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That's why they call it snail mail
Jun. 11th, 2013 01:38 pmIn December I accepted an offer to purchase audio book rights for my two fantasy trilogies. As is typical in the publishing world, it took a few months for the contracts to arrive. They were dutifully signed and returned in April, and the check arrived in yesterday's mail.
That's six months from "Yes, I agree to your offer" until I received the check. We often joke about the publishing world moving at a snail's pace, so I decided to do the math.
The top speed of a garden snail is 0.1km/h. It is 435km from Manhattan (from whence cash flows) to my residence in scenic New Hampshire. Assuming a magic snail that requires neither food nor rest, it would take that snail 4,350 hours to crawl to my place, or 181 days, which by freaky coincidence is the exact number of days that transpired between the initial offer and the check appearing in the mail box.
No wonder they call it snail mail!
That's six months from "Yes, I agree to your offer" until I received the check. We often joke about the publishing world moving at a snail's pace, so I decided to do the math.
The top speed of a garden snail is 0.1km/h. It is 435km from Manhattan (from whence cash flows) to my residence in scenic New Hampshire. Assuming a magic snail that requires neither food nor rest, it would take that snail 4,350 hours to crawl to my place, or 181 days, which by freaky coincidence is the exact number of days that transpired between the initial offer and the check appearing in the mail box.
No wonder they call it snail mail!