Thanks for the tariff update. My wife is an independent book designer and there are lots of questions floating around.
On an unrelated topic that you may find interesting, the author's portal webpage at HBG has been down for many weeks. Not a crisis for me--I just like to track the bumps in sales when I do a book signing that triggers a newspaper story.
Sent a query to HBG and got no answer for a full week.
Sent a reply and included other HBG e-ddresses, asking what's up and why can't my msg get a reply. Finally heard back today: "The author portal is down until September 2025 as the author portal team is working on strengthening security and more. How can we be of assistance?"
So the portal has been down a month or more and will continue to be down for 5-6 more months. Begging the question--'what kind of havoc did the hackers do on a portal that pretty much only tracks sales numbers??
After an online search on this topic, found this HBG webpage, below, that the staff response didn't mention. So I've no idea if this is related to the author portal being down for Half a Year.
FWIW, my wife's client lost many thousands of dollars paying an "invoice" that fit the problem mentioned on this webpage:
So much of the full-color printing is done in China. It's too expensive and unpredictable. We had a shipment leave China in December and had tariffs applied when it hit Long Beach on Feb 3rd! It's nearly impossible to create a P&L when you can't get an accurate costing.
And the folks who love Chinese take-out are REALLY gonna be spending a lotta money on books!! 😅
Just kidding. Thanks for providing some very helpful perspective. 🙏
You my new friend ... are acting like a leader.
with encouragement, hope, strong reminders and bold but realistic vision-casting ... and most of all with data
Yes to community.
Thank you for posting this.
thank you.
Thank you for posting this, it's helpful, and also scary.
Thank you so much for this helpful info!
Helpful and appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this information. It helps to see issues calmly and directly described.
I appreciate this a lot. Thank you.
Thanks for the tariff update. My wife is an independent book designer and there are lots of questions floating around.
On an unrelated topic that you may find interesting, the author's portal webpage at HBG has been down for many weeks. Not a crisis for me--I just like to track the bumps in sales when I do a book signing that triggers a newspaper story.
Sent a query to HBG and got no answer for a full week.
Sent a reply and included other HBG e-ddresses, asking what's up and why can't my msg get a reply. Finally heard back today: "The author portal is down until September 2025 as the author portal team is working on strengthening security and more. How can we be of assistance?"
So the portal has been down a month or more and will continue to be down for 5-6 more months. Begging the question--'what kind of havoc did the hackers do on a portal that pretty much only tracks sales numbers??
After an online search on this topic, found this HBG webpage, below, that the staff response didn't mention. So I've no idea if this is related to the author portal being down for Half a Year.
FWIW, my wife's client lost many thousands of dollars paying an "invoice" that fit the problem mentioned on this webpage:
https://www.hbgauthorresources.com/landing-page/info-for-authors-cybersecurity-tips-faq/
Always appreciate your business insights Kathleen. Enjoy your day off!
Independent publisher reporting: We are pausing acquiring "full-color" projects for at least the next six months.
Wow.
So much of the full-color printing is done in China. It's too expensive and unpredictable. We had a shipment leave China in December and had tariffs applied when it hit Long Beach on Feb 3rd! It's nearly impossible to create a P&L when you can't get an accurate costing.
Honestly, I don't blame you.
I appreciate your continuing tarrif coverage!