ensure your books can actually reach you rather than being stranded in postal limbo.
Best wishes to all,
Sean Thompson
Hello all,
First, I'd like to thank everybody for their kind words and patience over the last month or so, it is very much appreciated and makes my job far more pleasant than it has to be.
Second, we've got the cover files in to Transcontinental so they should have everything they need to press forward. I haven't gotten confirmation back yet because apparently today is a civic holiday of some sort in Canada/Quebec. The last estimate I received for how long the remaining steps will take was two to three days per step for two steps (printing the covers, binding the text into the covers) for a total of four to six days before they're finished and ready to ship. I've asked to receive an updated estimate to confirm that and will pass it along once I receive it. After that step is through, the books will be packed and shipped and tracking numbers will be sent out to each of you.
Best wishes,
Sean Thompson
To summarize all of the updates--which I've cut and paste below--we worked with Transcontinental to figure out why they were having a problem with the hot stamping of covers, decided on a solution, and it is now being implemented. Transcontinental was out for two days on civic holiday--their celebration of gaining independence as I understand it--and are now back, working on the last two stages before shipping--each stage was originally estimated as taking two-three days each for, presumably, a remaining four to six business days before the books are ready to pack and ship--and are getting me a final ship date.
It's the end of the day and I haven't gotten a date from them yet so I'll go ahead and post this and then edit it when I receive an actual date.
To All,
Our Transcontinental prepress contact has organized a meeting with the printing plant managers for Monday to figure out where the problem with the covers lies. We'll find out if it's on their end or ours.
In either case, here's what needs to happen at this point:
If it turns out that there's just no good way to get the iconography onto the leather and have it look good, I'm going to cut our losses, stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, as it were, and restrict the iconography use to the title pages from here on.
If we can get the icons to turn out nicely--and that would be such a gratifying end to this chapter--we'll have the series logo and the volume logo on the top and bottom of the spine, respectively, keep the cover simple and neat, and that will be that.
When I hear back about the meeting results, I'll let everybody know how that influences where things stand.
I apologize for all the delays that have taken place. Everything else is proceeding along smoothly, once we work this out, there should be no more foreseeable delays between ow and the publication of the last of the books.
Sincerely,
Sean Thompson
Virginia Edition Publishing Company
To All,
Our Transcontinental prepress contact has organized a meeting with the printing plant managers for Monday to figure out where the problem with the covers lies. We'll find out if it's on their end or ours.
In either case, here's what needs to happen at this point:
If it turns out that there's just no good way to get the iconography onto the leather and have it look good, I'm going to cut our losses, stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, as it were, and restrict the iconography use to the title pages from here on.
If we can get the icons to turn out nicely--and that would be such a gratifying end to this chapter--we'll have the series logo and the volume logo on the top and bottom of the spine, respectively, keep the cover simple and neat, and that will be that.
When I hear back about the meeting results, I'll let everybody know how that influences where things stand.
I apologize for all the delays that have taken place. Everything else is proceeding along smoothly, once we work this out, there should be no more foreseeable delays between ow and the publication of the last of the books.
Sincerely,
Sean Thompson
Virginia Edition Publishing Company
To All,
The stamping test was successfully carried out at Transcontinental's
facilities. They believe that they've done a superior job with this
batch and are overnighting the samples to me. They will arrive
tomorrow and I will then be able to give yea/nay approval on the work.
Sean M. Thompson
Hello everybody,
Okay, I've received and reviewed the results of the stamp test and I have to agree that it definitely looks better--Transcontinental actually took the time to do the test on seven different materials so we could have a spread to choose from. At the moment, I think we're best going with the matte finish on the original material, but I want to get Mr. Dula's rather more worldly perspective before I rush the decision out the door. Art is out of the office and so I'm going to try and talk with him either over the weekend or first thing Monday to see what he thinks before I let Transcontinental know our decision.
Have a good weekend,
Sean Thompson
Dear Homeown--Bookowner,
After review, it does seem that Transcontinental can do a much better job at stamping than their originally hired contractor. We are sending them updated cover files and will receive a response with an estimated ship date which I will pass on to each of you. As the volumes ship, I will send the tracking number of your package to you.
Also, I have sent queries to everybody to confirm your mailing address. If you are reading this message, but have not a) seen a message from me to confirm your address or b) bothered to respond, please contact me by the end of the week to help ensure your books can actually reach you rather than being stranded in postal limbo.
Best wishes to all,
Sean Thompson
Hello all,
First, I'd like to thank everybody for their kind words and patience over the last month or so, it is very much appreciated and makes my job far more pleasant than it has to be.
Second, we've got the cover files in to Transcontinental so they should have everything they need to press forward. I haven't gotten confirmation back yet because apparently today is a civic holiday of some sort in Canada/Quebec. The last estimate I received for how long the remaining steps will take was two to three days per step for two steps (printing the covers, binding the text into the covers) for a total of four to six days before they're finished and ready to ship. I've asked to receive an updated estimate to confirm that and will pass it along once I receive it. After that step is through, the books will be packed and shipped and tracking numbers will be sent out to each of you.
Best wishes,
Sean Thompson
Friday, June 6, 2008
I realize it's Friday again, but I wanted to have actual progress to report:
Our artist was delayed in his return from vacation and didn't get back to town 'til today--if I hadn't been able to get hold of him today, I was going to try to get help from an artist I know of here in Houston, fortunately, however, that is not necessary. He's back in town and we're talking with the printers to work out what needs to be changed. Ideally, we'll know what requirements we have to meet by the end of the day today, Fraser will fix up the work for the first books, we'll continue onwards and confetti will fall from the sky.
I will post again as soon as we have confirmation from the printer that everything is A-OK and the covers are being printed.
Also, everybody should have received an email or letter from me to confirm contact information. If you haven't, please email me (sean (dot) thompson (at) dula (dot) com) and let me know. It occurs to me that you might want confirmation that I've received your reply so I will send confirmation of receipt to everybody.
Our artist was delayed in his return from vacation and didn't get back to town 'til today--if I hadn't been able to get hold of him today, I was going to try to get help from an artist I know of here in Houston, fortunately, however, that is not necessary. He's back in town and we're talking with the printers to work out what needs to be changed. Ideally, we'll know what requirements we have to meet by the end of the day today, Fraser will fix up the work for the first books, we'll continue onwards and confetti will fall from the sky.
I will post again as soon as we have confirmation from the printer that everything is A-OK and the covers are being printed.
Also, everybody should have received an email or letter from me to confirm contact information. If you haven't, please email me (sean (dot) thompson (at) dula (dot) com) and let me know. It occurs to me that you might want confirmation that I've received your reply so I will send confirmation of receipt to everybody.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It seems that the best course of action right now is to just wait for Fraser, the artist, to get back from his vacation on Monday. Once he's back, we'll be able to patch up this last snafu without too much muss and everything can continue onward.
Two Windhaven-related notes: After speaking with Nancy Hanger, I realized that the schedule we had them on for the second books was theoretically doable, but inordinately tight. As such, I'm going to revise our earlier timeline and push everything back one month so that the second set of 17 books gets all the attention it deserves. I feel this is an acceptable delay which will greatly benefit the final set.
On another note: In my last post, I had no intention of indicating that Windhaven was dedicating anything less than its full attention to the Virginia Edition. They've been putting in an extraordinary amount of time and effort on these books and we couldn't manage this at all without them.
I don't have time to do it today, but I have pictures of a subscriber's replica office from Destination: Moon that I have permission to post on here. It's pretty cool for the Heinlein fans out there--I'm assuming that's most of you.
Two Windhaven-related notes: After speaking with Nancy Hanger, I realized that the schedule we had them on for the second books was theoretically doable, but inordinately tight. As such, I'm going to revise our earlier timeline and push everything back one month so that the second set of 17 books gets all the attention it deserves. I feel this is an acceptable delay which will greatly benefit the final set.
On another note: In my last post, I had no intention of indicating that Windhaven was dedicating anything less than its full attention to the Virginia Edition. They've been putting in an extraordinary amount of time and effort on these books and we couldn't manage this at all without them.
I don't have time to do it today, but I have pictures of a subscriber's replica office from Destination: Moon that I have permission to post on here. It's pretty cool for the Heinlein fans out there--I'm assuming that's most of you.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Updated
Okay, after talking to Transcontinental, it seems that the original approval we received on the stamps was somewhat erroneously given. Luckily! Luckily, all the other work is done and the actual stamping process is only a day or two in length. We're raising the artist posthaste and, with any luck, this will resolve itself rather quickly.
Monday, May 19, 2008
First, I would like to proffer an apology for not posting on Friday. My birthday was Thursday and my family surprised me by flying in from England to see me and I needed to properly show them about.
On to business:
I still haven't gotten a response from Transcontinental so far as the hold-up with the first set of volumes. I have a number of outstanding queries with them at the moment that haven't been answered. Transcontinental has been fantastic throughout the process so far, so I can only presume that they're being swamped and that explains why they haven't been able to respond as promptly as normal. They have a national holiday today and tomorrow we're supposed to have a conference call and, rather than make any guarantees, I'll report back on what comes of that.
On positive business news, we were speaking to Windhaven and it seems that the proofing and typesetting department have gotten through the set-up and teething of the process, have ramped production up to about full-speed, and we now have dates for when each set of books will be ready for printing.
The second set of books--volumes 8-23, 16 volumes--will be ready as of the start of September.
The third set of books--volumes 24-35, 12 volumes--will be ready as of the start of December.
The fourth and final set of books--volumes 36-47--will be ready as of the start of March, 2009.
http://heinleinprize.com/rah/thisibelieve.htm
We found a disc with a copy of Heinlein reading "This I Believe" for Edward R. Murrow. It's now hosted on the Heinlein Prize website, just click on the link to hear the master read the piece.
I'm going to try to include one tangential piece at the end of each of these, some interesting aspect of Heinleinia or something interesting that people have done with Heinlein's works. I think it'd be a simple, yet pleasant, addition.
On to business:
I still haven't gotten a response from Transcontinental so far as the hold-up with the first set of volumes. I have a number of outstanding queries with them at the moment that haven't been answered. Transcontinental has been fantastic throughout the process so far, so I can only presume that they're being swamped and that explains why they haven't been able to respond as promptly as normal. They have a national holiday today and tomorrow we're supposed to have a conference call and, rather than make any guarantees, I'll report back on what comes of that.
On positive business news, we were speaking to Windhaven and it seems that the proofing and typesetting department have gotten through the set-up and teething of the process, have ramped production up to about full-speed, and we now have dates for when each set of books will be ready for printing.
The second set of books--volumes 8-23, 16 volumes--will be ready as of the start of September.
The third set of books--volumes 24-35, 12 volumes--will be ready as of the start of December.
The fourth and final set of books--volumes 36-47--will be ready as of the start of March, 2009.
http://heinleinprize.com/rah/thisibelieve.htm
We found a disc with a copy of Heinlein reading "This I Believe" for Edward R. Murrow. It's now hosted on the Heinlein Prize website, just click on the link to hear the master read the piece.
I'm going to try to include one tangential piece at the end of each of these, some interesting aspect of Heinleinia or something interesting that people have done with Heinlein's works. I think it'd be a simple, yet pleasant, addition.
Monday, May 12, 2008
I'm going to do a largish post on Friday--when I believe I'll have a plethora of news-worthy offerings and a few neat pictures to share.
One note I was told about today: The original TC print run got started with the wrong paper used for the tip-in/serialization page and so that may cause a slight delay, however we may be able to circumvent that by shipping the first sets to customers as soon as they're ready rather than waiting for the full run to complete. I'll know one way or another n the next couple days, in any event.
One note I was told about today: The original TC print run got started with the wrong paper used for the tip-in/serialization page and so that may cause a slight delay, however we may be able to circumvent that by shipping the first sets to customers as soon as they're ready rather than waiting for the full run to complete. I'll know one way or another n the next couple days, in any event.
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