Teraport Wars Pre-Orders are Open!
Posted September 2nd, 2008 by Howard Tayler
Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars is now available for pre-order. This book fits between The Tub of Happiness and Under New Management, and with it you can now own the first 1000 strips in a complete print collection.
The book is $25.00, plus shipping and handling. If you want a numbered customer choice sketch edition it’s $35.00+s&h, but those are only available until 8:00am on Friday (GMT-7).
This 228-page volume is in full color on glossy paper, and contains all the strips and footnotes from November 12th of 2001 through March 8th of 2003. It also features some new footnotes, commentary, guest art, eleven pages of all-new bonus story, and an introduction by Brandon Sanderson.
Customers pre-ordering the book will be treated to a page full of desktop wallpapers featuring the full, wrap-around cover art at multiple resolutions and aspect ratios.
Sketch editions will only be available through Friday morning at 8:00am Mountain time, or until we’ve sold 1,000 of them… whichever comes SECOND. Over 150 have already been spoken for by Comic-Con and WorldCon attendees, so don’t delay! (UPDATE! We up to 450, and it’s still Tuesday. If you want one, order it now!) If past experience is any indicator, we’ll probably end up selling around 1100 of these by Friday morning, and then they’re gone. (In the unlikely event that we don’t hit 1,000 by Friday, we’ll keep the item available until we do.)
We expect to take delivery of 5,000 books around September 25th, at which point I’ll start signing and sketching. We plan to start shipping books out on October 9th, which gives me two full weeks to finish up those sketches (resting my hand a bit more than I have in the past.)
In the exceedingly unlikely event that you folks buy more than 5,000 books during the pre-order period, there will be a slight shipping delay as we throw more money at our printer and demand a second run. Know, however, that this is just the sort of problem I’d love to have.
And now, the FAQ:
Q: Can I buy other stuff from the store, and have you ship it all at once?
A: Absolutely. We have the popular warning-sign magnets back in stock, as well as mousemats, Tagon logo pins, Rule 37 shirts, and Rule 1 shirts. If there are impressionable children in your life, grab a copy of Hold On To Your Horses, the children’s book by Sandra Tayler and illustrated by Angela Call.
Q: Where do you ship?
A: Everywhere.
Q: What does the desktop background look like?
A: This.
Q: What if my order gets damaged, or I’m just not happy with it?
A: We’ll make it right at no additional expense to you. Ask anybody who has shopped with us before — if your book is damaged, or you’re otherwise displeased with your purchase, we’ll fix it. Usually it means sending out a replacement. We’ve upgraded our shipping materials so that there are fewer damaged packages, but it still happens.
Q: I don’t like credit cards or Paypal. Can I pay with a cheque?
A: It’s slower, but yes. The instructions for that are on the store.
Q: I’ve got a question that is not on this list. Why can’t you read my mind?
A: I actually can read your mind. I ran out of steam typing the list in. Email schlockmercenary@gmail.com with your question and we’ll answer it for you.
Explore posts in the same categories: Books, Merchandise
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:04 am
order in. did i make #1? ;)
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:07 am
If your order number was 6366 then yes, you’re first.
(Since the email address associated with that order has “spockhelp” in it, I’m going to go out on a limb and congratulate you.)
Congratulations!
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:41 am
yay! :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Of course the VERY first pre-order was made at Comic-Con. This is the rain for your parade…
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
I’m moderately ashamed that I wasn’t ordering within moments of these being opened…
Darn work…
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
I think a suppressed part of my brain protested paying $22.25 for s&h.
But I also think the total price is more than acceptable for what I am going to receive. So I’ll just try and make it shut up.
Looking forward to receiving it :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:20 am
Mine are ordered!
Congratulations on another book Howard!
Rock on!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:26 am
Ordered mine, too. Although seriously, international S&H is a tad high, IMHO (almost 100% markup for the cheapest and >400% for the fastest).
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 am
Yeah, a part of my brain protested. But I still thought the total price was good enough to be worth it, considering what I am going to receive for it :)
Still, it may scare some people off.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:42 am
YAY! Gotta love keeping up with the Schlock books. :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
Damn - ordered another one for a friend. Now he tells me … :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:59 am
Joerg - Email schlockmercenary@gmail.com, and we can combine your orders and save you on the shipping.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am
This email you speak of - should it be sent before or after ordering? And if it’s after, do we have to have the money for the higher price to make the order? Because I can’t afford that.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 am
There are about 750 sketch editions left as of this writing (assuming we stop at 1,000.)
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 am
International shipping is high, but those are our actual costs for mailing books over seas. I keep trying to sweet talk the post office into sending our stuff for free, but so far it hasn’t worked.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Maybe if you brought the sock-doll zombie with you, it’s cuteness would overwhelm them and they would capitulate…
…
I’ll be running away now…
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
We used to ship books in the Worldwide Priority Mail envelopes, but we found that a good percentage of them got badly damaged in the mail — and that was with the lighter books. The heavier books don’t stand a chance in those envelopes, and there’s no good way to reinforce them.
The good news is that the dollar is still weak against the Euro… international shipping is a bargain, as long as the package originates in the United States.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Well, just placed my order. If the first order was #6366, and order numbers go up one digit at a time, then you’ve had 213 orders so far this morning.
I think we can do better…
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I suspect it’s because people check the site in the evenings/EARLY mornings, so I think that by tomorrow this time we’ll have a significant increase.
We durn well better…
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Just ordered mine. Between you and Baen Books - I might as well give you guys all my spare cash.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Yeah about the shipping - sure the dollar is weak but it still hurts to pay almost double :) I guess volume shipping (like amazon or other big retailers) does make a difference.
Still I’m just bitching - I still hardly blinked an eye before ordering … what does that make me? :P
Mail is away - thanks.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hmm. Well I should of waited. Since in Book 1 (released 3rd) I was 997 of 1234. I wanted to get 997 of the new book too.
But math tells me I am around 500. 293 from order 6366 but however many comiccon books sold too.
But maybe that is a good thing since the last time I pre-ordered a book I was laid off from my job shortly after (and almost the rest of the company too) Wonder if there is a link between. I forget which rule applies here….
Oh and keep us updated when you are sending. Probably can just pick it up at Dragons Keep so you can keep the shipping. Since new job is in Provo and I sometimes drive past the Keep when out looking for food. Lon’s is the best!
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I didnt do too Badly for a UK. 4664. Of course we dion’t know how many of those are SKetched Editions (SKE) and how many are Multi SKE’s
Want to bet that 4665 is a centipied SKEr?
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
@SirTomster: The sketch editions are not numbered in the order they’re received. I sometimes do something special for the very first pre-order on the web, but low numbers go whithersoever they will. As do high numbers.
In short, you could still end up with number 997, but the odds are still about 1000:1 against.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Aw man, no Discover Card or Amex this time around? I was all set to order, but problems with the Visa.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Both those cards should work via PayPal.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I just realized that shipping starts October 9th.
My 23rd birthday is October 12th.
Woohoo!
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I’m in order 411 so with some luck you’ll cross the 500 threshold by Wednesday morning. Do you expect an even sketch/no sketch ordering or something like 60% sketch 40% no sketch? Because I would think that the truly fans are also the firsts to order.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I know its up to you my good sir, but I would like to see if you can do it, I asked for Schlock for my sketch and I hope he is sitting/standing with Plasgun in hand with ominous hum “Step away from the Tub Of Happiness”, or just ominous hum is good, I like ominous hum… hummmmmmmmmmm, sorry very tired. oh darn forgot to add the fridge magnets.. maybe I can email you to add that to the order?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
It depends a lot on who you choose for your sketch subject. I tend to pick less popular subjects so I’ve wound up with two books among the last 75 of their respective series.
Sadly, I don’t know a trick to get a low number. . .
Power whining?
Bribes might help too.
Better yet, pick a subject you like and enjoy the number you get. Whatever it ends up being, it’ll be (a unique) one in (at least) a thousand.
D.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
“The good news is that the dollar is still weak against the Euro… international shipping is a bargain, as long as the package originates in the United States.”
If TW had been available a month ago, I’d be paying almost 1:1. But since then, the Aussie has slipped almost 15c to the US$. Even with shipping, Schlock is still a bargain.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 am
Ordered mine… yay!
Even though shipping is rather expensive to good old Europe, the shiny new Euro should make up for that ;-)
Cheers,
-Bone
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:43 am
Order #6837, woohoo! :)
I remember that shipping costs to Israel for The Tub of Happiness were $12. Have things really gotten that much more expensive?
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:44 am
Ah, and my order number is 6828; so looks like quite a lot of SKE`s already were sold… Congrats, Howard!
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:20 am
How long before it´s too late to cancel an order?
(meant to buy a sketch edition, accidently bought a regular edition….)
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:03 am
Oh, you think you guys have got it bad! We ordered the wrong *&%$^ book!
(Howard, got our begging email to cancel my dupe Tub of happiness book yet? :( viking email address, not the one on this blog profile.)
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:21 am
@worldminder: It’s not too late until it has shipped. Email schlockmercenary@gmail.com with your order number and we can fix it for you.
@cartoon-gal: Dunno yet. Sandra checks that mailbox, and is still working on getting the kids off to school. She probably has a short stack of similar issues to field — my guess is you’ll hear from her within two hours of this comment going live.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 am
@eyal.lin: Postal rates went up across the board AND we stopped using the flimsy flat-rate mailing envelopes. Too many books got destroyed that way. Yes, those were $12.00 envelopes, but books never arrived in good condition. Now we use boxes exclusively, and it costs a lot more.
We’ve been working all year to get carried by a proper distributor, so that our materials can be transshipped to stores nation- and world-wide, but as a tiny, new publisher it’s hard to get the time of day from them, much less a contract. The solution, obviously, is for us to sell a lot more books so that we show up on Ingram’s radar. But that’s *a lot* more books…
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:13 am
Howard is quite right. The flimsy flat rate envelopes are fine for things that are not wanted in pristine condition. I’ve used them for other items that I was not too worried about. I find that the boxes work for me and I’m glad of them. It’s the old story you get what you pay for!
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 am
hmm - only characters are allowed as selections? I was hoping to continue my selection of destroyed spaceships. So far I’ve got a book with a excellent sketch of the PDCL. Hmmm, I may have to bow to the artist’s pressure and list. Fortunately I still have two books that need sketches - perhaps I shall request a Kitesfear in one, and I’m not sure what will be in the other. For now I need to focus on which artist selected character to choose for my first signed and numbered preorder!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
Order #6681.
[in best Snidely voice, twirling mustache]
Nyah, ah, ah!
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
For shipping to Australia, there’s four options, and no information about those options except name and price. Is there any reason not to pick the cheapest? (I’m ordering a book and a set of fridge magnets.) It’s weird that the cheapest option is the one with “First-Class” in its name.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Sam:
The different methods have different forms for me to fill out and different allowable weights. The boxes I use are the same, no matter which shipping method is used. The more expensive “Priority Mail” options include insurance and tracking in the price. The majority of our over seas shipping goes out “First Class” and has arrived without incident.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Sam: I’m in Regional Australia, and have received all the books without the slightest bit of damage. We haven’t had a ‘FedEx’ option before though, I don’t think.
Anyway. My problem now is that Paypal is down for, according to them, 12 more hours. Handy for me wanting to pay!
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Well, just for the record, I’m not getting an answer to my increasingly desperate requests for cancellation by email and the order still shows as current in the system.
Order #6364 (Yes, I did just click on the first book when I hit the store. I don’t know when 8am mountain time is!?!)
I’m assuming a spam filter issue, so I just sent a followup from a different email address.
:(
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
So being that my order is no 7018, that means there’s only been 652 orders! However, I guess that’s NOT counting multiples (eg, I ordered two artists-choice) so it might be getting close to 1000… But I think it’s a bit slack! Get into it, Schlock fans!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
@cartoon-gal: Congratulations! You get a free Tub of Happiness. Sandra didn’t get your email, and since your order didn’t contain any pre-order items it went out in the post this morning.
Find a good home for that book, buy a copy of Teraport Wars, and we’ll call it even. :-)
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Cartoon-gal:
I just sent you an email with details. Your emails were getting caught in our spam trap. We’ve refunded the money for the TOH, so you should be good to go for ordering a sketch edition.
Now I’m off to fish through the rest of the spam trap and make sure no one else is caught there. I’m very sorry.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I got number #6969, which I’m sure has some deeper meaning, but since this is a family friendly site, I won’t comment on anything that came to mind….
Now I can’t remember if I asked for Schlock or Petey….
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Q: Where do you ship?
A: Everywhere.
Do they read Schlock on the ISS yet?
(I can see it now — “They would have to pay for the shipping, but that’s just the kind of problem I would love to have“)
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Thanks guys! Teraport order placed
I don’t know what I’ll do with a second TOH - convert a non-believer, I guess :)
Anyway, I think the best thing is to fix the cancel button - while there is mention of it, I could not find it no matter where I looked. Either get it implemented, or *cough* make it more obvious. :)
Thanks again!
September 4th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Woohoow, still in time for a pre-order :-)
Number 7073 here. So that means already more than 700 orders.
Also bought the book from Sandra (long overdue) and the magnets (the shipping is too high to buy just one thing ;-))
I hope the book from Sandra is still a signed edition ? Not that my kid would notice, but the dad should also have his little pleasures.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Cartoon-gal:
We’re taking up the cancel button issue with the provider for our store software. You aren’t the only one who had trouble.
Fatum:
All books ordered through our store are signed. That includes Hold on to Your Horses.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am
And a lovely signature it is, too…
September 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
fatum, are you ever in for a treat. I’ve never even been married; all my nieces and nephews are of driving age and above now; I personally know nobody whose kids are young enough for this thing — and yet I bought the book. What a joy it is, too! Well worth the moolah and the time invested in lollygagging through it. Immediately placed on the coffee table with the WWII aircraft books and the Schlock collections.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Cartoon-gal:
Here are the US Time Zones:
AST (Atlantic Standard Time): UTC-4
ADT (Atlantic Daylight Time): UTC-3
EST (Eastern Standard Time): UTC-5
EDT (Eastern Daylight Time): UTC-4
CST (Central Standard Time): UTC-6
CDT (Central Daylight Time): UTC-5
MST (Mountain Standard Time): UTC-7
MDT (Mountain Daylight Time): UTC-6
PST (Pacific Standard Time): UTC-8
PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) UTC-7
UTC is effetively the same as Greenwich Mean Time.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Benja: The ISS… *Sigh* It’s 2008. We were supposed to have cities on the moon by now.
swj719: Hmm… Judging by the three examples (which is so not a representative sample) of Sandra’s signature I have so far, it was lovelier last year than the year before.
richv: AST/ADT are U.S. time zones? Okay, AST is – it’s used in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But neither of those has DST, so ADT is not a U.S. time zone. And if you include them in your list, then you really should also include:
HAST (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time): UTC-10
HADT (Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time)*: UTC-9
AKST (Alaska Standard Time): UTC-9
AKDT (Alaska Daylight Time): UTC-8
And possibly even:
ChST (Chamorro Standard Time)**: UTC+10
WAKT (Wake Island Time): UTC+12
*Since Hawaii doesn’t use daylight saving, HADT is only used in the western Aleutians. But Hawaii’s still in the name.
**Used in Guam and the Northern Marianas. Identical to AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Yay!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Oh, and there’s also:
SST (Samoa Standard Time): UTC-11, used in American Samoa and the Midway Islands.
The only land in the unnamed UTC-12 time zone is Baker Island and Howland Island, which are both U.S. territory, but currently uninhabited. So the time on them is the same as the time on Wake Island, only the previous day.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Wot? In before the lock! Order posted at 14:58 GMT :P
Hope i managed to choose the right skecthes..
September 6th, 2008 at 6:04 am
whee … #7077 with an “artist’s choice”
eventually I’ll get the other books (have TOH and now Teraport Wars).
September 7th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I got mine in not a moment too soon, I woke up at 10am est Friday, said ‘oh $^#@’ and jumped online. This time it’s a Tagon to go with my Legs, Schlock and Breya. Just remember to sign the book this time, Mister Tayler. My last one is sketched, but not signed. For all I know, it could be a fake! =P
September 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I got in on time for this one, and I even got lucky with ‘The Blackness Between’ - I got one of the recent sketch editions from Ebay (The very one, in fact, that was shown in the auction, with a sketch of Breya!)
September 10th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
and, my duplicate Tub Of Happiness just arrived.
Condition: absolutely perfect.
I can vouch that Howard and Sandra’s current shipping methods are A1 and 7 days for overseas delivery is top notch too (I took the cheapest option).
(I agree the cardboard is a great improvement over the mailers.)
I don’t think you are going to have any need to send replacements for Teraport Wars :)