Honestly, there’s only two reasons I’m offering this:

1) Some locations do not have free or cheap shipping options available to them through the usual retailers like Amazon.

2) Some photographers last year expressed an interest in being able to package and present the books themselves to their clients. If that’s something that floats your boat, then this is the option for you!

If you live in an area that can typically order easily through Amazon etc. and you don’t mind not packaging the books yourself, then I would save yourself the headache and just get your clients to order their own copies!

5 or more books qualify for bulk orders

I’ve tried to take a few dollars off wherever possible, but the main benefit for your clients is free shipping.

HARDCOVER
US $77.95 (RRP $79.95)
AU $84.95 (RRP $89.95)
CA $88.95 (RRP $89.95)
EU €62.95 (RRP €64.95)
UK £52.95 (RRP £54.95)

SOFTCOVER
US $57.95 (RRP $59.95)
AU $77.95 (RRP $79.95)
CA $77.95 (RRP $79.95)
EU €52.95 (RRP €54.95)
UK £42.95 (RRP £44.95)

Free 7 day standard shipping is included with all bulk orders. You can also upgrade to 2 day express shipping.

PRINTING + PRODUCTION

USA + Canada: 15 business days
Australia: 8 business days
UK + EU: 13 business days

STANDARD (FREE) SHIPPING

USA: 1-6 business days (exclu. Hawaii)
Australia: 3-6 business days
Canada: 3-7 business days
UK: 3-5 business days
EU: 2-7 business days

EXPRESS SHIPPING

USA ($92): 2 business days (incl. Hawaii)
Australia (AU$25): 2 business days
Canada (CAD$360): 1-5 business days ***
UK (£25): 2 business days
EU (€25): 2 business days

*** Sorry Canadians, the only express shipping the printers offer to Canada is via International Air!

Okay, I learned my lesson from last year - if you live outside of Australia, UK, Canada, Europe or the USA and you have the option of ordering through Amazon, I recommend doing that. The shipping times direct from the printers vary WILDLY for “international” orders - some countries took up to 2 months.

This is what the printers say with their International Shipping option:
- Shipment times and reliability vary based on the destination country’s mail system.
- This shipping method, in exchange for lower shipping cost, does not offer damage insurance or shipment tracking to the ultimate recipient.
- When you select this method of international shipment, you waive all liability against Lightning Source or the carrier for damage or loss of the shipment.
- Shipments are not trackable

I strongly recommend against promising delivery by Christmas. It’s a crazy time of year, the last thing you need to add to your plate is clients asking about the delivery!

Monday 2nd December

The printers are good about replacing any misprints, but unfortunately printing errors do sometimes occur. If that happens, you’ll need to send me a photo so I can organise a replacement.

If your local Amazon has the book for sale but significantly over the RRP, it’s likely that they’re currently selling an imported version from the US or UK (and bumping up the price to compensate for their own shipping fees).

If you’re keen to order the book immediately then I’d recommend going the bulk order route. If you’re happy to wait, then last year we found that the international Amazon prices settled closer to RRP after a week or so.

I’ve swapped this latest book title from Volume Three to Tails of the World: 2024 Edition for publication.

Now that we’ll definitely be doing this project annually, I want to ensure that your future participants are excited each year to get involved. 202X Edition sounds just as special each year!

Absolutely! As always, previous participants will get first dibs when applications open in February.

There’ll be a longer season for 2025 too - you’ll have six months to complete everything.

I’m going to be hiring someone to help me with this project next year, so please be aware that the participation fee is going to increase slightly. I’ll still have the Fair Discount for other countries and my goal is always to keep it as low as possible - but I will need to cover some costs.

Based on previous years, I’m assuming that Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Angus & Robertson will stock the book again - but unfortunately there are no guarantees in this game!

The way this self-publication works is: I list the book as available to distribute.

Online retailers can choose whether or not they are going to stock it, how many they are going to stock and their price - I won’t have any control over any of those things.

I have listed the publication date as December 1st 2024 - this means that retailers who have decided to sell it will be able to do so from this date.

Here’s the catch: we do not know ahead of time when a retailer has picked up a title. Last year we found that Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk stocked early, then other countries followed suit.

That’s not going to happen. WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?! Knock on wood now, please.

But seriously, based on previous years I would be shocked if that happened. My back up plan is that I will process all the orders myself, but I don’t think that will be necessary.

I strongly recommend against promising delivery by Christmas. It’s a crazy time of year, the last thing you need to add to your plate is clients asking about the delivery!

I have absolutely no idea - and I’m sorry that’s not a more helpful answer! The way this self-publication works is, I list the book as available to distribute.

Online retailers can choose whether or not they are going to stock it, how many they are going to stock and their price - I won’t have any control over any of those things.

I suggest letting your clients that misprints can sometimes happen with smaller runs like this - and if they happen to receive a dud, they just need to let the retailer know and it’ll be replaced.

No - individual orders will only be available to purchase through online retailers. I’m not doing that again 🤪haha!

Get in touch - we’ll sort out a direct shipment to you and your clients!

Shipping for direct orders of 1-4 books is $19/book. To keep the cost down, it’s non-trackable and slow.