New OOTS Book: "Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales"

[silversaraph]

Originally Posted by Tundar

Ordered my copy. To the Abyss with shipment costs, there is nothing like reading OotS on paper. Beats pdf/jpg by far :)

Glossy paper FTW!

[FujinAkari]

Originally Posted by The Giant

Thank you, FujinAkari.

So snagged for my signature ^_^

On topic: Totally ordered the book too~!

[Tobz]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon

Yes. 14.95 to germany, so it probably will be similar/the same for the rest of continental europe.

The only annoying thing: your package can get stuck in customs, so you have to drive over and pick it up yourself (after you have shown it does not contain money/ipods/cocaine/jeans/...).

Ah, Customs... I remember when my first order (books 1+2 and game) were held up at customs for like 2 months for no reason. No to mention the thieves made me pay up like an additional 50% importfee or something.

I feel kinda bad for the people not being able to buy Paladin Blues though. I ordered 2 copies back then by mistake and have one of these still lying around here somewhere.

[darthava]

Originally Posted by Tundar

Ordered my copy. To the Abyss with shipment costs, there is nothing like reading OotS on paper. Beats pdf/jpg by far :)

Indeed. I live in the Netherlands and the shipping fees are high. I am still ordering this book. Because I really love to read Oots and I havent read any of the strips in this new book!

[SPoD]

Originally Posted by Tobz

I feel kinda bad for the people not being able to buy Paladin Blues though. I ordered 2 copies back then by mistake and have one of these still lying around here somewhere.

Have you ever heard of a wonderful website where they kindly match people in your situation with poor lost souls who don't have a book? It's a magical land called eBay.

[Akabana_Shin]

Mr Giant, I have a small question. How do I do to edit the shipping address of an already-placed order? I don't see the link to do that from the order, although I already changed the shipping address via the link in the shipping address page. Does that work even if the order doesn't show the updated address?

Thanks.

Edit: Also, do I get charged in my card just by pre-ordering? Or will that only happen at release date?

[zql]

I got my copy of No Cure! I just want to point out the marvelous assistance that Amy Pike bring me on the arrangement of my orders (I bought SSaDT along with Dungeon Crawling Fools before the announcement of the missing boxes and she let me change DCF to the same envelop as NCftPB). Last time I'd ordered a book there were some problems with the mailing and she resolved it too. A good assistance makes much more easy the decision of ordering books from the extraplanar lands of Argentina.
Thanks!

[EpilepticWombat]

Pre ordered :) Though intrusive family members grouch that this exclusive limited-time-offer never-go-into-reprint thing is an unfair marketing scheme. Ahh, whatever, it's all new content, I won't complain. Maybe it'll even get here on my birthday!

[Armitage]

Originally Posted by Akabana_Shin

How do I do to edit the shipping address of an already-placed order?

Contact the user apegamer. He works the magic at Ookoodook.

Originally Posted by Akabana_Shin

Edit: Also, do I get charged in my card just by pre-ordering? Or will that only happen at release date?

Yes, you will be charged directly (ws mentioned in this thread a few times).

[NerfTW]

Originally Posted by Armitage

Contact the user apegamer. He works the magic at Ookoodook.

People really need to stop suggesting that.

Oookookdook is a company. With a web page. If you need to get in contact with them, use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the company site, not an unrelated forum's pm feature. While he may answer it, you have nobody to blame but yourself if it isn't seen, given that there's a proper channel you should be using.


I'll even provide the direct link for you here http://ookoodook.wufoo.com/forms/m7x3p9/

[Kurald Galain]

Originally Posted by NerfTW

People really need to stop suggesting that.

Why? Apegamer is a nice guy who will, in my experience, certainly respond to such queries.

[FujinAkari]

Originally Posted by Kurald Galain

Why? Apegamer is a nice guy who will, in my experience, certainly respond to such queries.

Possibly because Apegamer himself advises people to use the official email

Originally Posted by apegamer

If you'd like to combine an order (Pal Blues with Dragon Tales), then email us at info@apegames.com. We'll let you know if it makes sense to do in your case.

[Shardnax Saerth]

Originally Posted by Mr.Tickles

The books are already available online for "free." I'd prefer a physical copy, but I'd settle for paying for a legit pdf. For the absolutely paranoid about piracy, look into Adobe Digital Editions or something. Or make it a password-protected website or something.

WOTC didn't stop 4E piracy by stopping the release of PDFs. People just scanned the books and as a result WOTC made no profit instead of some.

Oh well, it's your product and you're free to do what you want with it.

Nothing beats owning a physical copy for me. This is the first OotS book I've ordered, I didn't want to miss my chance at it and ordered as soon as I saw the news :P.

[MoonCat]

My first OoTS book was OtOPCs, I got it from my brother as a Christmas gift, he was the one who got me hooked on OoTS in the first place.

[The Giant]

Originally Posted by Akabana_Shin

Mr Giant, I have a small question. How do I do to edit the shipping address of an already-placed order? I don't see the link to do that from the order, although I already changed the shipping address via the link in the shipping address page. Does that work even if the order doesn't show the updated address?

Thanks.

Edit: Also, do I get charged in my card just by pre-ordering? Or will that only happen at release date?

As suggested, email info@apegames.com with your query and Kevin will get back to you.

And yes, unfortunately the card is charged right away.

[Lissou]

Only heard about this just now (been busy in the past couple of months), ordered right away. I'm certainly glad it was still in preorders and I didn't miss it, considering there won't be more prints of it.

Can't wait to read it, Giant. Even though I won't be able to until 2012 :P (I'm having it shipped to my US address but I'm moving back to France in early May, until 2012. Still made sense to have it shipped to the US because I don't have an address in France yet. Long story).

My only disappointment is that I missed the donation. Thankfully you were able to donate a lot, so that's a relief.

[Katana_Geldar]

Got three on order, one for me and another for my two friends who also love OOTS. As we're a 4E group it does interest us more.

Worked out to be $75 AU for the books. Not bad, keep that dollar where it is, America, and I'll keep on shopping.

[KuH]

I'm really not sure I understand why Rich/APE are still using the archaic old way of printing a bunch of books, and then letting them go out of stock when they are sold.

I took a look on www.lulu.com for instance: it would cost around $20 per book to reprint out of stock books on demand (e.g., a batch of 100). Just send them the .pdf files and press Print. Those could be resold at $40 each or whatever profit Rich/APE are looking for: it would still be far cheaper than the price of out-of-print books on eBay.

It would also be good to have an eBook version of all of the books to put onto an iPad.

Rich - we want to give you our money. Please make it easy for us.

[Nimrod's Son]

Originally Posted by KuH

It would also be good to have an eBook version of all of the books to put onto an iPad.

Rich - we want to give you our money. Please make it easy for us.

From just a few posts back:

Originally Posted by The Giant

[M]y concern is that printing is a very difficult business with very, VERY thin margins of profit compared to the amount of money invested. And those margins are mostly dictated by the economy of scale: printing 5000 copies of a book may only cost 30% less than printing 10,000, and printing 20,000 may only cost 60% more. But they all sell for the same price. So, my printing business only functions if I can sell ALL of the copies that I print, and I estimate the print run as exactly as possible.

Releasing books digitally messes with both of those needs. I can't predict how many people will buy digitally (polls are worthless), and I can't sell a paper copy to someone who has bought a digital one. If half of my predicted customers buy digital instead of paper, then the cost of each paper copy skyrockets and I can't afford to print them anymore. And contrary to what people think, not everyone wants to buy digital.

In the end, I want my books to be, well, BOOKS. I am therefore willing to sacrifice the few digital sales (and I do believe them to be relatively few, since my work is online already anyway) in order to keep my paper business in business.

Now, having answered that: This thread is not about my business model. I am not looking for business advice, and I'm not keen on people tell me I'm doing something wrong just because I'm not doing what they want me to do. Stop it.

Let's keep this thread about the new book and ordering problems/concerns with it, OK?

[NerfTW]

Originally Posted by KuH

Those could be resold at $40 each or whatever profit Rich/APE are looking for: it would still be far cheaper than the price of out-of-print books on eBay.

It would also double the price of the books currently, to the point nobody would buy them.


Printing a set run is in no way "archaic" yet. Print on demand services are nowhere near being a viable method of print distribution, no matter what that site tells you. The fact that the per book price would be $20 just to make, the same as they sell for now, should tell you that.

[Lissou]

Not to mention places like Lulu usually have very specific dimensions they allow (meaning the Giant couldn't set his own) and often want to be considered the publisher, and might not offer the recycled option.

I believe the Giant would prefer to retain control over the products he offers (including price-wise. Lulu and Co charge way too much).

As for ebook files, I would love that personally, as I always try to buy a digital copy of my physical books for travel, but I understand his reasons, and it's his call to make.

[Flame of Anor]

Pre-ordered, with no annoying questions about business model!

[FujinAkari]

Off-topic: Flame of Anor, why does it say "Avatar by me" at the bottom of your posts when you don't have an avatar?

[Flame of Anor]

I don't? Hmm. I thought it only didn't show up for me. I'll have to work on that, but I'm pretty sure if you right-click -> Properties on the blank space it'll give you the URL of the actual avatar that should be displaying.

[Glen]

Hi Giant

I am sure it has probably been previously suggested so please forgive me if I am bring up something already dealt with.

I love your comic (and own all the books published to date) but tend to only visit every few months (then I can gorge myself on a large numbers on comics in one go).

I was very lucky to have visited whilst you are taking orders for the new book but even then it was only by chance I noticed the matter in the News.

Can a mailing list be established for users wanting notification of book printings?

Regards Glen

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Flame of Anor

I don't? Hmm. I thought it only didn't show up for me. I'll have to work on that, but I'm pretty sure if you right-click -> Properties on the blank space it'll give you the URL of the actual avatar that should be displaying.

Well, that would explain it. Your avatar is far too big. The size limit here is something like 150x150 pixels (note: I am not sure exactly, as it has been some time since I changed my avatar), and that thing says it's 876x876. You need to shrink it.

Zevox

[Flame of Anor]

Originally Posted by Glen

Hi Giant

I am sure it has probably been previously suggested so please forgive me if I am bring up something already dealt with.

I love your comic (and own all the books published to date) but tend to only visit every few months (then I can gorge myself on a large numbers on comics in one go).

I was very lucky to have visited whilst you are taking orders for the new book but even then it was only by chance I noticed the matter in the News.

Can a mailing list be established for users wanting notification of book printings?

Regards Glen

I think you're looking for the RSS feed.

Originally Posted by Zevox

Well, that would explain it. Your avatar is far too big. The size limit here is something like 150x150 pixels (note: I am not sure exactly, as it has been some time since I changed my avatar), and that thing says it's 876x876. You need to shrink it.

Zevox

Oh, I thought it automatically resized it. I guess it must have changed in the forum reorgs, because that used to work. I'll fix it in a bit.

[silversaraph]

Originally Posted by Glen

Can a mailing list be established for users wanting notification of book printings?

You can try ookoodooks mailing list, but It'll have other products too. Not that many of them though, so you can probably just sort through them every few weeks.

http://ookoodook.com/store/NewsletterSubscribe.shtml

[NerfTW]

Originally Posted by Flame of Anor

I think you're looking for the RSS feed.

There is no news RSS feed.

[The Giant]

Originally Posted by Glen

Hi Giant

I am sure it has probably been previously suggested so please forgive me if I am bring up something already dealt with.

I love your comic (and own all the books published to date) but tend to only visit every few months (then I can gorge myself on a large numbers on comics in one go).

I was very lucky to have visited whilst you are taking orders for the new book but even then it was only by chance I noticed the matter in the News.

Can a mailing list be established for users wanting notification of book printings?

Regards Glen

Not only is there the Ookoodook newsletter that was linked a few posts above mine, but there is an Ookoodook Twitter feed where new OOTS books would also be announced as they go on sale. (GITP doesn't have either of those, or an RSS feed for the News.)