SwiftVets.com

[JT8D]

Two weeks ago I "ordered" a copy of Unfit for Command from the local B&N, located in Ingleside, Massachusetts. From that first moment, the politically-correct, anti-free speech hacks of that "business" gave me "the business."

First, the young salesgirl pretended not to understand my request, but then inquired if I wished to purchase more than one copy--that must be the trend. Answering in the negative, I then asked if there was a waiting list, and her reply was no. This response beged my question: "If there is no waiting list, then why is the book not "in stock?" The clerk had no answer, and I did not press the issue. However, I did notice that there was no shortage of Bush-bashing "bestsellers"--and each one of these miserable anti-American tomes was placed on prominant display. Moreover, upon passing through the store's main entrance, one had to run a gauntlet of Clinton's 900-plus page ode to perfidy and vice; but I digress...

The salesgirl inquired of my name and phone number, so as to contact me when my copy of Unfit for Command was available. Apparently, this product of the government school system was deaf--or else she was just being a perfect liberal ass--because I needed to repeat myself three times, until she finally got the info through her thick skull. I was told the book would arrive by the end of that week, or the beginning of the following week.

Fast foward to the present, but keeping in mind that more than two weeks have passed since I "ordered" the book. Today I stopped by B&N to pick-up my copy, and although the store did not contact me, I thought the odds to be rather in my favor that a copy would be there. Wrong.

Not only was my copy not delivered in a timely fashion, but according to the pimple-faced clown working the desk: "The computor is showing an error message that I have never seen before." Or really, sparky? Is'nt that a suprise? May I speak to someone in charge, please?

Enter liberal, salesboy flunky number-two: "The computer has made an error in placing the order." Excuse me son, but I remember my Programming 101: GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out. Correction, amigo, the answer is "operator" malfunction.

So the cad tells me: "Oh, the person who placed the order did not enter the information correctly... Your book was "ordered" and it should have been "reserved." I see, chief. Everyone knows there is difference between "order" a copy and "reserve" a copy! Funny, there is no shortage of Bush-bashing propaganda on your shelves!

You should have seen the look on this kid's face. He was at a loss for words, and had to pick his lower jaw up off the floor. Next excuse. The dope tries to blame the publishing house: "Oh, the publisher is a small company, and they did not expect such a high demand."

Now this kid is desperate to appease, since he obviously has never been confronted by a pissed-off American. He begins to check for any copies that may be available in the store's stock... Nothing. Fourteen books arrived today, and ALL were immediately sold.
_________________
Never Forget September 11, 2001. Better that a man dies fighting... then live his life in fear.

[LewWaters]

Order it directly from Regnery Publishing. Although they are having problems keeping up eith the demand, you'll get it.

Both Regnery and Barnes and Noble have stated they are not deliberatly trying to suppress the books sales, but hearing how you have been treated, I wonder about the store in your area.
_________________
Clark County Conservative

[theresa]

I also shared your same experience with the Barnes & Noble in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where I live. They simply did not have one book in stock, yet when I walked into the store, I was barraged with hundreds of Clinton's autobiographies and other Bush bashing books in the front of the store where everyone could see them.

This shortage of the book is outrageous. On Sunday, when I went to B&N to buy the book, there were many people purchasing books in the store, and the Swift Vets book would probably have sold vigorously had there been any in stock. This truly sounds like a concerted effort by liberal leaning book stores like B&N and Borders (they had none in stock either) to keep this book out of the hands of potential readers.

An outcry from disgrunteled customers and threats to buy from other on-line sources from now on will probably be the only language these companies understand.

Theresa
_________________
Thank you Swift Vets and all war veterans who gave of themselves to preserve our freedom.
Keep fighting the Kerry blight!

[snowy251]

I ordered my book at Barnes & Noble in Charleston, SC on a Friday and they called me on Tuesday to tell me it was in. They said the book is so popular they can't keep enough in stock for the shelves.

[roscoskat]

If the book is available through Amazon.com, you might try telling the B&N people - management, I mean, that if they don't want to carry the book or make it difficult to place an order that you will take your business elsewhere.

OR, if you feel it's a deliberate act - just picket them saying B&N are liberal, anti-Republican, censors. I think when you hit them in the pocket book - they'll sit up and take notice.

I don't know... my suggestions sound kind of dumb. I HATE how liberal the world has become. The liberal doofuses have the right to be liberal doofuses because of the veterans that have fought and given so much for our country.

God Bless the Veterans and thank you for your courage today beloved Swiftees!!!!

Kat

[caryn]

I too went to Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove, MN and "Unfit for Command" was out. And yes, there was Bill Clinton's face plastered all over the front of the store.

I emailed the publisher directly and asked them why the book is not available in book stores. I receive a prompt reply and was told that they cannot keep up with demand. They are shipping them out as soon as they can.

I just order a copy directly from Amazon and cant wait to read it.

Lets all do what we can to keep talking about why John Kerry is "unfit for command". The thought of him as our next president is truly frightening.

And the thought that my husband supports him is even scarier!

[wally626]

Keep in mind its hard to predict sales of a first time author. They print millions of Tom Clancy books now but the first edition of Hunt for Red October was probably less than 50,000. Also Regnery Publishing is a small house and can't afford to get stuck with a few hundred thousand unsold copies. it would be interested to see how many Clinton books get return to the publisher.

I'm sure they started their second print run even before it was released based on the pre-sale numbers.

[RideAHarley]

In my rounds of a dozen stores looking for UFC, I went to the local WalMart Superstore. They didn't have Unfit but Clinton's book was everywhere !!! When I pressed the clerk as to why no Unfit but TONS of Clinton's garbage book she promptly told me "Because they can't give Clinton's book away".. So I helped them out even more by turning every one of them with the cover facing to the rear (couldn't help it, after going to 5 stores and not finding one copy of Unfit.. and all I was seeing was Clinton, Clinton and more Clinton at every store.. I got tired of looking as his ugly Friggin Face so I turned them all around backwards).


_________________________


RideAHarley.com - Prescott, Arizona

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

I hear ya about the Clinton book. First thing you see when you walk into the local book stores. Silly, silly, silly....

But, please see the latest sticky at the top of the forum from the publisher.

No games. Just wayyyyy more demand than the publisher anticipated. And they're a tiny little company, too - they're probably all working in shipping, these days!
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[expectingrain]

Okay first off, let me get this off my chest.
If a bookstore could make more money by selling only pro-nazi books, they would. Both Barnes & Noble and Borders are major corporations, both with over 500 stores, combined grossing over a billion dollars. All displays for every store are regionalized and sent in mass quanities. A store in hawaii will have more books and music on hawaii, but other than things like that, all stores are essentially the same.

Like ANY major corporation, both Borders and B&N want to please the customers (for sales) and do not have an "agenda" to push. As an employee, I can tell you that the staff is very clearly told to never discuss politics on the floor or ever discriminate against anybody. Any such action reported to a manager would be grounds for firing.

The publisher of Unfit For Command is very small and did not expect such a rush. They are frantically trying to get them out, and we are patiently waiting for them to arrive. Especially at close to 30 bucks a pop, we can't WAIT to get them.

As to the initial post, the person seems to think there is a liberal conspiracy at bookstores to suppress a book that has recieved more press in the last month than anything else dealing with the campaign. Whats more frightening is that some people seem to agree with him. We're a business(remember $$$ is everything), not a front for moveon.org Let's start using our heads people.

As for the salesgirl, we are human, we make mistakes, and yes there are probably many bad employees, I'm not going to defend her. However, I can say that the difference between ordering and reserving is a simple check-box that can be easily missed, especially if someone is feeling pressured (which I can't imagine considering the way you described the scenario.)

AND the Clinton displays. Yes, his self-satisfied smirk plastered all over the store and copies in large stacks everywhere. Now this SURELY must be the work of us liberal book sellers trying to sell the long-winded, boring, and poorly written My Life. Or, just maybe, and this is a long shot here....it's been a top seller since its been out! There are only a few titles a year that are guarenteed BIG BIG sellers. An autobiography of a controversial president is going to sell no matter how bad it is. Hence the displays and the large quantity. (Whoever said they couldn't give them away is either a moron or lying.) Unfit for Command, however, is part of the surprise seller category. Books that recieve major and unexepected media coverage and have a small publisher unaware of the runaway hit they have. This is THE recipe for short supply.

I know I'm getting long here, but theres another thing I wanted to mention. I hear it all the time in the store and its so frustrating. "Why are there all these anti-bush books?" For one, I've been working at the store for months now, and I still am not sure which books are pro-bush or anti-bush.

Sure the ones like Bush-wacked, and Bush Must Go, are pretty easy to discern, but half of the titles offer ambiguous titles that could go either way. People see what they want to see, and people these days just LOVE getting pissed off.

I know at my store we make a very conscious effort to balance political science books. And yes right now, there are more anti-bush books than pro, and there are very good reasons for this. For one, this election is going to be one of the closest in history, inspiring anybody to try and make a dent one way or the other. Secondly, Bush is one of the most loved and hated presidents in recent memory. Even Reagan didn't rile the left as much as Bush does. There is a reason why the last election and this one are so close— Bush in his very nature as a neo-con is a devisive president. That will create a large base ripe for political writings.

Just for the record, I am voting for Bush, mostly for economic reasons. But the biggest reason I have to entertain the notion of voting for Kerry, is knowing I'm on the side of people that think so irrationally about liberals and the "conspiracy" to put them down. Everybody loves to think their side is the persecuted one, it makes your views that much more noble right?

Your friendly neighborhood bookseller,

-Brett

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Thanks, Brett -

I know what you mean about wanting to please the customer and wanting to make money. That's why they exist, right? It only makes sense.

Thanks for weighing in with the other side of the coin - it helps a lot.

I hope you can see by reading through these threads, though, that such sneering remarks and attitudes have indeed, been made to buyers by employees and owners of bookstores.

Take a look at the huge displays in the chain stores of Hill & Billary, Tour of Duty, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Maureen Dowd, et al - then try to find Buzz Patterson, Steven Emerson, Sean Hannity. They're in the stacks.

I almost get the feeling from my local B&N that they will sell me one of Hannity's books if they must, but they'd much rather sell me an Al Franken.

So that's where the conspiracy theories come from in part - the booksellers' own actions.

If you don't fall into that category - BRAVO!!!

BZ's in Navy-speak.
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[whuffo]

I reserved a copy at my local BN about 2 weeks ago. Today they got 3 copies and mine was one of them. The manager said he expected a "whole bunch more" tomorrow. I'm in Plano, TX.

[meggaditto]

I went into my Barnes and Nobel 2 weeks ago and told them I wanted the book, I was directed to go to the center of the store where the help desk was. The salesperson was very nice and told me I could pay for the book and they would have it sent to me from B&N online. I took the order paper to the register and paid for it with cash and 3 days later, I had it in my hands. However it is now $3 cheaper than what I paid for it. So I am thinking I should buy another one and send it to my brother in law. I found the book to be very straighforward with many facts and very believable. It's an awesome book!!!

[rm3friskerFTN]

I bought a copy at Costco (Silicon Valley - Bay Area - Sunnyvale, CA) Thursday evening

I was stunned given what I had heard about Costco leaning toward Kerry

Clinton had one stack of books, Tommy Franks had like eight or ten stacks, O'Neil had one stack.

"Free The Nukes" (aka FTN

[Tilly]

Went to Barnes and Noble here in N.Texas ... they said, sorry, already sold out, would I like to be on a waiting list, etc.

Since I'd already bought my second copy of the book at Costco, I politely said no ... then drove over to the local Community Center, and donated the book to the local community center, for folks to read there.

Incidentall, got an e mail this morning from Amazon.com that my order from August 20th had been delayed. Fortunately, I'd ordered a copy about two weeks ago that got here in five days.