good news, great news, bad news

The good news is the hard covers were just dropped off.

The great news is that they look beautiful, feel great, and are exactly the way I wanted them to be.

The bad news is that I can’t sell them, because PayPal still hasn’t been able to hep me solve the item number problem when I try to ship multiple orders.

I feel helpless and frustrated, at a time when I should be celebrating.

Hopefully, I’ll find a way to resolve this before the end of the weekend.

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58 thoughts on “good news, great news, bad news”

  3. Yay! They’ve arrived! Time for a congratulatory Guinness? (It’s congratulatory and will ease the pain of Teh PayPal Woes.)
    In any case, congrats!
    *Prepares to keep an eye out for the “You can order it now!” post while trying to be nonchalant.*
    Cheers!

  4. Don’t worry Wil, some of us are waiting patiently. If you want, just send me your address & I’ll stop by and pick up my copy when I’m in LA next month. I know that, as a woman, I’m not supposed to volunteer to go to the houses of random guys from the net, but I’d be willing to take the risk so as to spare you from the whole PayPal/shipping debacle. 😉

  5. Wil,
    It’s Myra from the old Theatresports days. Lemme know when the Paypal is working. I’d like to buy a book for my hubby as a Christmas present. Scott, if you’re reading this, this is definitely not your wife. I am another Myra Martino. No relation but just as hot.

  6. Wil,
    It’s Myra from the old Theatresports days. Let us know when the Paypal is working. I’d like to buy a book for my hubby as a Christmas present. Scott, if you’re reading this, this is definitely not your wife. I am another Myra Martino. No relation but just as hot.

  7. Wil,
    It’s Myra from the old Theatresports days. Let us know when the Paypal is working. I’d like to buy a book for my hubby as a Christmas present. Scott, if you’re reading this, this is definitely not your wife. I am another Myra Martino. No relation but just as hot.

  9. Good luck Sir William Wheaton. In the past, Paypal has been a royal pain in my ___. Being a web developer I share your pain; remember, you are not alone. I wish you luck. I await my chance to click on your “pay me” buttons. awesome. no…hawesome.

  11. Perhaps to can setup a gmail addy so people can tell you what they are ordering and you can invoice them. Probably not feasible, but it’s a thought.

  12. I am dying to get my hands on a signed copy of the book. I purposely waited and didn’t by the paperback so I could get the spiffy one. I’ll keep waiting, I’m sure this is harder on you than it is on any of us. Good luck with your Paypal endeavors.

  13. I think PainPal just likes to make everyone else’s lives a little bit harder.
    They used to be a convenient service. But I think, as your experience is showing, their performance is starting to slip.

  14. Chin up mate. I just got my copy of the softcover, and so far I’m loving it. I was quoting the butterfly chapter to people during lunch. Plus, this is prime time to be a gamer, so let it go and fire up one of the 50 fab new games out right now. May I recommend Portal?
    Julian Murdoch
    rabbitatsignrabbitcavedotcom

  16. Oh yeah, send you a check? Perhaps just walk to your door with cash in hand. LOL 🙂
    Perhaps the best thing to do would be to set up a little wooden stand in front of your house, like a lemonade stand. Except you’d be sitting there and selling your book…
    …and lemonade.
    There’s no school like the old school.

  18. I’m with starshine as usual. I can wait, but I don’t want to. Oh, and if I miss my chance to get one of these, I’ll cry. Really. Do you have any idea how pathetic it is to see a fully grown fat man cry? Don’t make me cry Wil. Please.

  19. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve not being able to wait to open presents. I hope I don’t miss the big announcement of the hard cover sale!

  21. Oooh! I can’t wait to be a Canadian pain-in-the-ass again and order the autographed hardcover of this book – it will look really nice on the shelf with the paperback version (eventually!!).
    It is awfully weird about the item number issue with Paypal… I mean, has no one else ever tried to do this? Such rubbish from them…
    Here’s hoping the problem is solved soon and your headache goes away.
    xo

  22. Guess I am just a simpleton, but is there not a way to make a slightly different product code (item number) and title that would simply indicate the hard cover with it?
    Happiest Days … (hard cover)
    If this fix works, feel free to send me a book 😉

  23. Congratulations, Wil! A book is a beautiful thing–especially, when you’ve written it. Unfortunately, the business of publishing can be “challenging” to put it politely. I think Marx or Lenin put it best when he said, “Capitalism sucks.” So, persevere, Comrade Wheaton! PayPal will fall under the great and glorious revolution of the proletariat—eventually. Maybe. Well…nevermind.

  25. Sometimes you must take the bad with the good. It is unseemly, sir, to behave petulantly or expect the world to operate on your tems when you are otherwise so fortunate. You are, after all, doing what you love to do. Not everyone has that luxury.

  26. Maybe I have missed something in this Wil, but all you should need to do is create another item button in the paypal merchant centre.

  28. yes please figure it out soon
    cause i so so so so want one
    *sob sob*
    thats all i asked santa for for xmas
    ok not true
    but i do REALLY want one
    😀

  30. Happy news on the hard cover and not so happy news with paypal. What challenges you face. I have faith in you that you will just step up to the base and show them who is the boss and things will all fall into place. Once you do that then we can all order the wonderful hard cover we have all so patiently be waiting for. It should be simple to paypal to just have one product code for paperback and a different one for the beautiful hard back. Perhaps add a letter to the product number that signifies the paperback and a different one for the hard cover. What have they done for other customers who have done the same thing? Just ask them what has been previously done for others or ask them for suggestions on how to handle/fix this situation. It can’t be that hard for them to give you a wonderful answer and get all things in order ready status. Hopefully soon you will be singing “happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy…”
    Best of luck on this challenge. Go get’em Wil!

  31. crotchety: Just because Wil has had good fortune doesn’t mean he can’t vent his frustration when things don’t go well. Wil has every right to be annoyed when things do not work the way he expects, and he has every right to express that annoyance. What is unseemly is trying to tell someone that he doesn’t have the right to feel the way he does. Everyone has a right to their feelings.
    buildersent: Do you have any constructive criticism to offer, or are you having too much fun taking potshots from the sidelines?

  33. Wil,
    Just received my copy of The Happiest Days of Our Lives. I always read the acknowledgments first (don’t ask me why) and noticed you did not mention Mrs. Westerholm as you did in Just a Geek. She is much more important than Mrs. Lee. I would let Mrs. Lee just fade away into oblivion.
    Friends always,
    Freeman 🙂

  34. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m kind of glad you’re having trouble with PayPal. I stopped using them a couple of years ago due to similar problems, but ironically I rejoined PayPal again last week just so I could buy your book, (yes, I am that excited about it). And now you’re ranting about how much PayPal sucks. I love it.

  35. Hrm…I was about to say something along the lines that those of us die-hardish (hardish? umm…) types that really want the hardcover arent going anywhere.
    Then I realized that Ill be out of the house and away from the internets for most of Saturday and Sunday.
    So, while I really, really hope that paypal gets its ass in gear for you, will I be dodging to many rotten tomatoes (among other things) by you and other readers if I hope its not til Monday?

  37. PayPal support is lame. I attempted to plug in a simple ‘Donate’ button on my art blog and it simply wouldn’t work with WordPress regardless of PayPals self-proclaimed ease of use step by step process.
    I must have sent 3-4 support requests and never once got a response.

  39. SandieK I agree completely. Even though it seems like there’s an overwhelming surge of people who want to know when we can order the book and when it can be shipped to [insert country here] and that can seem overwhelming and even a bit demanding… we’ll still be here. I can’t imagine that anyone who really wants a book wouldn’t be happy waiting another few days or weeks until Wil can get everything figured out. Most of us realize that it’s hard to do this all by oneself (with the help of family and friends, of course) and that it’ll take some time. Especially when things aren’t going as planned.
    Glad to see you went out for beers, Wil. Don’t let this stress you out. We can wait for the book.
    P.S. Yes, but don’t solve it this weekend. *wink* I normally check in during the week and so might miss it this weekend. (Kidding! Kind of… :))
    Best,

  40. Andrew,
    Yes I have constructive criticism, find a real business solution. That is not meant as a smackdown or slam at Will. At some point if you are going to be in business, you have to be serious. Printing shipping labels via paypal (which is fine), will have limitations.
    Will comes across as a person of integrity with his family, quality guy, a bit misguided with his politics 😉 but needs to stop whining about the business difficulties. My gosh, you’re using paypal, what do you expect?

  41. Business is almost never as easy or straightforward as it “should” be. OK, here’s the “businesslike” process in the absence of PayPal:
    1. If you haven’t already done so, establish Monolith as a business entity (Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, C-Corp., etc). OR, simply register the business name with the country as WW DBA Monolith;
    2. Open a bank account in the business name;
    3. Have your business bank set up a merchant account for credit card processing (or, in the case of a smaller bank, guide you to a merchant payment processing service);
    4. Fill out the application for a new merchant account;
    5. Obtain an SSL certificate for your site;
    6. Design, code, and test a shopping cart for your site. Integrate the merchant service’s code into your shopping cart and test. Some merchant service’s code will auto-generate emails to you and your customers once payment is confirmed;
    7. Using the merchant service’s file formats, construct a simple backend database (MS Access is fine for this) for handling customer information;
    8. Write Access routines to print labels, postal forms, thank-you notes, etc.
    9. Batch process your fulfillment activities as you are now.
    10. Pay fees for your SSL certificate, business bank account, merchant account;
    11. Don’t forget to collect sales tax on in-state sales and file quarterly tax returns for same;
    12. Keep excellent records so you can have your accountant file accurate business federal and state income tax returns.
    Suddenly, the PayPal battle doesn’t seem so bad, even given its obvious limitations. 🙂 For a low-volume operation, a boxed solution such as PayPal is hard to beat. But if your plans include higher volumes and greater flexibility, bite the bullet and fight the small business war in earnest.

  43. To all the business “experts” commenting:
    How many of you have actually run a very small business? I have twice and many of my friends do. Wil is doing a great job – his setbacks have not destroyed his life and family nor have they wiped out his saving/credit/home/legs. As for the grumbling about PalPal – have any of these armchair CEOs ever had a direct merchant account for credit cards and had a dispute/problem? I (and some of my friends) have and the problems/costs of PayPal are tiny compared to what the banks have done to me and to friends.
    Even those who have done small business ventures cannot see the whole picture and why their “simple” solutions won’t work. Often this “simple” solution is playing russian roulette with the business and your personal life – It PROBABLY will work, but even if it is a one in six chance of failing, you don’t make that move on a whim if losing is very costly (financial/time/stress/family).
    When you make a move, you should always be able to survive losing. Don’t bet the server farm.
    I could go on about the “advice” given previously on other small business issues, but I’ll stop here.
    —
    My suggestion is to get a “free” (low activity) checking account at a different bank than you normally use, deposit a few zorkmids and open a new paypal account linked to this one.
    I’ve got two of these extra accounts (one for a second paypal account and one for a non-paypal need).
    Your mileage may vary,

  44. BML: My point exactly, though you said it better. Doing business via “traditional” means (i.e., your own merchant account, etc.) is harrowing indeed, and sometimes not worth the grief. I have experienced the “joys” of small business operation for over 30 years, and have the dazzling medical history to prove it. Ugh!
    Wil: Please forgive my crotchety implication that you are not entitled to your feelings. You are, as are we all. In my inept way, I just wanted to remind you that, in the grand scheme, these difficulties are minor and will pass. Best of luck on your Journey, and henceforth I’ll leave the writing to you. 😉
    [not called “crotchety” for nothin’]

  45. No desire to add or chime to the above comments. Just wanted to say good luck, stay positive, and after getting your confirmation email yesterday am eagerly waiting to dive into the new book.

  47. Nooooooooo ….. sobs.
    Nah, not really, just make it all the sweeter when it does happen. (Soon, Soon, SOON!)
    Glad to see you’re not stressing Wil, stress not good.

  48. Wil, got your book today, read it today, laughed today, cried today (damnit Wil you just had to bring back the memories of finding George dead under the tree didn’t you) sniffle, sniffle.
    I got it in pretty good shape (in New York State) it was a little bent but that in no way diminished the contents.
    So here’s my review. First you should know that I grew up in the sixties (without the benefit of hippy parents, sadly) and came of age in the ’70’s (graduated HS in ’79). I’m afraid I spent waaaaay to much time partying in the ’70’s and early ’80’s to become a real geek so a lot of the stuff you talk about I wasn’t in on. However that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the passion with which you tell the stories or how well written the stories are and Wil, they ARE, they really are. Wil, I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to your efforts in fiction.

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