In addition to my volunteer position as CC>CC publicity director, I'm also the publicity director for Huntington Press, a publisher of gambling books. Some of the titles you may be familiar with (Frugal Gambler, Rats & Men, Whale Hunt, Comp City, Knock-out Blackjack). Been in the book business almost 10 years and in my experiences the author(s) are always the first to get copies. Moreover, the author(s) are always told when books arrive back from the printer. The publisher always knows when they are printed, bound, boxed and shipped. That's why they are the publisher. It doesn't make any sense not to keep the author(s) in the loop. Unless of course............James e-mailed me a few weeks ago (I should have done a cut and paste of his e-mail) and he said books won't be back from the printer till mid-summer. Now that's kinda strange. Can't understand why the salesperson would be giving retailers a different date than the author. Unless of course........Like many of us, I'm looking forward to the new book, new values, color photos of the chips, different jurisdications other than Nevada. Just can't figure out why the publisher would keep the author(s) out of the loop. Maybe retailers are going to get the books first.