I am the Production Manager in charge of books at Penguin. No Penguin/Hermetic books are made via Print on Demand. Never have been, and there are no plans to do so.

We often get some early copies before a main batch comes in. When the smaller shipment arrived, BOW were placed in stock very briefly rather than being listed for preorder as intended and a few orders went out. The site was quickly changed to Preorder status, and the official launch of the books will be coming soon.

Why you were told that books might ship out when under preorder status is beyond me - I am not sure where anyone would have come up with that info. If any preorders are currently going out, it means they are being pulled from those early units (intended for review copies, etc) and that should not be happening.

OK well I guess I got really lucky then and found them in stock at the exact right time. Seems pretty confusing though, usually a book is in stock or it's not. But I am just glad I got mine back and quickly, and that it was in stock briefly. Then shared it for others to buy and then saw it said pre-order which was odd, as I thought it was back in print because it was in stock when I bought it.

Just read the books and enjoy them.

I'm confused. Preorder? I ordered mine on 6/25 and received them a few days later. Have the boxing up of my order video from Penguin (which is very silly but still rather cool) and everything. Did I just get lucky?

Same here. Ordered on 6th of July and received them today. When I ordered I clicked the preorder button, but the books were sent the day I ordered so they were in stock...

Yeah that is why I said it sounds like they were being printed on demand, until a full reprinted batch comes in. But when I got mine they were in stock no pre-order button. Also I love the packing videos, and they are great to show that you got all of your items put in the box that was supposed to be in there. I bet they also do it for insurance purposes as well, so if any items are lost it is the shipper's fault then. Another good thing also is I seen a book damaged that was somehow ripped and crinkled inside the shrike-wrap, which I never had before.

Yet they shipped it that way. But as one of Penguin's top customers since 2002 I rarely ever received a damaged book, but wondered why they would pack a damaged book, especially considering I am a collector as well so that bothered me. But it was not real bad so I kept it since it was a $30 book. Plus I would have to pay to ship it back costing me even more money and lost time. But for the price of them they should not be damaged, especially inside the shrink-wrap which was clearly visible in the packing video. But I just put a small piece of clear tape over the tear as I wanted to read the book right away. But luckily most books only have minor or no damage.

In the past they were too loose in the box and not enough packing, and moved around that is why also. Now they are packed better usually, but still not as good as I pack my books as a picky collector with OCD lol. But for the money I spend they should all be mint. One also had a sticker goo on the back that I had to use goo-gone to get off. But overall after hundreds of orders most are in new condition, or just some minor bends and crushed corners. So the packing videos serve a number uses, and I love the same day shipping, and free shipping over $50 as I always spend at least a few hundred.

I also feel more at ease seeing that my order is complete with all items from the start, so I think it is genius and also adds to the excitement. It is like seeing Santa pack your presents lol. I think they also did it in a Santa suit around Christmas too, not sure.

Yes Santa was packing out orders at Christmas time.

My BOW were from the early order page ( before the pre order showed up). Right after I ordered mine it turned into pre order and some guys from here ordered after me -- they were happy when their orders arrived early. So it seems as though there was some "early" stock...? ---

as I recall pre-orders were planning to be shipped June 29

Yeah that is why I waited to post about it as I wanted to see if they were actually in stock, then saw they shipped right away so I assumed they were back then for good. The many others ordered and they went to pre-order status.

Do you people not read?



I don't know how the full process works, so I am guessing here:

I would guess that the small advance shipment of books mentioned above by Penguin's book production manager is usually intended for review copies and/or inspection so that if there's a physical defect with the print run it can be discovered and corrected before paying to ship the whole run of books halfway around the world. In the case of a long-awaited reprint like this, review copies aren't necessary but allowing eager customers to buy those early copies will create buzz, so I'm guessing that's how Penguin used them.

If you are also GUESSING at the process (sirbrad, farmerkarl), please label your guesses as such. Thank you.

Yes do you read? Because that was posted after the fact, and is what caused the confusion beforehand. No one knows though for certain what is going on or how they are doing it, that is why it is confusing and many speculate. Usually a book is either in stock or it isn't, not shipped immediately with a pre-order status. But that is what I thought as well as I also said, I thought maybe they got a few copies in which is why they were in stock briefly.

Like I said when I ordered my copy it was in stock -- after my order it went to pre order -- I don't know what kind of copy of the book I got but I got it and it seems good -- although I my just be guessing since I am not a proof reader -- I just state what happened and you can try to build the puzzle

They now show in stock at 20+! Saw it in my newsletter.

They're definitely in stock here:

http://magicstore.ca/?product=books-of-w......115eb4b3

Picked these up two weeks ago and working my way through them. Really delighted as they are now at an affordable price. Had borrowed them to read in the past and knew at some point I would have to get my own copies

Means all $90 editions are reprints? How can I tell it's a first edition? I found differences in the coloring (book cover inside top and bottom): the drawings of some editions printed in turquise color and some printed in black and white. Anyone knows when the turquise edition was printed and when the black and white edition?