TWP Docs

Address labels get purchased in groups. Each group has its own distinct workflow.

* Patronizers – these books are made out to individual supporters by name, regardless of destination – MWL hand-maintains this spreadsheet because there's so few of them.
* Domestic sponsors – books are signed with “Thanks for sponsoring, $NAME” so must be separate from ks backers.
* Overseas sponsors – buying postage requires filling out custom forms online – books are signed with “Thanks for sponsoring, $NAME” so need to be separate from ks backers.
* Domestic Kickstarter backers.
* Overseas Kickstarter backers.
* Domestic KS backers who chose bundles like The Full Michael.
* Possibly complicated by people who receive extra books or extra copies, which MWL isn't going to do in the future because it's way too confusing and his DAD won't let him.

Download the full backer report. Save as an .xl file.

Make two copies.
One is “I Ship” for books that MWL signs and ships.
One is “They Ship” for drop shipped books, which will be dealt with later.

On the “I Ship” copy of the spreadsheet:
Sort by reward
Delete any rows that are for ebook only
Delete any rows that are for unsigned books
Delete any rows for people who never completed their survey. (Shake your head and wonder what’s wrong with them, but delete their rows anyway.)
Check for add-ons (but future you won’t have this problem!)
Delete any columns that are not needed, i.e. rewards that nobody took
Cut any other columns that aren’t necessary for shipping. For example: backing minimum, reward ID, backer number, backer user ID, pledged status, notes, bonus support, survey response, etc.
Save this “clean” spreadsheet

Here is the list of tasks that fall under the category of “I Ship.” Each task has its own distinct workflow. They are arranged here in order of least complicated to most complicated.

* Domestic Paperbacks
* Domestic Hardcovers
* Overseas Paperbacks
* Overseas Hardcovers
* Other small add-ons (thank you, future MWL, for not including these!)
* Print Bundles
* The Full Michael

You’ll deal with these one at a time. Our example is domestic paperbacks.
When you’re doing domestic paperbacks you will…
Make yet another copy of the “clean” spreadsheet.
Delete anything that isn’t US paperbacks
Delete duplicate columns
Check the phone number column to make sure the numbers are real numbers and not a formula (thanks, excel! /s)
Turn the spreadsheet back into a .csv file
Important! Make note of how many orders you have!

Go to Shippo.com
Log into shipping app
Under “package,” select “flat rate envelope.” (Use US Priority Mail envelopes. They're the same weight as the poly mailers.)
Set that to the default package. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it works if you log out and log back in. (Shippo is strange, yo!)
Go through and make sure all the components of your spreadsheet map to what they are on Shippo’s template. For example, shipping address = Street line 1 (See screenshot 1)
Hit “upload.”
Shippo will say “Your orders are being imported.” Note that Shippo is slow. (Drink some water while you wait. You’re probably dehydrated anyway.)
Click “orders.” Verify that you have the correct number of orders.
Change anything that says “ignore” in Shippo to what the thing actually is. For example “quantity” needs to be changed to “quantity.” There is a dropdown menu. It’s hella annoying. Go through it anyway.
Repeat for every entry.
Select all
Buy postage (upper right corner) for $NUMBER of labels (verify, verify!)

Labels will be downloaded as a PDF to your computer.
(Note: if you have a Director of Analog Distribution, it's the DAD's job to do this ahead of time, so the buying and printing steps will be performed separately.)
When you're ready to print:
Check that you have the correct number of labels.
Make sure your computer knows what size paper you’re printing on
Argue with the printer. Check the preview. Argue some more. Tell the computer, again, what size
MWL signs the books
DAD packages and labels them, puts them in a box to go to the post office

Repeat all of this for domestic hardcovers

International orders are a whole level up! (Woot! You’re leveling up! High five!)
Make yet another copy of the “clean” spreadsheet.
Delete anything that isn’t international paperbacks
Delete duplicate columns
Check the phone number column to make sure the numbers are real numbers and not a formula (thanks, excel! /s)
Add a customs field to the spreadsheet!
Books are 1 pound
Paperback value is $10. Hardcover value is $20
Turn the spreadsheet back into a .csv file
Important! Make note of how many orders you have!

Log into goshippo.com shipping app.
Go to account→ profile→packages. See if there's a predefined package of the right weight. There probably is.
Set the default package to 6x9x1 and the weight.
Log out. Restart the browser window.
Log back into goshippo. When we order postage, the default package should now be assigned to every package. (It doesn't always work. It's supposed to.)

Go through and map all the components of your spreadsheet to what they are on Shippo’s template. For example, shipping address = Street line 1 (See screenshot 1)
Hit “upload.”
Shippo will say “Your orders are being imported.” This takes a hot sec.
Shippo will give you an error that says “EEL/PFC required.” Certify that you qualify for NOEEI33 exemption. Do it for all the orders.
Click “orders.” Verify that you have the correct number of orders.
Change anything that says “ignore” in Shippo to what the things actually is. For example “quantity” needs to be changed to “quantity.” There is a dropdown menu. It’s hella annoying. Go through it anyway.
Repeat for every entry. Note that Shippo is slow. Drink some water while you wait. You’re probably dehydrated anyway.

Now the ugly part. The addresses are in, but the customs info isn't. Check each package. Did goshippo choose the right default package? Did they set ANY package? Fix that. click on the customs information for every package. Manually enter the customs info. Over and over. Until every package has customs info or eternity, whichever comes first. Still better than filling out customs forms by hand.

Select all
Buy postage (upper right corner) for $NUMBER of labels (verify, verify! Remember that an international order gets multiple labels per package)

Repeat all of this for international hardcovers

Other Small Add-ons, Print Bundles, and The Full Michael are special cases that have to be dealt with individually. For these special cases, you will…
Verify the number of books
Sign them
Package them
Weigh them
Figure out the most cost-effective postage. Sometimes it’s in the flat-rate boxes the post office provides. Sometimes it’s in your own packaging. Sometimes it’s in multiple boxes.
When you figure out the best way to ship, return to Shippo and run through the steps for this individual case. You’re doing it “the long way” but since there are fewer of these, it’s actually easier to do it this way.

Shippers do not check addresses until you try to buy. If Shippo can't identify an address, they complain now. Look for obvious typos. Don't assume you can figure it out via Google Maps or whatever. You can't. Packages will be lost. Contact the recipient with the address and tell them USPS can't figure it out.

Is the address in Japanese, Arabic, Hindu, etc? Goshippo offers to transliterate addresses. Accept the offer.
Prepare an additional address label with the original address in the original language.
The US label gets the package out of the US. The original address gets it to the destination.
Yes, these packages get four address labels.

At the end of the day, print goshippo manifest! Manifests are only available for a couple days, so this is vital to avoid angering the postal folks. (Do not anger the postal folks. They can crush you with a thought.)
You must have the manifest with you when you bring the packages to the post office.