Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: mdsalemi on June 28, 2011, 11:52:58
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Contributors--a note will be going out today or tomorrow from my email list to the personal email I have on file for you. The last of the contributors page set will be complete today or tomorrow. Then begins the edit process, as well as assembling the "other" pages such as title, cover, etc.
Two contributors experienced personal issues in the past year that prevented adequate and sufficient contributions; one was resolved and completed, and one suggested removal from the book.
As editor I have two choices--removal and replacement with another contributor; removal and replacement with something else, or leaving as is. The latter would not be a first choice: insufficient material relative to the other contributors. The "something else" can be put together rather quickly; I have a lot of information and early-generation sketches on the Pagoda which would provide very interesting visuals. However, if there is one more who wants inclusion and can move quickly (we are talking very quick here...) please PM me, my email is located in my member detail.
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I have bought 3 coffee tables (so far) for this book to adorn since the books inception... Sure hope its as good as I want it to be - as I am still excited :)
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Michael: I have ordered 2 books and look froward to seeing the finished product. If there is not another quality contributor, you may wish to close the file on this although I realize there is a page layout issue that you need to address with a quality filler.
doug Dees
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Book will not be delayed pending another contributor, but if one comes up and can work within the short time frame, we'll make it work.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KuDPfTfw6w
let us know when the book tour starts
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Given general experience of the time it takes to get contributors to produce quality copy and photographs, I am much in favour of the book being completed. Should this lead to a (small) financial shortfall I am sure the board of the Pagoda SL Group would be in favour of funding the shortfall to allow completion within a short timeframe to proceed.
I suggest very strongly therefore that you finish the book and not let another "joiner" delay the process further to the disadvantage of the original contributors.
Peter
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I suggest very strongly therefore that you finish the book and not let another "joiner" delay the process further to the disadvantage of the original contributors.
Peter
Hear, hear
Gus
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Thank you for your opinions.
Only one two people have come forward, and it is doubtful they could meet a quick turn around; one begged off quickly.
There were 65 people I'm dealing with here, and most have been pretty prompt in response when needed. Some can't seem to ever find that darn "reply" button I find at the top of each email.
The two remaining pages will be filled with my backup plan already in the works, everyone will be quite pleased with these two new pages. Therefore, the book will not be delayed because of any contributors now.
The note to the contributors and early adoptor buyers went out; if you find yourself in this category w/o a personal email note from me, by all means PM me immediately. Some email addresses might have fallen through the cracks and not made it to the distribution list (which is different than the individual contact information I have for you) and I'll need to do an update.
I did get a response from a few of you for editing help, and I'll be back at you folks shortly. Divide and conquer!
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Michael: I have ordered 2 books and look froward to seeing the finished product. If there is not another quality contributor, you may wish to close the file on this although I realize there is a page layout issue that you need to address with a quality filler.
Sorry Michael,
That I jumped in here ...
Though I have not contributed to the book and thus, I should not make any comments on its finishing process... but I am sure this will be an excellent collection of really nice pics of timepieces.
But nevertheless,
I think a very few pictures should be included from John's ("49er") completely factory original engine bay pics. He took one colored pic of this former 250 SL dated from 1967 and two from his current '68 280. All were taken when the cars were new and thus, the engine bays were completeley factory-untouched. These are of highest value as possible for us, the Pagoda community.
These are not my pics and I did not take them. Let me recommend that you both communicate about this with each other.
Thanks a lot.
Just my humble 2 cents...
Achim
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I think a very few pictures should be included from John's ("49er") completely factory original engine bay pics. He took one colored pic of this former 250 SL dated from 1967 and two from his current '68 280. All were taken when the car was new and thus, the engine bays were completeley factory-untouched. These are of highest value as possible for us, the Pagoda community.
These are not my pics and I did not take them. Let me recommend that you both communicate about this wich each other.
Just my humble 2 cents...
Achim
Michael, I would be more then happy to send you these engine compartment photos if you are interested.
John
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Michael, I would be more then happy to send you these engine compartment photos if you are interested.
John
Michael: I had the pleasure of seeing the car last year and it is worthy of being included. It is a wonderful orginal.
Doug Dees
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Thank you to our friends George Henne, Jon Bernardi, and Walt Klatt. These three men stepped up to be proofreaders, and we are devising a plan now. If and when you see these guys in your travels, thank them so it isn't a thankless job!
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Mike- Any news- let me know if I can be of help!
Peterm
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Got an update from Mike- he's really close to finished and just a few days of work remain. Buy those coffee tables now soon we'll have a book for them.
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The Pagoda Style book is at the printers! It will be printed in November, and I suspect delivery to me in late November or the very earliest of December. The printer has to do a round of proofing and preflight (a technical printing term) prior to actual printing and manufacturing.
In mid November, I will be going through and preparing the shipment information in advance of the books coming here. I will verify each shipping address in advance with each contributor/buyer. If there are any special shipping requests I will endeavor to honor them, but don't post them here, wait until you hear from me privately. All books will be individually shrink-wrapped at the printer to protect them.
USA based shipments will go USPS MEDIA mail, with tracking.
Overseas shipments will go "best way" via the USPS.
Until I have the actual books in hand, with the fully packaged weight I will not know what that best method is. They will probably end up going via ISAL M-Bags; regular M-Bags, or they might have to be shipped individually by first class airmail which has a 4 pound weight limit. Whatever is least costly will be the shipping method.
An M-Bag is simply a bag to hold up to 11 pounds of books or printed matter and sent to one address.
An ISAL M-Bag is a presort, and sends packages to the destination country, and then places the parcels in the local mail system.
Probably all books will be in your hands by mid-December.
There WILL be extra books available to existing contributors (some asked for an additional copy or more), as well as group members and visitors here. The pricing, delivery and fulfillment means have not been decided yet for these extra books. When this information is decided it will be posted.
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Huuurrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!!!!!
:D
Must be a good feeling Mike - thanks for all the hard work ...
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Ohh its been a long road. But I am still full of anticipation! Well done.
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Zippity Doo Dah
Zippity Ay
My oh my ......... ;D
I won't sing the rest until I am holding the book in my hands! ;)
Thank you, Michael
PS: That's two Pagoda books I hope to open for Christmas.
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its been a long road
By my count, about as long as the restoration on my car, with twice as many hours...but I stopped counting.
By the numbers (hey, it's from the End Notes, page 144)
...I have over 2,500 individual emails comprising the bulk of communications on the project, to and from the more than 70 contributors. The contributions came in piecemeal, and were stored on two external hard drives. At the end, the raw material was over 6,200 photos in 160 folders comprising over 90 GB of data. The design process involved 71 double page layout files, along with 2 single page layout files and one larger file for the dust jacket. The raw material was distilled down in the design process to just 9 GB of data; this is 1,700 files spread over 500 folders...
...and that is what was sent to the printers. All fit on on small hard drive.
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Good morning,
Is this a closed order? Or am I able to put in for a copy please.
Cheers
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Good morning,
Is this a closed order? Or am I able to put in for a copy please.
Cheers
Dear Cheers, (I don't know your name...)
As mentioned...
There WILL be extra books available to existing contributors (some asked for an additional copy or more), as well as group members and visitors here. The pricing, delivery and fulfillment means have not been decided yet for these extra books. When this information is decided it will be posted.
Nobody who wants to buy a book will be denied a purchase; everybody who wants one WILL be able to buy one--or more. Orders are not closed, they have not even opened beyond the initial contributors and early adopter buyers... Just stay tuned...
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Michael --
Reading your post made my day as it's definitely been a long time coming! Thanks for perservering on what must have truely been a daunting project. Now if I can only wait a bit longer...
Gary
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Hi Michael,
For well over 40 years, I've loved the Pagoda cars. Well finally I bought one, and her name is Ingrid, a 69 280SL. New ownership of any car, can make car people nuts. Available books pertaining to that car, we buy (and so much more). But it's rare when a book is compiled by numerous contributing fans of one particular car, as opposed to a book by one contributor, expressing his/her observations with photos by many others. But then, what do I know, as I am a retired motion picture film sound mixer, not a "car business person". So, since your new book is comprised of many levels, by input from many Pagoda owners and many of the people who keep them running (pedestrian) or those that restore them to perfection (concours),.............. what the hey - as I see it, this book is the real deal !!! I'm truly looking forward to having it in my home, on the coffee table right in front of me ! ;D
Cheers, Hank
hankgarfield@sbcglobal.net
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Ohh its been a long road. But I am still full of anticipation! Well done.
Me too and I'm sure none of us can comprehend the amount of effort that has gone into this project.
Thanks Mike!
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Me too and I'm sure none of us can comprehend the amount of effort that has gone into this project.
...well, at least two people, Jon Bernardi and George Henne have an inkling of the effort--as they together proofread the entire book! Also, the book in 98% complete full color, and full sized "comp" (a design term) form was brought to PUB in late July--therefore those who looked at it there got a good idea as well.
Right now I'm waiting for the set of proofs to come back. The printer has ordered the materials; preproduction is in process as we speak.
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The long wait is over! The book has been printed, and the copies are packed on a skid and on the way to me now. The printer sent me a single advance copy which i received today. I will take some photos tomorrow, and post them so you can see. They will probably not arrive until next week, as they are being sent by truck.
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I am so excited!
Michael, I suspect you will be posting information (price etc.) soon on how we can order a copy?
It has been a long wait, I can only imagine how much work, time, frustrations and satisfactions you have in this project.
Congratulations!
Jim
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OK, here are some images of the final product.
First is the front cover dust jacket. For those interested, the image chosen is a painting by Paul Bracq, which will be available as a limited edition giclee edition in 2012. The painting is set on a mosaic comprised of photos; there is at least one photo from each contributor in the mosaic. Can you find yours??? ;)
Second is a side view showing the spine of the dust jacket.
Third image is with the dust jacket partially removed; this shows the red cloth cover with the chrome (silver) foil stamp on the front.
Last image here is the back cover, showing the UPC and a photo by Jackson Schwartz ("Jaxxonia")
Book pages are 10" x 12" landscape format, 100# gloss stock.
Dust jacket is laminated in a scuff-proof, ultra-matte polyproplyene.
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Only four images allowed per post, so here are a few more:
First is the spread from our friend David Brough.
Second is the spread from our friend Frank Cozza.
Third and last is a spread about PUB and about the style evolution of the Pagoda.
The Frank Cozza and David Brough spreads are representative of a contributor's page set--a story and some photos on the left, photos on the right, sometimes with a "sidebar". When you are opened to a contributor's pages, you only see that contributor, and nobody else. The PUB and Style page are representative of other content I added to make the book more interesting; this includes an essay by noted essayist John Kuhn Bleimaier; three "Artists in Residence" pages; the PUB Page and the Pagoda Style evolution pages as shown.
There are a total of 144 pages in the book, which include the 66 contributor page spreads (132 pages) obligatory cover page, copyright and dedication page; a foreword by Paul Bracq, an introduction, and Acknowledgments and End Notes, as well as the artist pages as noted.
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Michael, looks like Santa came early ton your house. The mosaic is very cool. Thanks for an early sneak peek. When are we able to place orders?
Rolland
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I want one, I want one. How do I get one?
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Me too !!!
1 please !
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Anybody wanting purchase information needs to contact me via PM or offline. My contact information is readily available in my profile.
As a point of reference, those NON-US people with interest should, in the interest of cost, act promptly. This is because the overseas, non-USA shipments will go out in a bulk consolidated shipment, and only one time; after that they'll go normal over the counter shipment which will be much more costly.
USA shipments go media mail, and there is little sense of urgency other than your own desire to have a copy in a timely fashion.
I suspect the first group (contributors and early buyers) USA shipments will go out last week of December; overseas shipments will be prepared and sent the first week of January.
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there is at least one photo from each contributor in the mosaic. Can you find yours??? ;)
Not immediately, but since my Pagoda is blue... I trust that I'm in there somewhere...
And what a shame about 1st week of january shipment.... I'd hoped for a pre-new-years present...
Peter
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Not immediately, but since my Pagoda is blue... I trust that I'm in there somewhere...
And what a shame about 1st week of january shipment.... I'd hoped for a pre-new-years present...
Peter
Some photos are easier to detect than others; of course detecting them in the photo posted would be near impossible, I'm afraid. Get yourself a 10X loupe, I'm sure you'll be able to find yours when you get your books. Easy ones to spot are Joe Alexander, Ann Daffern, Doug Dees, Forrest Jordan. It is challenging when some of them are rotated, flipped, etc.
Yes, a bit of a shame on the shipment date :(, but the overseas and Canada shipments take a lot of wheel-spin and churning. There's TSA paperwork to fill out >:(--and thank goodness that due to a former life, I have pre-clearance and am qualified as a "known shipper". There are customs forms as well, and then all the packages get picked up by a freight consolidator. That will bring shipping costs down by about 50% versus over the counter. The USA shipments, by contrast, are a "piece of cake"; upload a spreadsheet with the data to Paypal, they print all the labels and a shipping manifest that the post office scans. We also must remember the books are still on a truck; I only have a single advance copy pulled and overnighted to me!
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Michael,
A truly unbelievable effort and results! It will be nice to look forward to such a unique post-holiday gift!
Kevin
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WOW! What an incredible job... I am dumbfounded you have surpassed all expectations. AWESOME.. feels so inadaquate of a word! THANKS FOR ALL THE HARD WORK!
Sincerely Bob ;D
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Thanks for the kind words, everyone who has posted here as well as those who contacted me off-line.
I made a post under "Items for Sale" which has a downloadable instruction sheet for ordering; I've taken in many orders since December 24th, and that posting has information for those that wish to order the book.
BTW, the books were delivered to my friend's place of business moments ago, and I'll be able to pick them up on Monday. Something about a 53' tractor trailer not allowed in my neighborhood that required me to find a place with a forklift for the 1,550 pound skid, and a loading dock, too. Thank you to my friends at Douglas Stamping!
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ALL books (contributors and orders) for USA-destination addresses have been shipped. They went out in groups, with the last group leaving this morning.
I already heard from one contributor in Ohio, that the book was received this morning. Over the next week (media mail can take up to 9 days) the bulk of these will begin to show up at your front door.
I sent an email with tracking number for each shipment; keep in mind the USPS tracking system is not real time, but delayed by 24 hours.
Non-USA addresses will be prepared for shipment this coming week.
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Non-USA addresses will be prepared for shipment this coming week.
Thanks for the update. :)
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Big box waiting for me when I got home! Great job Michael. Beautiful book, looking forward to reading all the profiles. A great work befitting of the cars and their owners.
John
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Jealous, me? Why should I be jealous? >:(
;D
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Kemal,
If I lived in UK, those in the USA would be waiting... ;) Half the non-USA books are prepared; the other half in the next couple of days.
Anyway, thought I'd share the following with everybody.
I saw a copy (just published) of the Gull Wing Group's 50th Anniversary book.
There was a [large, apparently] committee formed to do all the writing and editing, photo selection, etc. One contract person was the editor in chief. A contract person was the layout and designer. They worked long and hard on the book.
Their book was slightly smaller (9 x 12 vs. 10 x 12) but carried a few more pages (160 vs. 144)
They chose a bit more expensive end papers (the things you pass to get to the real book, but hold the book together) and had "tip in" photos on the front and rear covers. Tip-ins are photos set in to a debossed area. They are a couple of $$ each to do. Paper is the same, binding is the same, their dust jacket is standard poly gloss. Ours is ultra-matte and won't scuff or look old next year.
They obtained "substantial financial support" from the Mercedes Benz Museum to prepare the book. Goodness knows they needed it; they spent nearly 3x the amount on printing alone.
They sell the book for about the same amount of $$$.
Oh, it took them 3 years from concept to printing. :) So much for a committee!
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Michael,
Got my two copies today. WOW what a GREAT book. You did an outstanding job on it. You are the man.
Thanks,
Bob Hyatt
Williamsburg, VA
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I saw a copy (just published) of the Gull Wing Group's 50th Anniversary book.
Hey Michael - I haven't seen the book yet ... (pause) ... but from what you have been posting, the proof pages I did see and the rants and raves of those who have received their copies, I dare speculate that you did in one-man-army style what this committee with substantial financial support did for the 300 SL group.
May I suggest that the Board buy a few copies to donate to Mercedes Benz? Will help establish our (or, should I say, Michael's) reputation with them.
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Hey Michael - I haven't seen the book yet ... (pause) ... but from what you have been posting, the proof pages I did see and the rants and raves of those who have received their copies, I dare speculate that you did in one-man-army style what this committee with substantial financial support did for the 300 SL group.
May I suggest that the Board buy a few copies to donate to Mercedes Benz? Will help establish our (or, should I say, Michael's) reputation with them.
Cees, I have already selected a small group of people at Mercedes Benz to receive the book. In fact, one of them (overall director of communications for MB cars worldwide, a Pagoda fan) received his copy in person on Sunday; the PR department at MBUSA has received their copy on Sunday; the Classic Center in California's copy was mailed out with the USA copies. I had the fortune of meeting these MB folks again, at the auto show in Detroit on Sunday and saved the postage. There are a few others at MB in Germany on schedule to receive copies, but like you--they must wait for this bulk mailing being prepared as we speak.
These complementary copies to MB and other people important to the Mercedes and collector car and communications world, that make the Pagoda and our group look good can and will be sent out w/o further cost; the board does not need to buy them. I'd hazard a guess that better than 70% of our contributor's pages, in addition to the Introduction, mention the Pagoda SL group, by name and website.
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AWESOME book so many names I now can put faces to! WOW!
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Michael: How do I order a copy of your book? Standoing by, Tony Wood
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Tony Wood,
It would be helpful if you deleted this post; it is reviving an unrelated, 6-year old topic on judging!
http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=15808.0 That's the link in the "For Sale" section with book ordering information.
There are two other threads going in General Discussion; one of them is updates about the book, and the other is comments from people receiving the book.
(Note to Admin: thanks for moving this...)
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Whew.
Tomorrow, the truck is coming. There are 40 packages, exceeding a cubic meter, on a skid, weighing over 270 pounds, destined for 13 countries around the world, all leaving on 1/18.
With little exception, each package required paperwork, customs forms in QUINTUPLICATE (Note: I bet in most cases they don't touch them and you'll get all of them...). That's more signatures on more paper than I've done in a LONG time.
In any case I'd expect them to arrive at the consolidation center later this week, and enter the system early next week, and earliest deliveries coming in 10-14 days. Paperwork was slightly different depending on country and package weight.
I believe everything is well packed for these long distance journeys.
Thank you all for the patience.
UPDATE: Truck just left! 12:30PM EST
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And thankyou for all your effort, I am so looking forward to receiving my copy :)
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Really looking forward to getting mine
(I am somewhat gobsmacked that the TSA hsa anything to do with your posting stuff. Perhaps it's the same here but AFAIK anyone can walk into a post office and in this case, scribble "printed papers" on the envelope and off it goes, whether it's one or 50 packets)
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I am somewhat gobsmacked that the TSA hsa anything to do with your posting stuff. Perhaps it's the same here but AFAIK anyone can walk into a post office and in this case, scribble "printed papers" on the envelope and off it goes, whether it's one or 50 packets)
James,
I appreciate most sincerely your undying patience, along with everyone else’s--I really do.
Yes, you are quite right: anyone can essentially walk into a post office here, or there (wherever there may be), and ship a package of books.
If you were the only one ordering said books, I would have packaged the books in the identical fashion that I did; the package would weigh 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and measure 12 x 14 x 3 inches. I would drive to my post office, and wait on line (excuse me, “in queue”) until my turn came; lately, with staffing cuts, there would be 20 people ahead of me when I walked in, and my wait would be 20 minutes or more. There would only be 50% of the windows open.
They would either make me fill out some export paperwork off to the side, or accept what I might have done in advance. Because the package weighs more than 4 pounds, that requires different forms, and in quintuplicate, than say, a magazine or simple large envelope. They would offer me a variety of shipping methods, ranging in cost from USD $47.60 to $123.20…each. Repeat 39 additional times for the 40 packages in the shipment. Assume that on average, (some are larger with more than 2 books, some are smaller with 1) the rate would be this lowest amount and you’ll see that the total shipping cost for all my non-USA friends would be in excess of USD $2,000.00, as 7 of those packages were to distant Australia and New Zealand. Ouch. Part of the shipping scheme I used involved sending the USA packages via book rate or Media Mail, with the average cost being less than USD $5.00 per package.
What to do? Use a broker, or as our Post Office calls them, a “Postal Qualified Wholesaler”. Now I don’t exactly know how or why the relationships exist or have been established, but they are. The broker will consolidate the shipment with others from other more regular shippers, and offer the savings to me. The total shipping cost was about half that; since they do get into the US Postal Service here in the USA, they will be handled as US Mail as sure as if I had handed each package over the counter here in Novi. http://www.brokersworldwide.com/http/about_usps.htm
Where does the TSA come in? When any package is received “blindly” (not face to face) or through a 3rd party, additional rules apply. Thankfully I had, due to previous shipping experience, been “prequalified” as a “known shipper” and am in the TSA database as such. That’s why the return address label indicates my name and the company “Cherry Hill One, LLC”, as that’s the name in the TSA database. This made the work a bit easier. I don’t make this stuff up. Want some fun? Read about it here: http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/air_cargo/programs.shtm The broker would not have accepted my business had I not been prequalified; no broker would. There simply wasn’t enough money to pay $2,000.00 for shipping either. After the book in digital form went to the printer at the end of October, and before it was delivered to me in finished form at the end of December, I had plenty of time to thoroughly research shipping means.
Be advised that the broker has the right to open and inspect each package; so does the USPS here before putting them on a plane to wherever; and finally, for probably customs purposes, your local postal system has the right to inspect the packages as well. Goodness knows what the packages will look like upon arrival, but I can assure you they were properly packaged here to protect your books.
Nonetheless, the packages are on the way to Chicago. They’ll arrive by tomorrow. On the weekend, they’ll be inspected by an on-site inspector of the USPS and cleared for shipment. If so cleared, they’ll be dropped into the USPS system at O’Hare airport no later than Monday, and then on the way to the recipients. I expect that for some reason, there will be nit-picking on the paperwork as that’s what the Post Office employees do the best above all else.
Every book was listed as a gift (it truly is) with a value of USD $10. I suspect most will clear customs w/o any issue. I also suspect that packages to places like Spain and the Czech Republic will somehow be delayed a bit and recipients will be charged something; that’s how those 3rd world governments work. Some recipients had me ship to a commercial address and that might raise an eyebrow at respective customs inspection points. To that, I cannot help.
I do indeed hope that by the end of January, each package will have been delivered. I thoroughly investigated many different shipping means and this was really the best. At one point I even considered removing the 7 packages destined for Canada, and driving them across the border myself (only 20 miles from here) and dropping them into Canada Post. There would have not been enough of a savings in order to do that, believe it or not. And, the only thing more difficult than a bulk shipping from here, is crossing our “friendly” border and explaining what all those packages are doing in the back seat…
...which might explain by the way, why Dr. Benz maintains a US shipping address, and Jordan also maintains a US shipping address! It sure makes life a lot easier, as they both know! ;)
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Michael: If Obama had approved the Keystone pipeline, you could have sent the books down the pipe the other way or if the guy in Detroit that refuses to build the new bridge between Canada and the US would do his job (even though Canada offered to put up the $500 MM) maybe shipments would move faster . By the time we get our avocados from California, they are black. No wonder we are buying fruit from Israel and Morroco.
I will wait patiently by the fire for my books and advise you when they arrive.
Best regards
Doug dees :)
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Just finished touring my fresh copy and Mike, you've really out done yourself. Thank's for all your hard work and to all the contributors as well!! It's great to see everyone again and this time in paper form. ;D
Is it too late to add to my story since I've had a job change?
(Kidding!)
This book is a must have for any Pagoda owner!
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Is it too late to add to my story since I've had a job change...
Chan, thank you so much for the kind words, and I am so happy you enjoy it! Now, tell us, who are you flying for now?
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Thank you Michael.
We just returned home from a 3 week vacation in Florida and I was worried about the package arriving while I wasn't home.
I had my mail held and the package along with lots of other mail was held at the post office and it arrived yesterday.
One of my first things to do was to open the box from Michael.
My wife was looking over my shoulder as I opened the book and asked where's my car. Well it's on page 44. There is was!!! ::) Great.
Thanks again. I love it.
Now I have to take some time to read all of the stories.
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Michael,
One word...OUTSTANDING! Your efforts and attention to detail are second to none.
Thank you for taking this on and including me.
Kevin
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Chan, thank you so much for the kind words, and I am so happy you enjoy it! Now, tell us, who are you flying for now?
I know you have a soft spot for aviation Mike, and hopefully I'll see you at Oshkosh one of these times.
I'm flying for Hawaiian Airlines. All the long haul west coast & international stuff and having a blast ;D
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I have verified with the shipping broker, and all packages destined for non-USA addresses were cleared through outbound customs and USPS inspection, and are enroute as of Monday, 1/24. So, my Canadian and overseas friends, within the next 10-14 days I suspect they will start to trickle into Canada, UK, Netherlands, etc. Some might be sooner, and some later depending on destination and local postal services. A short PM or email to me when you get them would be appreciated.
Also, note my posting under WAY OFF TOPIC.
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Again, great job Michael! In hindsight I should have spent more tine with my photos. I'm such a perfectionist ;D
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Michael, what a great job you did! I hope you feel the effort was worth the result. Spectacular!
All the best,
Nick
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Again, great job Michael! In hindsight I should have spent more tine with my photos. I'm such a perfectionist ;D
Michael--nonsense. You have some of the finer photos, and the detail (at least on the ones reproduced larger) was second to none. Come on guys and gals, tell Michael N. Lara how nice his pages looked!
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Michael,
My book arrived (London UK) today. Great packaging and a very impressive work - I've only flicked through the pictures so far (!), looking forward to a good read !
Thank you Sir !!!
Steven.
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To broaden the exposure, the book is listed by me on eBay; and on Amazon. There were 6 reviews on Amazon last time I checked--feel free to add more reviews if you like.
The Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Pagoda-Style-Michael-Salemi/dp/0578013886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328290825&sr=1-1 Note, the Amazon site is ONLY for USA sales.
Here is an eBay link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/310376114247?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1523wt_1413 Thanks for "watching it", folks...though not sure why anybody watches a non-auction item...
Here is the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagoda-Style-The-Book/235522969856493 Go and "like" it.
Both Amazon and eBay charge hefty commissions, so my preference is to sell direct--which has worked well to date. But, I'm sure there are some people who would feel more comfortable with the known intermediary of Amazon or eBay, and I'll respect that. The Amazon ordering was limited to the USA only because they do not allow enough recovery of shipping cost to justify anything but USA. The maximum they'll return to a seller for a book shipping overseas is USD $12, which is less than half of the least costly shipping method. eBay allows a seller to set a shipping price and the eBay listings show actual shipping costs. I'm confident that the original financial plan as laid out to the original contributors will happen as planned for.
The morons at eBay are giving me fits. They used to allow, at seller's choice, (for a small fee, of course) an item to be listed in a second category. Now, you cannot do that! In this case, there are two very appropriate categories: non-fiction books, and eBay Motors where people often search by "Pagoda" or "280SL" or even have permanent searches emailed to them every time something comes listing with certain W113-centric keywords. So, to thwart their non-sensical rules, I had to send the items to auction, since they make a very big deal about listings with multiple items or fixed price. I don't understand and don't really need to: there are two auctions in appropriate categories and anyone who places a bid will earn a book, period. They can keep the fixed price and their rules... Then there is the listing on Ebay France where they did not like the link to the Facebook page or the Amazon page where the reviews are. So I removed the links. Then they didn't like the reference without the links...sacre bleu! WHATEVER!
Of the contracted 500 press run, only 226 225 (Amazon order in!) copies are left. The others have been sold, and a number distributed as comps. For example, the Classic Center in California received one, and would like to order more to sell there. A few went to the Mercedes Museum in Germany, to Paul Bracq; and to the contributing artists as well.
The book has been entered into two competitions, one for independent publishers, and another for automotive media. There is a small review showing up in the coming issue of the MBCA Star magazine.