Thank you Len. Kind of you to say so.

I would be grateful for any feedback, good or bad, on all aspects of it.

Thanks. Diane

I had a despatch confirmation on May 4 ("despatched today".

I had another one on May 14 ("despatched today".

Since I'm in Canada I don't expect it for some days …. hope they haven't sent two copies.

(UK postal service must be very efficient – notwithstanding the cost – if you can expect it to arrive within 2 days. Around here, I'd only start to get antsy after 4 – 5 days for local mail. Probably more than that from the extremes of the country)

Edit:

Oh that stoopid, stoopid smiley-bracket. Can't someone fix that? I know I'm not the first to complain by a long chalk.

Edited By Sid Herbage on 17/05/2012 02:07:17

Stop wingeing.

We can't be held responsible if Smiths put it on sale a fortnight early.

Can I preface my comments by saying that I am a subscriber, have been for many years and am satisfied with both the magazine and the delivery I get.

However David, having spent 20 years in the contract printing and magazine distribution industry, it is you as the publishers who are the customer of the printer and distributor, they should play to your tune. Also I suggest that you in turn do have a responsibility to your customers especially subscriibers . Especially with the contract print industry as it is today you have a powerful hand.

I suspect that the printers are getting the bulk supplies out of their factory warehouse system to the Wholesalers & Newsagents to create working space for themselves; and the subscription copies are sent off to a mailing house where they wait their turn with all the other magazines to get enveloped and posted. Meanwhile the ordinary copies are already with the wholesalers & newsagents, who naturally put them on sale as soon as they recieve them irrespective of publication release date.

Given that subscriptions are mainly there not to benefit the reader, but to give the publisher a secured source of revenue they can base their budgets & forecasts on; then with all due respect you do have a responsibility to get the subscriber copies out early. It is a simple matter to write into the Printers contract that they do not distibute wholesale copies untill after the mailing house has confirmed that all subscription copies have been sent out, with suitable substantive penalties for them if they do not.

They won't like it of course but in the present economic climate use the significant business clout that you have to benefit your readers and maintain subscription copy numbers and revenue that you will undoubtdly loose in a steady flow if people can get it in the newasgents earlier. You will only retain subscribers who do not have easy access to well stocked local Newsagents, most notably rural areas This will take a long time to show in the finances due to the annual nature of subscriptions but you will see a steady long term decline until the newstand sales mean the forward budgeting brcomes unreliable and we end up loosing our valuable magazies due to lack of sales.

With the big stable of specialist titles you are a significant customer and you and especially your subscribers have every right to be treated as such.

Kind regards and thanks for a very enjoyable magazine.

Hi Terry,

It wasn't actually inverted commas that was the problem – it was the closing bracket (parenthesis strictly). Does it work for that too?

Like this:

(Test 1)

(Test 2 )

………

(Edit)

Oh … well now I am confused. Apparently it was the quote (inverted commas) that was the problem as you said but the smiley replaced the parenthesis so I figured it was the problem.

Anyway, now I know…. I suggest this isn't continued. I don't want to hijack the original topic.

Edited By Sid Herbage on 17/05/2012 14:24:48

Would actually be interesting to know if its all branches of Smiths who put them out early or just the one The Merry Miller uses?

Anyone else seen it in their local??

I'm also sure that Smiths has more cloat over MHS so David does not have much choice, I think it was a job a while back to be certain that all branches would even carry ME.

J

Edited By JasonB on 17/05/2012 17:20:54

WHS in Basildon had them on display today – got my copy, looks to be a wonderful read!

Well done, excellent stuff!

Alan

I did not realise until just having a look through the dredger plans that in fact its BOGOF which makes the special even better value. Rather than leave the back of the sheet blank MHS has also given us plans for Westbury's Theseus horizontal engine.

This is a nice little engine that can be built from barstock and still look like castings were used and not too tricky for a beginner.

Well done MHS

Hi There

We like to overdeliver hence the extra free plan.

regards David

Certainly different covers for overseas.

Probably different cover for preorders from Hobbystore.

regards David

Excellent publication, only got part way into it after delivery yesterday, nice to have so much information in one place and the drawings as a bonus.

I ordered direct to save trips into the local town with no guarantee of availability in shops, do not care if it was available at the same time, but do care about wasting fuel.