Waterstones and The Horsepower Whisperer
Regular followers of this blog might remember that a friend of mine ordered The Horsepower Whisperer from Waterstones in Andover, Hampshire. Well, to cut a long story short after five and half weeks it still hadn't turned up so Professor Yarlett (that's what I decided to call him to preserve his anonymity) cancelled the order and got a refund.
The assistant said that as the order was in the system The Horsepower Whisperer should turn up soon and that she would hold it for him. That was on 16th March.
Prof Y underwent some surgery after that and after having to sit at home with his legs at right angles to his body for 15 days (!) he was able to struggle into town and enquire after The Horsepower Whisperer.
You have to hand it to him - he's keen.
That was on the 15th April and it still wasn't there. The assistant checked her computer and said she didn't know when it would be in.
"These sort of books sometimes don't turn up," she said.
I have now supplied Professor Yarlett with a book myself.
Funnily enough, I was checking the websites of other book distribution channels last weekend and queried a handful that showed my book as unavailable or available after 2-3 weeks. As it's print-on-demand and available through Ingrams this shouldn't be the case.
The only response I had was from Waterstones who said that, as they did not stock the book in their warehouse, they would have to order from the publisher, hence the delay.
I've asked them to check their system because, as publisher, nobody contacted me about Prof Y's order.
I also pointed out that they lost a sale. In fact Prof Y said he was going to wait until The Wormton lamb was out and order them both from Amazon and qualify for free postage.
I hope Waterstones reply and we can sort this out between us because I'm about to embark on the next stage of my publicity campaign.
I also hope Professor Yarlett keeps me up-to-date on his health lest the strongly-rumoured restorative powers of The Horsepower Whisperer are borne out in fact. If it works on him, I'll try and make it available through the National Health Service.
The assistant said that as the order was in the system The Horsepower Whisperer should turn up soon and that she would hold it for him. That was on 16th March.
Prof Y underwent some surgery after that and after having to sit at home with his legs at right angles to his body for 15 days (!) he was able to struggle into town and enquire after The Horsepower Whisperer.
You have to hand it to him - he's keen.
That was on the 15th April and it still wasn't there. The assistant checked her computer and said she didn't know when it would be in.
"These sort of books sometimes don't turn up," she said.
I have now supplied Professor Yarlett with a book myself.
Funnily enough, I was checking the websites of other book distribution channels last weekend and queried a handful that showed my book as unavailable or available after 2-3 weeks. As it's print-on-demand and available through Ingrams this shouldn't be the case.
The only response I had was from Waterstones who said that, as they did not stock the book in their warehouse, they would have to order from the publisher, hence the delay.
I've asked them to check their system because, as publisher, nobody contacted me about Prof Y's order.
I also pointed out that they lost a sale. In fact Prof Y said he was going to wait until The Wormton lamb was out and order them both from Amazon and qualify for free postage.
I hope Waterstones reply and we can sort this out between us because I'm about to embark on the next stage of my publicity campaign.
I also hope Professor Yarlett keeps me up-to-date on his health lest the strongly-rumoured restorative powers of The Horsepower Whisperer are borne out in fact. If it works on him, I'll try and make it available through the National Health Service.
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