I understand that we have some dates, but what I'm asking specifically is what exactly is happening behind the scenes?  Is the book finished and getting it's print run? is it finished but yet to be in print.  Is Jim still working on some edits? is the publisher deciding on the actual dimensions of the hardback and the paperback?  Are they using the book to launder cocaine money for the financing of a mole people invasion?   What exactly is going on with the book in this phase of pre-release?

I certainly can thank the Sci-Fi (before it became SyFy) channel for introducing me to the books.  I didn't have a big book store where I was going to college, and I didn't get to go to one much, so when I had time to read for pleasure it was from books worlds familiar to me, and I hadn't tried any new stuff in a while.  The show didn't hold my interest, but it piqued my curiosity enough to check out the books, and I'm now a fan.  I must say, unlike the seeming majority, I quite like what they did with Bob's form on the show.  It was very different, but I think it fit the show's format to have a more anthropomorphic Bob.  The dead wizard in a skull thing was not as good as the books, but it humanized him, quite literally, for viewers of the show.