The Shroud Underground

Adam_Blomquist wrote:I just linked the site and store list on my blog, along with a plea for people to call/buy. I don't think I have too many readers, but hopefully that will grab some attention in different parts of the country.

Thanks Adam! Much appreciated.

Sheldon,

Thanks man. That's definitely a good lead. I'll be sure to follow up on it.

Brian,

yeah it could all just be an error. i wrote to the distributor and made a stink so we'll see where that gets us.

It's important to remember that 99% of these book store employees are good-hearted decent people, the preponderance of which possess a profound love for books. We happen to occupy a niche that they may not be too familiar with.

Rather than admit that they do not know the answer to something, some may just BS their way towards an answer thinking that you will not know any better.

The fact is, you DO know better.

Keep up the awesome work guys, I do so appreciate your friendship, loyalty and support.

It may get frustrating at times, but please try to keep your happy faces on so that we remain friends with the book store employees. They could end up being our most stalwart allies.

LET'S HUG IT OUT!

According to Ingram... there have been NO returns reported. In Fact, they have not even been reported to have arrived at the Arkansas stores yet.

Thanks guys!

After a good day of rest I went back and edited my own remarks about the dealings that Brian (zombiemall) had to deal with in his home town in regards to getting the mag on the shelves.

Today, I'm all hugs.

My arms are wide open, stretching from the East coast to the West coast.

Now prepare for a giant squeeze people. Can you feel it? That tingling sensation is my warm hug. *sigh*

Arms open at Tenagra!

Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra!

Yes, the more I think about it the more I can't help but feel they people I have spoken to simply were unaware.

Which brings me to an idea... I used to work at a company in which it was responsibility to create an internal "newsletter" to send out to all of the employees citing all of the new products that were getting in so that they could educate themselves. In any one given month we would have anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 new ones added (we sold promotional products). It was a super time sink, but every employee at least had an idea of what was coming out.

I know in the realm of books the list of literature coming in changes from week to week, hell even from day to day, but specifically in the realm of horror, I wonder how many are out there (books, magazines, music - stuff you usually find at a book store) come out in any given month..

I wonder if it would be a benifit to create a business that caters to creating a newsletter to send to book stores educating them on all the new forms of literature that are to come out in any given month...

Hmm....!

I have then know-how to pull that off, and the contacts to get such a thing printed.. I just wonder if it would be more of a labor of love or if it would be a good viable thing...

Stay Scary yall!

-Brian Hardin II
www.ZombieMall.com

Okay, it is as I suspected.

The dude at my local B&N was clueless.

How do I know this? Because I finally found it!

Driving by I had a hunch... So I went in. and lo and behold!

Now take a look at this first image, the way I first found it:




As you can see by the photo, it was hidden. So... I just had to fix that...



(sorry 'bout that bird watchers and fast company)

woots.

Now I'm on a boat yall!

I'm on a boat! Nice! Thanks Brian, I really appreciate that, You have made my night!

Called the B&N in Augusta, Maine, and asked them if they had it (which they're not on the list, so didn't expect them to). Called twice today, once in late morning and then again about 4 hours later. First person was clueless, said they didn't have in system (but, by the short amount of time spent
"looking up" seemed not to care). Second person said it was in their system, but not in store. "Would you like to order a copy?" I said yes, but not sure if they'll hold for me, or what, if I don't go pick up, or if they'll really even order. I really just want them to order some, and have on shelves, rather than them order one copy and hold for me. But if I don't do the hour drive each way to buy, will they scrap it, hold if I don't buy, put on shelves, or what? Scrapping is evil for small press, I think. As bad as book burning.

If they will order, and put on shelves, next step is to call the B. Daltons in my state (now owned by B&N) to see if they have in system. One about 2 hours' drive away, one over 3.

On another note, still not in Las Vegas stores, by reports of 2 separate people.

Hey Tim, hope its OK that I started linking people on The Haunt over to this thread. It had looked like no luck so far....all except one.

SteveFaust writes:

"I didn't have an account to post in that thread, but let them know that I purchased a copy Sunday at Newsbreak in Swansea, 2nd on the list of stores. They had @6 copies, and I took one of them. I paged through it, and was quite surprised how good the layout looked."

Here's the thread so I don't have to keep relaying and annoying everyone here:

http://www.horror-mall.com/haunt/forums/display_topic/id_1239/Do-you-have-a-store-that-carries-Shroud-near-you/


P.S. Sheldon, I read the story. Zombies fighting the power, rock on.

Danny, thanks for that. The calls alone help get the word out and that is enough.

Las Vegas and points west will not even be stocked until Friday.

Adam, thanks for the heads up, I stopped by the Haunt to express my thanks.

Keep it up all!

I just called B&N in Manchester, NH and the "bookseller" that answered tried to tell me that they "had it in the system" but that they "did not get any copies."

I found that odd because when I looked in the B&N PoS system it showed that they were delivered 5 copies and had already sold one of them.

I politely told him who I was and he went back to check. When he came back he had more accurate information.

I wonder why this is?

Alright, Brian! Finally a copy or two or three in your hands!!!

Adam: Glad you liked it. So far I've been getting a great response to the story.

Not only does Tim appreciate everyone's hard and relentless work, but so do I.

You Shroudites rule!!!

Keep on keepin' on.

Shroud magazine is now found in little ol' Racine, Wisconsin! Barnes & Noble; Green Bay Road, 53405. It was so awesome to see this! (And it's displayed right in front. Sweet.)

I am not surprised that most stores have no idea that the issue is in stock or not.

Once upon a time when I worked at B&N, I was one of the sad, sad people that occasionally got charged with stocking the magazine section, and, yes, the job sucked just about as much as you could imagine. Now I am very jaded when it comes to my many years in retail, but for me it seemed that every customer would come in and take 10 to 15 magazines off the shelf, grab a venti fuckacinno, and then sprawl out in a chair or on the floor for hours at a time.

Once I let them know the store was closing, they would grimace, slowly get up, and saunter to the door, leaving behind their stack of ripped magazines, empty coffee cups, wadded up napkins, and several paperbook books with spine broken in several places (I really despise people who break the spines on books). Now multiply this by 50 to 100 similar penniless browsers a day and at the end of the night you end up with a stack of magazines that would crush an elephant. And they all need to be put back on the shelves before you can go home.

(This partially explains why the section is always messed up. At 11:00pm I was too tired to care less whether Chicks and Choppers goes before or after Midgets with Motorcycles) The only section I cared about was the fiction section, so I would ensure that it was neat. If you needed a particular bridal magazine, you were on your own. Most stores assigned someone to watch just the magazine section, straightening it out and keeping it neat for 8 hours, and still it looked like a tornado hit it at the end of the night.

This was over 5 years ago, so things have probably changed, but there was never a system that told us whether we had a particular issue in stock. We only could see whether we had carried the magazine in the past. And because many people would throw out their magazines after reading them at the in-store Starbucks (or they steal them, the naughty rogues), the counts would be off anyway.

When a new issue came in, we were forced to remove the old issues and strip them. There were times when a new magazine issue came in a few days after an old issue, so an issue was only on the shelf for 2 or 3 days. This even happens with paperback books, with many only getting 3 or 4 weeks on the shelf, sometimes less.

I can verify that they had sold at least one copy at the Manchester Barnes and Noble, because I'm the one that bought it! It was a little strange, though, because at the time I was in the store, which would have been last Friday I believe, the copy I purchased was the only one on the rack.

I'll check back in the store tomorrow to make sure at least one of their other four copies is on display and if it's not, I'll politely inquire as to why it's not...