No pun intended. Haynes is pulling out of site sponsorship because they weren't selling manuals out of the car by car breakdown. Basically you guys weren't buying the manuals because you all know you could get them cheaper from discount bookstores which Haynes contracts forbids Haynes from matching. We could have done a lot better if they had supplied me with specials for the 'news', or even if they had uploaded the fresh copy copy I send them for Honest John's Bookshelf more than two months ago. I thought something was up in Sparkford, which was why I stuck the SEX manual in the news and generated 431 click throughs in a single day (more than they were getting in a month). But all too late. So now all three Haynes buttons are up for sale.
HJ
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Sorry to hear that. I hope you find a new advertiser soon to replace them.
On the subject of site funding I did have 1 idea, Would people consider paying for a xxx@honestjohn.co.uk email address? Or perhaps pay a small fee for pop-up free HJ (and a free t-shirt decorated suitably)
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Sorry, Theakston, I have enough trouble with bounced e-mails as it is. A small fee to be pop-up free is not feasible. A big fee would be.
HJ
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Ah ha - you're the first person to pick up that my internet name owes more to my drinking preferences than my actual age, was this one of the subjects that cam up at the mods day out?
What about the T-shirts - you could have that lovely looking picture at the top left of the page printed on the front
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isn't it "Old Peculier"
Mr P.E. Dant
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Old P - As a one time dedicated ale drinker it was so obvious that I didn't even mention it, however I always thought that Theakston spelt it Old Peculier (but I may be wrong as I now prefer a decent Margaux)
Personally I worried more about your describing yourself as Peculiar than old!
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Whilst I sympathise with the loss of income, thank goodness that particular picture has gone. XXX was not a word I appreciated appearing on my office computer screen. Now I can take my computer out of its brown paper bag! I'm amazed that Haynes get any benefit out of advertising on a site like this. It's a word that's synonymous with spanner in my book. Apart from cars like mine (W123 petrol) where they don't publish a manual, who would think of buying anything other than a Haynes?
This famous ale derived its name from an earlier honour which was
conferred on the town - 'The seal of the Official of the Peculier
of Masham'.
The story began during the reign of William the Conqueror, when
the lands and estates of Mashamshire were given top one of his
captains - Nigel de Albini - who had ravaged this part of the
country. Nigel de Albini later became Bow-Bearer to William
Rufus and was with William when he was mysteriously killed by an
arrow in the New Forest.
The lands passed to Nigel's son, Roger de Mowbay, who proved his
worth as a knight at the Battle of Standard in 1138, when the
invading Scottish army were defeated.
Roger then went to the Holyland to fight in the Crusades, but was
captured by Saladin and held to ransom for seven years. He was
redeemed by the Knights Templar and in gratitude gave the living
of the church at Masham to the church of St. Peter in York.
However, the Archbishop of York was not overjoyed at the news.
His responsibility of administering the law there would mean a
journey through thick forests inhabited by cut-throats and
vagabonds. His solution was to free Masham of 'all the customs
and claims of his archdeacons and officials.' Thus the Peculier
(derived from the Norman French word for 'particular' rather than
'odd') Court of Masham was established.
The Chairman, or official of this Court, had a seal to mark his
approval or decision and exercised a great deal of local power.
Record show that offences dealt with by the court included:
* Poor attendance at church - and bidding the church wardens to
do their worst when being asked to mend one's ways.
* Drunkenness, swearing, brawling, and scolding
* Not bringing in one's children to be baptised
* Telling Fortunes and using enchantments
* Harbouring Roman Catholic priests.
Although no record of that seal exists, the seal used today was
granted by George III and is thought to be based on the original
one. It has been suggested that the kneeling man in the seal may
signify Roger de Mowbray while a prisoner of Saladin.
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As to what else you could buy - Bentley manuals are FAR superior and all available online. They also cover high end new vehicles.
HJ - why don't you be an Amazon reseller for motoring related books? They have a nice XML feed where you can sell via an HJ branded page with Amazon look and feel - the books then come from Amazon and you get a bit of comission.
www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/104-8307750-7085546?...1
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Bentley are good, but they are pricey and aimed mainly at the US market.
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I'm pleased that the red Haynes manual advertisement on the right hand side has gone, as it was deeply offensive to both persons of the Muslim faith.
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Yeah this is true, not many diesel models available. You can get online access to a car for 3 days for $19.95 and print off everything you want though, so not that bad.
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Thanks, Phil G. My publisher who used to do the business side had some sort of relationship with Amazon but I never saw any money from it. Might go for it again. Meanwhile, one of the Haynes banner spots is already sold.
HJ
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I'm glad you've sold one of the haynes publishing spots, though I can't say Haynes were not partly responsible for lost sales.
Halfords price of Manuals were £13.99, whereas to buy one through the site would have cost some £15.99 plus £2.00 delivery. I hardly classify halfords as a discount bookshop, infact they are usually at the top end of the price range.
If Haynes had offered some package deal to say people who wanted to buy 5 or more manuals (say the motor trade) we may have got somehwere.
Sorry, but I feel that your advertisers need to offer something that is a good deal compared with the high street to pull in the punters.
Also, have Haynes not missed a trick here? If I see the Haynes banner all the time I'm more likely to buy one of their manuals, even if it is from another source, so the company still get their lolly.
Are Citroen expecting us to all go and buy their cars online this weekend, or will a visit to our dealership suffice.
Cat firmly amongst pigeons -
Hugo
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Haynes contracts with bookshops forbids the company from direct marketing its manuals at less than full list price. And in fairness, this was explained to me right at the beginning. But Hugo is 100% correct that ignoring the fact that Haynes partial sponsorship of the site gave the Haynes name excellent publicity is not a sensible move. They actually got a lot for buttons, but now their banner spaces are freed up, other advertisers can benefit.
HJ
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Well they got my lolly twice over, but via Amazon where the cost was just £9.09 and as I was buying other books too, delivery was free.
Got 2 copies as birthday gifts for friends.
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I only purchase Haynes manuals because they are often the only ones available. I find them very frustrating to use. Often I find myself refering to several pages at once. Thankfully it is easy to find CDs on sale to cover most makes of vehicle. I also find it irritating to be told that certain jobs must be carried out by a specialist when they could easily be carried out with a bit more information. If only you could purchase the manufactures manual when they were in book form I would rather have done this in preference. If I am working on a car at the front of my drive I tend to think it is a bit embarrasing using a Haynes manual.
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Have to agree, I now buy CDs off ebay, and have found many methods in Haynes rediculously complex when they need not be, poorly explained, lack of diagrams and pictures. They miss useful things out, and then spend a chapter on overhauling a starter motor, which you would find far simpler to get an exchange unit for.
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This is going back a bit. I used to buy Bennets Books of Brighton in preference to Haynes as I found them better. I Guess they did not market them as well as Haynes. Often wondered what happened to them.
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"I find them very frustrating to use."
I have to agree, and it's nice to be able to say so without fear of offending one of HJ's sponsors. I suspect that they only sell because of their effective monopoly in the UK - every other car manual I've seen is better!
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