SwiftVets.com

[Brody]

Hello, and thank you for this website and what the SwiftVets are doing. First, my message. I live in Texas, and our local Barnes and Noble has yet to get in a single copy of Unfit for Command. They are saying it is due to a problem on the publishers end. I find this highly doubtful and I was wondering if anyone might have any info on bookstores refusing to carry the title. Secondly, I violated a cardinal rule of mine when I donated $50.00 to the SBVFT, and that rule is to keep my name off of as many lists as possible . Is the public going to have access to the names of people who donated? Should the people who donate fear a tax audit from hell if, God forbid, Kerry is elected? I gave money once, and I will continue to do so as I can, regardless. Thank you again, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new ad. Any idea when it will be ready to air?

Brody

[kmudd]

I looked for it at Boarders and they don't have it here either.

[mascari]

Brody,

so far, I have not heard of any stores refusing to sell the book. Reports of the book being out of stock already are widespread at many different stores.

I think the demand for the book was probably very underestimated by the retail industry. Even Amazon has had delays getting them all out. (Got mine from amazon right away though )

Booksellers are not in business to promote an agenda, they are in business to make money. I don't think they would turn down so many sales, its just not what businesses do.

My advice is to either find out when they will get more in, or order it from Amazon or other online store. I got mine almost immediately and am very happy with Amazon's service. (They said it might not be until after the 25th, probably just to cover themselves.)
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www.BestSynthetic.com

[Chuck54]

[Jette]

Ordered my book on Saturday, it came in today. There were 12 pre-ordered copies for others, and 3 for the shelf (Barnes and Noble). They did say the orders/demand far exceeded expectations and publisher is going 24/7 to get orders filled.

The word is out. People are demanding the truth.

Jette

Hey, hey, John K., how many lies did you tell today?

[Beatrice1000]

[Polaris]

Brody,

Barnes and Noble gave me the run around, but I picked up a copy at Walden's Books. You need to hurry, though, because Unfit for Command is selling out almost as fast as the bookstores can stock it.
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-Polaris

Truth is Beauty

[hanna]

Last I heard it was in its 5ty printing and that was days ago.

[KJC]

Brody,

By any chance are you in San Antonio? I went to Borders AND Barnes & Noble here on Monday, Aug. 16th. No dice at either place, and both told me they "didn't know when" the books would be in.

I ordered a copy on August 3rd via amazon, and as of today, the estimated shipping date is August 20th.

On the other hand, a friend of mine in Memphis, TN, went out on Monday and found a copy at a local bookstore there.

[Brody]

Hello KJC, i'm in the Texas Panhandle area. I called another local bookstore, Hastings, and they said they sold their 3 copies, and had 5 on the way. I was like "what the hell? You started off with 3 copies, and only ordered 5 more?" The employees at Barnes and Noble said it has been a huge headache for them, because people are getting very upset with them, not having the book, while they have every anti-Bush book you can think of on display.

[NortonPete]

Your second concern is about your name as a contributor.
I contributed and if it helps the SwiftVets to publish their
contributors then they can if needed.
Consider the company you are in.
If Kerry wins ( he won't ) then "Bring it On" .
Come to my house ..... I'll be waiting for you ...

[republicanveteran]

Hastings doesn't seem to have a problem. I got mine 5 days after ordering it

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

I honestly can't see that any bookstore would try to suppress a book's sales when the book is obviously a killer-hot best-seller. They do have shareholders to answer to.

What I CAN see happening is that when the book was first announced to them by Regnery, they ordered 5 or 10. Those were gone in a heartbeat, and the bookstores are foisting the problem off on "publisher error."

Maybe the publisher even had no clue that it would be the runaway bestseller that it is.

And now, the orders are indeed, backlogged at the publishers, because all these bookstores are placing emergency orders for 5 or 10 dozen at a time.

Last count, the printing was at around a quarter million. I'll bet every pair of hands in the company is working the shipping area for these next couple of weeks. Maybe more. It's a small company.

If your're working on the $25 free shipping from Amazon, get "Reckless Disregard" at the same time - it's written by the guy who carried the "football" for Clinton and who wrote the very popular "Dereliction of Duty." Amazing books, both of them.

Or, if you like really down-and-dirty insider stuff, get American Evita about Hillary Clinton and how she's planning to be the next President of the US. Scary snit in there!

If you order through the Booksamillion site throught the AAFES online Centric mall, order $25 or more and enter FREESHIP25 in the coupon code to get free shipping. I like ordering through AAFES because a portion of its profits goes to MWR. And John O'Neill's royalties are still going to Navy Marine Corp Relief Society, too.
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[DrEntropy]

I found this odd/funny: Yesterday (9:15 AM) I stopped at the local B&N to see if they had it on shelves... Nope. So I asked at the "Info Desk." The (helpful) person at the desk said: "Every time I check about this book there's different information. We've been asked a lot for this." She called it up on the system and told me they now showed 5K in the pipe, but no idea when they'd arrive. I asked if the waiting list was long, and she replied "Not too long." I was put on it... By the time I returned to the hovel in late afternoon the phone rang and a woman told me the order was in! Less than 8 hours from "on the list" to reading it! --I must be living a charmed life ;-}

More like the publishers underestimated the demand.
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Dr E--

"The flames kindled on the fourth of July, seventeen hundred and seventy six, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism." -- Thomas Jefferson

[JonMoseley]

Here's the straight scoop: Any dates that Barnes & Nobles or other book stores give you about September, etc. are NOT from the publisher. They may be telling you their ETA for the next shipment. And that is probably correct. They are probably telling you when they expect the distributor to stock their shelves. However, the publisher, Regnery, issued the book on August 10, and there is no other date. Regnery never changed the date. The book came out August 10.

However, since Unfit for Command is now in its SEVENTH PRINT RUN (starting this Monday), Barnes & Noble may be confusing the date of the FIFTH or SIXTH printing, with the original printing. That is not a change. That just means that the next batch was being printed on this date or that date.

The first print run WAS only 30,000 copies. The second and third printing were each 30,000, for a total of 90,000. At that point, Regnery decided to dump a major investment into inventory (remember printing books isn't "FREE" !!! it's a RISK!) and started printing like there's no tomorrow.

As of Friday 8/20, there were 400,000 copies in print, and the seventh print run on Monday will print another 50,000 copies, for a total of 450,000. There is no doubt that there has been a severe shortage in the short-run. But a huge wave is heading your way. I just hope people don't get discouraged and these copies don't sell.

You need to know that that is an ENORMOUS number of books. A book can be a bestseller by selling only 50,000 to 80,000 copies. (Although only the sales in mainstream bookstores count. A book that sells 200,000 in independent bookstores or Amazon would never show up on the NY Times besteller list.)

Now, it is possible that the wholesale distributor is telling Barnes & Nobles people that the relevant date is September 1 or September 16. But that is NOT the publisher... that's the distribution chain telling them that. So the bookstores could be listening to their distributors, but the publisher never changed the publication date. That was August 10.

Why would a bookstore bury Unfit for Command? Well, the owners certainly wouldn't. But a manager or staff person who has no personal ownership in whether the bookstore sells books or doesn't might decide to play games with the book for political reasons. That's because the individual has no personal financial interest at stake. So, lone acts by individual bookstore clerks might be interfering with the book.

But since a huge wave of books is now moving through the pipeline, it is a little premature to blame the bookstores. If these troubling incidents continue a week from now, however, then I would say we should organize letters to the corporate headquarters giving chapter and verse (pun intended) on every such incident. Take names and kick asses. But it could be that the flood of new supply will cure most of these problems very soon.
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Read first chapter of COLD PEACE for free at www.ColdPeace.com