I’m getting a lot of questions about book delivery dates, I appreciate everyone’s frustration with the delays! I’ve been posting updates as & when I can but I’m hoping this post helps explain a bit more and put everyone’s mind at ease.
My publisher did plan for a popular book with a large 1st print run, but unfortunately that experienced shipping delays & everyone’s publication date, except those in the UK as far as I know, was pushed back by 2 weeks.
A 2nd printing was ordered early March & that’s already on its way, which is great news. I’m reliably told that book pre-orders were *very* high & the book’s been described as a “breakout success”. Unfortunately, as it was said to me recently, success is a double-edged sword, & in some places this means demand is out-stripping supply.
Pre-orders are a complex business, they indicate how well a book may do, & a publisher then has to decide how many books to order, where best to distribute stock, & the distributors then have to decide how to allocate that stock. In turn, big outlets like Amazon can cancel pre-orders if delays are experienced so to prevent that – because none of us want that – the dates on some systems have been pushed back a bit further.
I know folks are used to me self-publishing my books, & it’s a very different process to being published by a 3rd party publisher, especially one as big & as well respected as Soho Publishing/Vogue Knitting.
As the author of a book published by a mainstream publisher, I’m at the end of a very long chain. This is a new experience for me, too. I have no control over any of this, honestly no-one in the chain really does. Publishing is a multi-layered business & it only takes one delay to have a knock-on effect everywhere else.
Any date revisions are being done as a caution to make sure you get your book. Shipping dates are different to publication dates, & different parts of the world will get different dates.
But please be assured you definitely will get your book!
11th June 2024:
The book is out of stock in North America, and I’m told it’s also out of stock on Amazon UK. The UK distributor did receive more stock at the end of May, but I don’t know how far that’s gone, as they’re also distributing to Europe.
There appears to have been another shipping delay on the 2nd print run, which was due at the end of May but has only just got into port. Given the time it takes for stock to move from the port to the US distributor, then out to the (many!) various outlets, I imagine it’ll be another couple of weeks before it’s back in stock and orders can be fulfilled again.
The 3rd print run is being being prepared, it’s only been published a month! Print runs take several months to arrive, so it’s possible -given the book’s popularity – that there may be another out-of-stock period before the 3rd print run arrives, but that’s only my guestimate based on what’s happened so far. I’m not in touch with the US distributor and I’ve no idea how the stock is being distributed amongst the various outlets, let alone have any knowledge on how Amazon then manage stock. I wish I could tell you more, but these are the largest book distributors and outlets, and I’m just the author fluctuating between excitement as I see it land with folks, and frustration that it’s not landing with everyone!
What’s the use of prompting one and another to preorder this book in January 2024, and still haven’t got it delivered by Amazon??
It’s all over the world to buy it, and as a preordering client I’m next to last to receive it.
It’s the end of May, for goodness sake!
And not because I’m in some remote place on earth or living on the moon or what. Just living in the west of Europe.
The original release dates were different in different parts of the world – the US was originally 16th April, which got pushed to 7th May, due to the shipping delay. The original publication date in UK was 14th May, the rest of the EU around 21st to 24th May, so allowing for stock to filter through, end of May is not that late for the book to arrive within the EU, especially given the shipping delays.
Unfortunately when the publisher placed the first print run, which was almost double the size of their standard print runs, they couldn’t foresee the delays in shipping or the run on stock – it’s been much more popular than expected. The 2nd printing went in early March and the UK/EU distributor got more stock at the end of May, and have been sending it out to the various outlets. How much stock they got and how that’s split between the various countries and outlets, I don’t know.
I appreciate that it’s frustrating that the book is late, it’s frustrating for me too especially as I’m having to deal with all the enquiries and complaints, even though I have absolutely no involvement with the supply chain, I’m just the author at one end of a very long chain of moving parts who wants nothing more than to see the book arrive safely. But they are working as hard as possible to get everyone’s books out to them!
Just ordered from Amazon and will wait for it to print…. I had asked my local yarn shop in Maine/USA to order, and she has an account with Ingram (not Igram as on your other website) but couldn’t find it there. I’d love to see it have great success–any suggestions on how my local shop can order copies for sale? Is there a specific link at Ingram? Or something completely different at Soho/Vogue? Thanks and congrats!
Thank you!
The book is currently out of stock in North America, so it’s likely that it’s not showing with Ingram due to that. The 2nd printing is due to arrive with Ingram around the 3rd week of June, so I’d expect to see it in their catalogue around that time. The 3rd printing is going in soon, here’s hoping the stock from the 2nd printing lasts!