Pagoda World Book - Volume 1 - WHAT HAPPENS NOW --

[mdsalemi]

Hello--

OK ordering is now closed. We have received an astounding 476 separate book orders from full, associate and non-members alike. Unpaid invoices that have not made other arrangements or otherwise communicated with us this week will be cancelled. Here is what happens from this point on, keeping you all informed.

Orders will be fully tallied this week and the printing order placed with the printer.  Please note that we already have experience with this printer, the quality has been approved and we've run through a prototype process that started late last year. We have full confidence that you too, will be pleased with the final result. The order with the printer was placed this week, and they have what they need to proceed.

Print production will take up to two weeks. We expect to have the books in our possession by mid May. However, this is at the discretion of the printer with their schedule. Maybe they will be early maybe they will be later than the two weeks--but this isn't a time sensitive document so we'll go with what they tell us as an estimate.. The book is in process at the printer now.

The books will be printed in North Carolina, USA.  Project lead Alex Djuric has arranged a team to do all the packing and shipping. We expect all orders to be shipped within 2 weeks after receipt from the printer. USA orders will go first only because they require the least amount of work, and are sent individually; they are not bulk packed or trans-shipped.

Books will be well packaged for transit. Each book will be packed in a custom-made corrugated cardboard "mailer", and then this mailer will be placed in a protective poly bubble pack for shipping.

USA orders will be shipped by Media Mail. This service takes, on average, 5-10 days to arrive depending on your location. Media mail is a low cost service and the most prudent means of shipping domestically.

All Non-USA orders will be trans-shipped. We have arranged with member-partners to assist us in Canada, UK, and Australia. All European orders will be sent in bulk packages to the UK, and dropped in the Royal Mail postal system for further conveyance to UK, Africa, and  the continent. All Canadian orders will be sent in bulk packages to the greater Toronto area and dropped in Canada Post for further dispatch to Canadian destinations. All Australian, New Zealand and Asian orders will be sent to Australia, and dropped in Australia post for further dispatch to these destinations. This is the best and least costly means of shipping to our worldwide members.

We will continue to keep you informed as these steps progress.

The next update to this post will advise you of when we have received the books from the printer.

[neelyrc]

An outstanding effort and a tremendous response.  A big thank you to you, Michael, Alex and other unnamed participants in this project. 

[John Betsch - "SADIE"]

Many thanks for your efforts and courtesy.  Volunteers are never thanked, but somehow always noted if something goes awry.  Never the case with 113.org.  Nothing is ever awry.   Thanks again for such professionalism!

JB

[RAY]

Thank you Michael, Alex and anybody else who had a hand in putting this together and what a great idea in the first place which shows in the amazing amount of orders received.

[mdsalemi]

The first post in this thread contains information about the project and book shipment. PLEASE! With 450+ book orders, yes that's from 450+ people, please be advised that I cannot be answering separate emails for those that don't come to the forums...so please go to that post. The forums were designed to be our primary means of communication so please use them.

I will not be answering personal emails about "where's my book" or "when can I expect delivery"...as there is news to report on the project that first post in this thread will be modified.

Right now the book is at the printer and there will be NO NEWS for two weeks...

[Sati B]

Dear Michael

Unfortunately, I didn't get round to placing an order. However, kindly let me know if there's a surplus book available.

Many thanks

Sati 

[mdsalemi]

As promised, here is an update:

We have received the books from the printer--all 55 boxes of them weighing 1,100 pounds.
We had custom-made protective boxes fabricated for the books; these are only to protect in shipping.
We have received the poly bubble protective mailers from our supplier.
We have received the blank shipping labels from another supplier.
We have assembled a small team of volunteers here to assist in the packing, to occur on June 12.
The domestic (USA) shipments should start going out on June 14
The non-USA shipments should go out the week of June 21. The plan is to ship these in bulk by DHL or other private carrier to a few volunteers in Canada, Australia and UK for eventual drop in the local mail systems for final delivery.

If you have received an invoice for your book and paid for it, all is well. We show no unpaid invoices.

[AndrewB]

Thank you Michael and the team of designers and volunteers

[specracer]

This is one impressive endeavor!

Thanks to all involved!

[mdsalemi]

See below, reply #7

[lreppond]

What an undertaking.  It was certainly a Herculean effort that went into this.  A mere thank you doesn’t seem like enough. 

[Brenco]

Well done to all involved. Impressive effort by  Michael and the team of volunteers. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[goda77]

Agreed. A very monumental task.  Everyone involved is to be commended as all their efforts are greatly appreciated.

Very excited to see the finished product.

Cheers

[mdsalemi]

As per our plans, all of the books have been boxed and packaged. Alex arranged a team of volunteers who all met in the tiny rural town of Moncure North Carolina yesterday.

Approximately 90 of the USA destined books were left at the post office at the end of day yesterday Saturday, June 12.

The balance of the USA orders will go out in the next few days. As they are being shipped by media mail delivery can be anywhere from 3 to 10 days. It all depends on the post office and your local delivery system where you are. Please do not inquire about the delivery because I can’t possibly answer 500 emails and have no information once it leaves. I will report back here as to when the balance of the USA orders have been dropped into the mail.

All the overseas orders will begin to leave next week in the transship operation as previously described.

[Pawel66]

Thank you!

[49er]

 Got a notice from PayPal yesterday that it was on the way (also from the USPS). Something to look forward too and will definitely make my 2 mile RT trek to our community mail box worth while. Thanks again to all that made this happen.

John

[MikeSimon]

Got a notice from PayPal yesterday that it was on the way (also from the USPS). Something to look forward too and will definitely make my 2 mile RT trek to our community mail box worth while. Thanks again to all that made this happen.

John

Same here. All excited!

[mdsalemi]

Yes, that's the way PayPal works. Everyone who ordered a book provided an email address to which we sent the PayPal invoice and in which you paid from that.

Once we create a shipping label (ONLY for USA shipments) in PayPal, you'll get an email from PayPay about the shipment. If you've signed up for the delivery notifications from the USPS you'll get a separate note from them.

Sounds easy enough...but believe it or not there are those whose names don't match the PayPal address which doesn't match the shipping address. I noticed with a couple of labels being prepared yesterday that PayPal altered information on the Invoice to that in their records, not to the information we entered. So, if you are one of those people who borrowed your brother in law's PayPal, or if you have a different address on file with PayPal than you provided to us, not much we can do about it. We are preparing the shipping labels according to the invoice information. PayPal takes over from there. Most are not changed. Of course there are always a few situations that will have to be sorted out with special efforts.

I tracked a couple of those packages today; please don't expect delivery on those shipped yesterday before Monday June 21.

Our plan for the non USA orders is to ship them in bulk to Canada, Australia and UK for further dispatch by a couple of our friendly members here in the respective mail systems of those countries and not rely on the US Mail to at all for these.

[MikeSimon]

My name on my Paypal account is not "Mike Simon" but the address is the same that I have listed here. I use a different e-mail for Paypal.

[mdsalemi]

This is the remaining books that did not get out on Saturday… I expect to have the rest of the USA books out by Thursday latest.

As others have pointed out, you will receive an email directly from PayPal and or the US post office upon shipment. In that email will be the tracking number so you can track this yourself at www.usps.com.

You will note that each book is individually packed regardless of the number of books in the order. If you ordered two or more books, this will be two or more packages strapped together but each one individually wrapped.

[Simon]

Thank you so much for taking on this task. Suspect that demand far exceeded initial expectations, which is great unless you have to do the packing and sending. I’ll look forward to receiving my copy in due course

[250PWC]

Just received mine in the mail today. The book looks great. Many thanks and appreciation to everyone who worked on the project.

[mdsalemi]

You must’ve had the mail Gods  on your side! That’s very fast for media mail delivery.

[Cees Klumper]

Received my Paypal shipping confirmation today. Michael, you deserve a medal for your flawless execution of this major project, along with the volunteers that helped make it happen.

[MikeSimon]

Received the book yesterday. What an outstanding piece of work! Worth every penny and then more! Hats off to all involved.