Regarding Printing Delays...

In the spirit of transparency and setting expectations, I thought I'd be helpful to share the following with you.

Over the past half year, printing timelines have only increased. What used to take 1.5 months over the past 20 years I've been doing this, is now taking as long as 4 months. I've spoken with other specialty presses, and they are in the same boat. Or worse. Below is an excerpt from a letter recently received from the president of the printing company I use for my hardcovers:

Please know supply chain issues are forcing us to address our approach to handling escalating prices and the diminishing availability of key materials for the print process. We recognize the current environment is a wild anomaly relative to historical norms, impacting many core materials, from paper, to glue, to laminate, to cloth, etc. The print paper market challenges are compounded by a long-term trend of mill closures and conversion to more profitable products (e.g., corrugated). True to the models in our economics textbooks – the inversion of the supply/demand balance has led to dramatically escalating prices, quotas, allocations, late deliveries etc., which are further exacerbated by a shortage of labor and freight carriers, impacting our ability to deliver books to you in a timely manner.

He notes later in his letter that 2022 will likely be more of the same. It's really frustrating and disappointing for me (and my publisher colleagues), and I know as a customer it is tough waiting for books and hearing about delays. I'll keep you posted about each book's progress -- and I have a number of exciting books to announce soon! -- but appreciate everyone's patience and understanding while the US (and world) sorts through this mess.

—Paul Miller; January 3, 2022