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Rebellion - You have to package books better and proof-read them better

Started by matty_ae, 07 October, 2020, 07:42:07 PM

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matty_ae

Hi guys

I got the Thirteenth Floor Vol.2 today.
It was in a card envelope. It arrived with the lid open and unglued. The corners are foxed and I wouldn't accept a hardback in that condition.

The 'limited' hardback repeats the biographies of all three writers/artists on a duplicate facing page
And the book ends with 4 pages of promotion/adverts which are advertising... Thirteenth Floor vol. 1

Nope. it makes no sense.

Take more time. Package and protect hardbacks better. And do more Quality control please.
Apart from that the repro on the old Eagle & Tiger covers was great. And I'm really glad you're doing this series.

AlexF

Like, on the one hand, I absolutely agree.
On the other hand, as someone who also works in publishing, current restrictions mean that we no longer get to see/hold/examine physical copies of our books before they get shipped from the printers - so checking on stuff like endpapers is especially difficult!
(Things may be different at Rebellion, as their books are printed closer to home - most of ours are done in China)

There's nothing more disappointing than a basic error in a book, though - hopefully they can fix it and re-ship to people.

matty_ae

That's fair.

I guess seeing a PDF isnt going to scream out "there's a double page" as much as the book.

They still are very good value. Maybe short staffed as well.
It doesn't bother me enough to return.

IndigoPrime

Errors are a fact of life. I can't imagine a duplicate page like that would warrant a reprint. QC is also much harder with distributed workforces and general strain on them, and so I do have a lot of sympathy there.

I have less sympathy when it comes to distribution and mailing. There is a massive divergence in how such things are dealt with by companies. When I buy books from some places, they are sent in very sturdy card mailers. Others go for a card sleeve. In some cases, the company is making a balance decision, assuming enough will arrive undamaged to not initiate returns/discounts. (Wordery typically will offer a 50% discount on a damaged item, for example.)

Rebellion's shipping could do with being 'upgraded' for the HCs at least. I'm still wavering over those Nemesis books, in part because they cost 60 quid, but also because I don't know what condition they will show up in. That really shouldn't be an issue, and any HC volume is at greater risk of damage because of its weight and the nature of its construction.

Richard


IndigoPrime

Of course, this time my book showed up and it's almost mint (very minor crushing to top of spine), even if the packaging took a beating.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Richard on 08 October, 2020, 01:56:23 PM
Rebellion's books are printed in Malta. a secure thrill-power containment bunker deep beneath the Command Module.

FTFY.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

BPP

Okay the dual bio pages are a bit weird and the 4 page advert for volume 1 not the most sensible but.... it's a bloody lovely book with great design and extras.

These two 13th Floor hardbacks have been beautiful editions.
If I'd known it was harmless I would have killed it myself.

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Tjm86

I'd agree on the advertising front.  Seeing the Dracula Files was a nice pointer there.  It would have been better to promo another related title (Monster?) given that the fact that this is volume 2 is a bit of a glaring admission that there is a volume 1.  Not like that needs such heavy advertising.

My copy survived the ministrations of the postal service although the fact that it wasn't hammering it down might have some bearing.  Couple of packages have rather intelligently been left on the front doorstep lately rather than the side under the carport.   :o