How long does a new print run take?

[catsclaw227]

Question for those of you in the publishing business, or for WOTC if they are listening:

When a company says "we have ordered a new print run" what does this mean in terms of milestones:

1. How long does it take to actually print?
2. How long does shipping take?
3. How long to get it into the typical distribution channel?
4. How long to get into Amazon's warehouse for meeting existing fulfillment needs?

What does this timeline typically look like?

 

[Imperialus]

It really varies.

1. Depends on where it's printed. The core books are printed in the USA which should speed things up significantly.

2. Again, US printing speeds things immensely.

3. I'm not sure about 'typical' but working at Chapters in Canada it took between 4 days and a week for stuff to get from the warehouse to the stores.

4. No idea, sorry.

If I were to guess, I'd say two weeks if everything lines up perfectly, stuff like the printer having all his ducks in a row, no hiccups in the distribution system and everything else goes smoothly. At a max, I'd say a month. Just be glad it's printed in North America. I remember a few years back there was some book on Oprah that was printed in India and it took almost 2 months for the shipping cycle to catch up with the demand.

 

[defendi]

As a general rule, I'd expect about six weeks if the printer is local, more like two and a half to three months if they are Chinese, and other printers would fall somewhere in between. Maybe shave a week or two if there are no changes in the book.

 

[mcrow]

Yeah, about six weeks before they hit the shelves.

 

[JVisgaitis]

When we printed Denizens of Avadnu, we had that done in Thailand and it took 6 weeks until it was in the warehouse and then maybe a week or two to ship to gaming stores. I'd say for books done by Wizards in the US they'll be in stores in about 3 to 4 weeks tops.