Consider this a PSA from your friendly local bookstore. We want to let you know about potential supply issues as we head towards the Holiday shopping season. There is a real concern in the industry about the availability of some popular titles that folks will be looking for in November and December. There’s a perfect storm brewing due to a number of factors that are about to converge this season:
 

• Ongoing paper shortages
  • A severe lack of printing capacity in the USA
  • A huge number of titles were pushed from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter release dates. This will put even more pressure on printing facilities
  • Longer ship times for books printed overseas
  • Social distancing regulations in production/fulfillment facilities mean fewer workers and longer processing times.

It’s early November and we're already seeing longer times for reprints. Books go out of stock all the time but instead of getting a restock in 10 days, it now sometimes takes 2-3 weeks or more. So, big picture, what does all of this mean for you? When we’re talking about buying books as gifts this year, two words come to mind:  SHOP EARLY! 
 

It’s not outrageous to say I’d start now. If there’s a forthcoming title you’re looking forward to, go ahead and place a pre-order with us. I suspect many popular books across the spectrum will go out of stock by late Nov. or early Dec. and will not be available again until January. We’d hate for you to be disappointed, so please start thinking about it sooner rather than later. And hey, it’s 2020. Would you expect anything different