Author: John Fleskes

I was reading a news article last night regarding the ongoing shipping issues that are creating challenges for many businesses, manufacturers and retail stores. I’d like to share with you all how this is impacting us here at Flesk.

What I found interesting was seeing how certain publishers had decided to push their 2021 fall titles to the spring of 2022. This was a decision that I had made months ago. Here’s why.

The average book shipments are taking 90 days and the pricing is up 500% compared to pre-pandemic pricing. To give you an example of what this translates to for a business like mine is that it can take 5 months for us to get a book printed and delivered to us (instead of less than 3 months), and my average shipment costs are hovering at around $10,000 instead of $2,000. I’ve paid over $30,000 in extra charges this year alone due to the rise in shipping costs. On top of this, paper costs are also up about 30% this year that has raised the printer bills by thousands of dollars.

I saw all of this coming early this year and prepared for it as best I could, but that doesn’t mean by any standards that this situation is fun to go through. What I realize is that a lot of businesses, stores and manufacturers will be heavily challenged by these rising costs and delays until the spring of 2022, if not longer. It’s been increasingly difficult to make release date announcements when we are unsure of when the books will actually arrive with us.

What are we doing about all of this? The port congestion and shipping prices are all out of our control. So, we focus on what we do best. We make books and will have quite a bit of exciting new titles to announce next year. I am hoping things have calmed down by then!

What can you do to help? We have been amazed at how many people have pre-ordered our Flesk books and who have been incredibly patient. This has saved us this year. We have not had one angry email or phone call all year. It’s really been wonderful. We have the nicest most understanding supporters. If you don’t mind continuing to pre-order books, even when they may be a few months late, we would appreciate it.

To all of you, I am grateful.

Thank you all!

–John

Flesk Publications
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Text and photos copyright © 2020 John Fleskes. Videos © 2021 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2020 its respective artists. All rights reserved.

Over the last few months I have emailed five artists who I have never met or seen in person to inquire about the possibility of working with them on an art book collection. None of them replied.

In contrast, I emailed two artists earlier this year who I had met in person at events in the past. Both of them replied the same day with a positive note expressing their enthusiasm to work together.

This was a good experiment to run. In the past we would almost always meet someone in person before extending an invitation to create an art book of their work. Ever since the comic and art events came to a halt in March 2020, we haven’t had the opportunity to walk the shows and meet new people. While events are starting to reopen now, I suspect it will be a long while before everyone is fully comfortable going to them to take advantage of networking opportunities.

Meeting people in person still continues to be the best way for us to build new relationships as we focus on younger and emerging artists, as well as artists who have been in the industry for decades. We have no shortage of books to make, but I am eager to invite a few new people to our publishing company. Books can take a few years to make, so contacting people now for our 2023-2024 release schedule is something that I am looking into.

I know there are online opportunities to get your name out there and to build your reputation. But for how my brain works, I believe there is no better way to make new connections than to do it in person.

Enjoy,

–John

Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Flesk Publications on Instagram

Text and photos copyright © 2020 John Fleskes. Videos © 2021 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2020 its respective artists. All rights reserved.