After I got home yesterday, I saw a post in a reader/author group I follow that went something like this: "I ordered an author copy of my paperback from Amazon on the 1st. It didn't ship until the 13th and it still isn't here yet. It's only got to go from IL to CA. Should I demand a refund?"
I'd like to go over this. First off, author copies take time to print. And how fast yours gets printed depends on how many other books are in the queue ahead of yours. It's not magic. You don't snap your fingers and poof there it is. I think they say it normally takes 10 days to print a book.
Second, Amazon ships paperbacks via the USPS First Class Mail. Nowhere in the normal scheme of things does first class mail get from IL to CA in 3 days. Never has. Doubt it ever will. It takes 4 days to get from MO to MI, for petesakes. On a good week.
Thirdly, notice the words normal and normally in there. This is totally not normal as we once knew it. Normal things... everyday things... take longer now. Unless whatever you want is in electronic form, it's going to take a while.
My advice? Chill out. Seriously. CHILL. The world would be a better place if everyone just chilled out.
No, I did not say that to the author in question. I blocked her stupid, entitled ass so I never have to see her whiny shit again. Yeah, I need to chill a little myself. I have no patience for stupidity, entitlement, or whining. I used to have a little, but as I've aged, the little patience died a horrible, violent death.
Your book will get there, lady. No need to go all litigious on Amazon. Or the postal service. Yet. I mean, if two weeks go by and your book still isn't there, by all means, demand your money back. Until then, get into the lotus position (figuratively, of not literally) and chant calming things at yourself.
And yes, I do understand that you can't set the book for sale until you approve it and you can't approve it until you receive it. You want it and you want it now so you can start maybe seeing money from it. (That will take two months to actually reach your account, by the way, so more waiting and chilling.) It's aggravating and it's frustrating, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.
This whole thing is not for the impatient. On the bright side, at least this isn't traditional publishing which can take a whole lot longer.
