My book is selling from Amazon and B&N

At last, my book “Applied Microsoft Analysis Services 2005” is available for purchase from the retail outlets, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This completes the arduous and time-consuming book lifecycle which readers are probably unaware of. Here is how it goes… Once the author hands off the final manuscript to the publisher, the publisher sends the electronic copy to the printer. In the case of my book, it took one month for the printer to produce the book. Next, the printer ships the book to the distributor. Then, the distributor sends the books to the wholesalers (Ingram and Baker & Taylor). 

Retailers, such as Amazon and B&N, get the books from the wholesalers. So, from the time the book is received from the distributor, it takes another 30 or so days until the books fill the channels. So, setting the book publication date on Amazon is nothing more than an educated guess about events that are completely out of the publisher’s control. This is only half of the story, of course. If the retailers don’t sell the book in six months, the retailers return the books to the distributor and the book is re-stocked. But this won’t happen to my book, right? 🙂