'Military Interference' hardcovers are temporarily out of stock

The last remaining hardcover copy of Military Interference With the Election in Delaware, 1862, was purchased yesterday. There are still a few paperbacks in stock, and I'm expecting another box of freshly printed paperbacks to arrive next week.

Rather than remove the hardcover option from the online store, I will continue to accept preorders, and will fulfill them as soon as more hardcovers arrive. Please be aware that this might not be until February. Printer/distributor IngramSpark is still reporting an estimated print time of six weeks for hardcovers, although the last batch I ordered only took three weeks. Either way, the delay is highly unusual, and probably related to Covid-19 restrictions. Shipping is also taking a bit longer than usual.

Hardcovers and paperbacks are also available via major online retailers like Bookshop.org, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, but orders placed through their sites will be affected by the same printing delays.

- Chris Slavens

'Military Interference' books have been printed

The first run of Military Interference was printed yesterday, and should ship today or tomorrow. Between shipping delays and multiple holidays, I'm still expecting to fulfill the preorders in early to mid-January.

Several people have asked me about the best way to buy the book. At this point, most of the first run has already been preordered via baldcypressbooks.com. I'm down to 3 paperbacks and 1 hardcover. There will be a second run, but I'm not sure how long it will take to print. However, on January 1st, the book will go on sale on sites like Bookshop.org and BN.com. Copies ordered from online retailers will come directly from the printer/distributor, and might arrive a little sooner. Out of all of the online retailers, I recommend Bookshop, which is friendly to local bookstores. They have an interesting business model which you can read about on their site.

It's doubtful that you'll find this book in a local bookstore, because I wasn't able to offer an industry-standard discount for booksellers without jacking the list price even higher. The online retailers don't care, because they don't have to stock copies, but a brick-and-mortar store is going to be very reluctant to invest in books that they'll hardly make anything on. I think they'd make a couple of dollars on a hardcover, and a couple more on a paperback. So that's probably not going to happen, just because of the size of this book (484 pages) and the cost to print it.

Thanks again to those who submitted preorders. Your books physically exist!

- Chris Slavens

Unexpected production delay affects 'Military Interference' release

Although I started accepting preorders for the forthcoming reprint Military Interference With the Election in Delaware, 1862 on December 1st, in an unfortunate coincidence, on the same day, my printer/distributor increased the estimated printing time for hardcovers to 30 business days, citing increased demand during the holidays. That might be true, although I suspect that Covid-19 restrictions might be a factor, too. Consequently, I've disabled the option to preorder the hardcover edition, for now. I have ordered hardcover copies for those who already placed preorders, and am hoping they'll arrive sooner rather than later. Thirty business days will carry us well into January, which is disappointing. I can only apologize for the inconvenience, and promise to fulfill the handful of preorders of hardcovers as soon as I receive the books.

The estimated printing time for paperbacks -- 10 business days -- is much more reasonable, so I've continued to accept preorders for paperbacks. At this point, it isn't clear whether those I've already ordered will arrive in time for delivery before Christmas Day, so I wouldn't suggest preordering a copy to give as a gift.

In addition to accepting preorders on this site, I've allowed other retailers -- like Barnes & Noble -- to take preorders until January 1st, after which the book will be officially available. In another disappointing development, it appears that Amazon isn't going to carry the book, since it is a reprint and I have not added enough original content (i.e., illustrations, notes, etc.) to qualify. A preorder placed through Barnes & Noble will still be subject to the extended printing times mentioned above.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience caused by this unexpected delay.

- Chris