International order fulfillment for an oversized book

Since 2016, Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services has provided order fulfillment for Seth Godin’s book, “What Does It Sound Like When You Change Your Mind?” At 17 inches (43.18cm) and 16+ pounds (7.25 kg), the limited release collectable ships in a custom box and has reached customers in over 30 countries worldwide.

Transcription

The book’s called “What does it sound like when you change your mind?” and it’s the last four years of my writing. Because that’s what my writing is about.

I try to change people’s lives. Maybe about little things, about things they notice. Or maybe about big things and how we’re going to plan the next week or month or year of our life. And if I can get under your skin just a little bit, then I get another chance to do it tomorrow and the day after that. What I’m hearing is that it’s adding up for people and it’s making that change happen. That’s why I wake up every morning.

My name is Seth Godin. I’m a writer, entrepreneur, and mostly a teacher. I’ve written 18 best sellers. I have a blog I post [to] everyday, and I try to make a ruckus.

So there’s this new thing called “unboxing”. I love unboxing videos. We started shipping the books at the beginning of December 2016 and in the last five weeks we’ve shipped them to 31 different countries — a lot of people in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands…we’ve reached people in India, the United States…I got a note from Bangladesh the other day. It’s really fascinating to watch.

Back in the old days, authors like me and many other sorts of independent folks had a problem, which is the gatekeepers wouldn’t pick us. Well, the web has changed all that. The web has made everything flat, has made it so that anyone who wants to open the door can open the door. If you want to say something, say something; here’s a microphone. But it has also made it more difficult, because moving molecules around the world is still a pain in the ass.

It’s almost impossible to do it right, because if you send everything by messenger with someone in a white suit who comes in on a helicopter, people will feel cared for, but they’re also going to pay $7,000 for shipping and handling. If you send everything in a brown plastic bag by media mail, it’s only going to cost $9, but 30 percent of your people will be annoyed with you because it got there late and it got there broken.

So one of the things that I’ve tried to do is thread that needle, figure out how to make promises to people that you can keep, and those promises need to be specific.