Scoop and Gemstone Release Dates

[ramapith@mail.dk]

	Hi Derek,

> This is a sort of observation/complaint/question post. I'm sure 
> probably a few of you check out Scoop, Gemstone's online comics 
> newsletter. Query: Why can't they ever get the release dates right 
> for Gemstone Disney comics?
	[examples snipped]

	"They" is often me, as I write many of the Disney comics Scoop articles.
	From the time I started contributing (on a freelance basis last summer) up until just a week ago, I announced release dates based on the following two assumptions:
	1) That a Gemstone Disney comic typically arrives in comic shops one week after our distribution center ships it out
	2) That the shipping schedule I had on hand was accurate

	But starting about one and a half months ago, the following two factors arose without my knowledge:
	1) Gemstone Disney comics often began to take two weeks or even three weeks -- rather than one week -- to make it to shops after being shipped out. (For better or worse, this is an incident we can't predict from where we stand in the editorial office.)
	2) My shipping schedule was superseded by an updated schedule, and some shipping dates themselves were changed

	Together, these two factors meant that the dates I was announcing for individual comics' arrival in shops have lately been incorrect. Sadly, it took me longer than I would have liked to catch onto the problem, because at first we believed the aberrations to be the fault of deliveries having slowed up around holiday time. 
	Now that I'm on top of the matter, you won't see us announcing release dates at all in Scoop, because they're too hard to predict. Starting with US 338, we'll only be announcing each book's shipping date, and you can assume that you'll usually see the comic in shop within two weeks of that date. Whether it's actually only one week (or occasionally, three) will vary with the book.

> But then...
>
> http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=7408&si=121
>
> US 338 being released on January 19th.

	No, look closer and you'll see that we're announcing that it's SHIPPING January 19th, not being RELEASED on that date.

>  I can't wait for Friday's article previewing WDC saying it'll be 
> released next week (January 26th).

	We can't say for sure. It's shipping January 19th, like US 338. 

> I just don't see how they can be so consistently wrong about 
> release dates from their own company.

	We weren't CONSISTENTLY wrong until rather recently. I'm on top of the matter and you shouldn't see it again.

	Best, David