Just an explanation why it takes us so very long to get things out…
First: the book has to be re-read to make sure the in-print copyeditors didn’t do anything creative, and that it is the best we can do.
Second: the book has to be gone over line by line looking for typos, right down to spacing on periods and dots. We follow regular publishing guidelines, in general.
Third: the book has to have a cover of some sort. This takes time, because we love cover artwork.
Fourth: the book has to be designed. We have to figure what typeface, and what pieces we will include.
Fifth, and a real bear: we are now including TOC structure (table of contents) especially for the small readers, so that you can navigate to your ‘place’ and not have to search too far through a big file. Doing a TOC means that during steps 1-3, you have to write the chapter heads and sections a particular way so that the TOC command will recognize those elements and properly structure the book. If you don’t, by a hair, have it right, it all screws up immensely.
Sixth: or fifth: you have to shift the book over into HTML, and run the first assembly, which involves Mobipocket Creator, and getting all your files loaded in sequence, your TOC in order, and your cover image to its liking. A screwup here drops several files on your disc that you won’t want, and that could create confusion later, so for every screwup, you clean up your disk/folders and start over.
Seventh: you create a pdf, with many of the same problems, not to mention that you have to remember to get the page artifacts out.
Eighth: you attack the files with Calibre and try to get a TOC to behave in ePub. It also has notions of where to find its files and what it will look at for a source, so you have cleanup to do if you didn’t do it right.
Ninth-Fifteenth: you do the same job with all the rest of the formats.

Did I mention you proof each one so far as your display device allows?

Sixteen: You then go through the process of bundling all the files
Seventeen: zipping all the files
Eighteen: loading the FULL and the MINI files to the web,
Nineteen: getting each up in the Store;
Twenty: then you have to update the CC pages to reflect it being there.

This takes quite a few man-hours—like over a hundred on each upload.

[Then twenty-one: sob: comes the first letter that says, “Did you know there’s two words transposed on page 355?” —which of course means repeating steps five through twenty.]

Twenty-two: pour self two stiff Captain and Limes and watch a romantic comedy.

Twenty-three: on following day repeat steps 5-20 over again.]