A Shadow in the Light

Heya,

It's been a long time since I've written anything online. I entered a self-imposed seclusion basically since July. At first, the reasons were many. I had a vacation coming up. I was finishing up my graduate practicum (the second most emotionally trying thing I've done this year). And I was really hyped about Magic: the Gathering's standard format at the time. Then in August, most of those reasons were gone and were replaced by another: my printer had failed to deliver the third game for DL-Quarterly on time.

I submitted it in May. I was promised it in June. Then I was promised it in July. Then in August. Then I heard nothing. After a lot of pestering, I got them to send me the proofs in early October. There were lots of problems. The font was all screwed up. The cover didn't fit the dimensions. Apparently they had known since May, but didn't tell me. I fixed these problems and resubmitted the game a week later.

I was told I'd have the games in a week or less. Then two weeks. Then three. After a bit more pestering, they told me that the spine was messed up, but they could fix it for $15. No big deal. I told them to do that. They said I'd have the books by the end of the week. Then the next week. After even more pestering, they said that they were having trouble lining up the pages. I told them to just print the books and send them to me.

I Finally got them today. 5 months and 29 days after submitting the request. They’ll be in the mail tomorrow. I have never been so ashamed and humiliated in my life. I let a lot of people down. And that disgusts me. I haven't even so much as posted on a message board in that time because I've been so ashamed of missing the deadline. I am really sorry, guys.

The books are passable- for an ashcan. They aren't up to the quality I expect. I don't plan on ever doing business with that printer ever again. Right now I'm so pissed I can't see strait. This whole experience has turned me off big time from publishing. I'm not sure where I'll go with design and publishing after The Holmes and Watson Committee comes out. I'm really not.

To all those who have a subscription to DL-Quarterly, I publicly apologize. I am deeply sorry that you had to wait so long. I regret immensely the delay. I am sickened by the experience.

Peace,

-Troy