If you haven't read the post Going Postal: The Great Media Mail Debacle, A Mini-Play , you should read it so you understand what this post is. If you've already read it, here's a mini-refresher.

So that statement above is what prompted me to reply to the editor's e-mail with essentially what I've said here. At first I was irate because how dare she insinuate that I haven't done everything in my power to obtain the media mail rate. What am I supposed to do? Humiliate myself in some fashion so they take pity on me or get fed up with me and cave to the media mail rate? I asked the editor in my reply, "So they have no objections to shipping the bound books (the manga). It's the comics they refuse to ship at the media mail rate. If you want to tell me how to argue the bit about the advertising, I'd love to hear it."

Because seriously, there's not another post office within walking distance that I can use, and I shouldn't have to inconvenience myself and go to another post office to make $5 a blurb. It's not worth the hassle for me to try to pull one over the post office. Because that seems like what the editor is trying to get me to do.


And so the editor responded to me with:

***


I think your options right now are:

1) Get to a new post office
2) Keep duking it out with yours
3) Pay for the extra shipping yourself
4) Quit as a ComicBase writer

Frankly, yours is the only post office I know of who has this problem more
than once. You have my sympathies (I've had my own share of asinine postal
experiences), but there really is nothing I can so in my power to resolve
the issue for you (including paying for the higher shipping, because I don't
have a say in how we set our rates). This is a problem between you and your
branch of the post office. We're able to ship the books to you media rate,
and in fact, I just got a shipment of writer's books back from Michigan
today with the official "inspected by the post office" stamp and
certification (it passed just fine).

What I would recommend is trying post office "outlet" locations, such as at
a local Longs Drugs or Hallmark. These branches tend to be staffed by less
retentive folk, but they will probably charge you a few cents more for the
shipping. (Not as high as Priority, though.)

Good luck.

***

See, I don't think it's horrible to take advtange of the incompetence of a corporation. All the power to ya if you can. But this whole comic thing is not, in fact, a grey area. Comics do contain advertising for things other than books. And so they are not covered. I don't think it's right that I'm being asked to take advantage of another branch of the post office's possible incompetence just to keep my stupid $5-a-blurb job.

( 3comments )

at June 13, 2005 11:55 PM  Lorie said...

Will you regret the loss of smutty Japanese schoolgirls?

 

at June 14, 2005 11:29 AM  Lorie said...

Another possible option came to me quite a while after I was talking to you - could you ask her to only send you graphic novels so that you would always have a box full of books that could be sent media mail with no problems? That's if you're at all interested in continuing to write for them and aren't just sick of the whole thing.

 

at June 14, 2005 2:29 PM  Samantha said...

1) I wouldn't miss lewd Japanese high school girl antics.

2) That is a brilliant idea, actually. I would miss the actual comic books, because so far out of all the manga I have only liked one titled. But it would be easier to deal with overall. I'll ask and find out.