Report on Progress of "An Authentic Account of Adam Smith" November

My new book, "An Authentic Account of Adam Smith" is nearing publication, but it has someways to go before an actual date is announced.
As an author of 25 books I have not experienced the latest in publishing technology which my 'Authentic' book is experiencing.
Formerly, an author submitted a manuscript to a publisher and awaited the inevitable editorial queries from the publisher's staff assigned to the publishing process. 
The first task being to prepare the author's manuscript for a final version; the second task was to hand over the final edited manuscript to a printer; the final task was to print the final text, bind the pages into a book format and send copies of the newly printed book to booksellers, with finished stocks of the new book warehoused for future sales.
In the new process, the author's copy text is prepared by the publisher's staff, thoroughly edited until a printable copy text is created (inclusive of all author queries answered plus an Index supplied by the author) from which the book is printed, bound and made ready for delivery direct to cash purchasers.
Print runs can be singular copies only and sold direct to purchasers, or in varying quantity runs, again as per cash orders, i.e. no unsold stock stored in large warehouses.
The above is what I have surmised. No explanation has so far been supplied by the publisher, so some of my details above may be off the mark, for which I apologise.
Next step? I await final printed pages and any further queries that may have arisen. I shall keep readers informed, more for your general information on the grounds that readers who are already experienced authors or who are about to become one may also became aware of the pending revolution in the book publishing process.
I shall let you know of the next steps and my general impression of its advantages for authors and, of course, readers.