(Note that this is a bonus post – the Tuesday post is still forthcoming, and it’s a good one)
Well folks the book is 100%, completely done. As in, several thousand copies were on two pallets headed to Chicago earlier today. Amazon could start shipping those pre-orders in the next 5-7 days, but it’s hard to predict from our end.
The books will also go on sale on MrExcel.com on about November 15th, for the same Amazon price, and copies ordered from there will include the laminated reference card mentioned in a prior post.
But that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is pure fun, because Holy Macro Books (MrExcel’s publishing arm) uses a printing facility one hour from my house!
So last night I drove down there to witness the final “assembly” of my book, which was a truly fascinating process. The publishing industry has clearly been around for a very long time to get things dialed in so well – it’s much more of an industrial process than a “printing” process.
Here’s a brief 3.5 minute overview of what I witnessed, with commentary, pop up notes, and even a celebrity cameo 
I cut some things from the video to keep it short, like the following picture which I couldn’t resist snapping.
Harsh Critics Down There. Doesn’t Seem Fair to Label my Book Like This So Quickly 
(These were books that printed improperly and were ejected from the system)
Closeup of One of the Bad Books – Note the Cover is Misaligned -
If This Were Stamp Collecting, That Would be Worth Money Someday
(Assist to Bill Jelen, Holding the Book for Camera – Man of Many Talents)
Me Holding a “Cover Sheet” – Covers Are Printed in Sheets of Four, Then Cut
(Note the Attractive Safety Glasses)
Pretty funny – when I showed up at the plant, I had to call them to let me in. Bill and I were waiting outside together at that point. When Lou (the shift manager) came out to get us, I started to introduce myself and Lou said “yeah I recognized you immediately – we’ve been looking at your face on the book covers all night.” Pretty much a one-time experience right there, especially considering that I keep using that one picture of me from 5 years (and 25 pounds) ago
Tuesday Post Still Forthcoming
This does NOT count as Tuesday’s post, which I hinted would contain something pretty interesting and hopefully relevant to you. So stay tuned – that post should go live around lunch (US Eastern time) tomorrow.