How ironic...
The irony:I get my printing for my last two books done through a DC based printing company. Dig...I've been waiting for a reprint order for my third book, Babylon Songs, for almost three weeks now. The reprint is due to the very first run proving to have issues with the way the book was perfect bound; the glue doesn't hold in some cases. However, it doesn't change the fact I paid $430 for only fifty books (color is a bitch). Not evry book is problematic, but it is hard having to sell my book for fifteen to make my money back. Making it hard for me to sell my own frickin book in good conscience. Everybody who has read it is raving, but I've had to give away the majority of the run due to somebody else's glitch. Disclamer- I was already going to give a free copy to everyone on the cover of my book and/or evrybody who had a poem dedicated to them.
The temporary fix: I now sell the books with the business card of the cat who runs things where I get my books printed. If they have any problem with the books craftsmanship, the customer can then go to the printer and get another copy, free of charge. All they need is evidence of their book falling apart.
Still doesn't quite rectify the situation of me still waiting for a reprint for almost three weeks now, but at least I'm practicing good business ethics.
The sheer comedy: Dude who swore up and down I'd get my reprint quick fast is down stairs right now, as I type this, drumming up customers @ my job, dog. Wow. I hear this dude talkin' about lightening turn around times for printing, and I'm going on three weeks. Needless to say, he was very accommodating. I'm sure he felt a tidbit uncomfortable knowing that there was a bonafide unsatisfied customer amidst all the potential business he could be getting for the company. Sometimes I wish I was foul, you know, yell all my business out while people watched in disbelief.