Haynes Manuals Hit the Information Super Highway

The Revered DIY Automotive and Motorcycle Repair Books Will Be Enhanced on the Web.

Haynes Publishing, the worldwide leader in the supply of repair and maintenance information for DIY mechanics, announced recently that it is making significant steps into the electronic arena. The company has begun demonstrating an electronic version of the iconic Haynes Manual to its major retail accounts in the United States , a first for the traditional print publishing company.

Representing a major shift for the publishing company, Haynes’ Online Manuals will have the ability to reach a larger customer base.  This is good news for the aspiring DIYer on a budget who would rather maintain and repair his or her own vehicle versus paying for a mechanic.

“We have been closely watching developments regarding potential electronic delivery of our information for quite a long time. In fact we demonstrated a CD based product in Las Vegas over a decade ago,” said J Haynes, Chairman of the Haynes Publishing Group.  “Since the acquisition of Vivid Holding BV three years ago, we have been experimenting with various initiatives where their expertise with electronic technology can be applied to Haynes products. We now believe we have something that is so exciting that we are ready to make it available online. We believe that Haynes MOL (Manuals Online) can become as successful as the traditional Haynes Manual, which has sold over 150 million copies around the world.”

The company plans to demonstrate and test the product in the U.S. market before refining it for introduction across the globe. The intention is that customers will be able to click through from websites operated by Haynes’ auto parts store retail accounts and order a subscription to the electronic product. The company believes they have been able to add much value to the electronic version of the famous DIY product.

Haynes intends to make this product available through its traditional auto parts store retail account base as well as through its own website.

“With this new product we have been able to incorporate a great deal of material that it is not possible to provide in a printed product. The electronic product includes all of the information in the print version but also includes audio and video clips demonstrating various DIY procedures,” said Eric Oakley, Haynes Group CEO. 

“The Brake Pad video and the Rust Repair video, for example, really do an excellent job in getting across to our end-user customers how straightforward these tasks really are. The nature of the web has also encouraged us to incorporate color pictures and color wiring diagrams as well as hyperlinks, definitions and a keyword search function. This product enables us to provide a lot more help to our customers.”

This move illustrates the benefits that are increasingly flowing from the acquisition of Vivid Holding BV three years ago. Vivid, who provide technical data to professional mechanics throughout Europe , have never produced a product in a printed form. As a result, they bring an extra dimension to the Haynes Group. “The cooperation that we have seen between the Haynes Editorial Team and our Vivid Technicians has been excellent and together they have produced a very exciting product which can mark the beginning of a new era in the Haynes story,” said Alex Kwarts MD of Vivid Holding.

Once the initial prototype demonstrations are complete, Haynes intends to convert the top 50 selling manuals to the electronic format and will make them available for sale by subscription in the U.S. by autumn 2011. They will then add further coverage as the conversion process continues. The traditional printed product line will continue to be marketed aggressively with an ongoing programme of updates and new titles.

Just Help Yourself, The Common Sense Way

What do Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Colonel Sanders all have in common?

In his new book, Just Help Yourself, Tom Lucas, a celebrity sports psychologist and motivational speaker who has helped change the lives of many top sporting professionals and business leaders, highlights the fact that these world famous icons never gave up on achieving their dreams despite facing numerous set-backs and challenges.

"Albert Einstein", says Tom, "did not speak until the age of four, did not read until he was seven, and was described by one of his teachers as 'mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams'. Not only that, but he was expelled from one college and refused entry to another!"

"Thomas Edison made 10,000 attempts before successfully developing the electric light and when asked what is was like to fail so many times he replied, 'I did not fail, I simply discovered thousands of ways that wouldn't produce light'".

"Similarly, Colonel Sanders visited nearly 500 restaurants in an attempt to sell his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, and was aged 65 when he finally succeeded".

Tom is a firm believer that whatever talents, skills or interests a person has, they owe it to themselves to use them to the fullest, continually working on them to enable them to flourish.

Every day Tom encounters people who haven't managed to find a way to bring their fullest potential to the fore. Offering an alternative approach to dealing with life's stressful times, Tom uses a technique called Common Sense Psychology (CSP) which focuses on understanding that the real solutions to problems lie within us, not in external sources, and, with a little common sense, can be uncovered.

Using tips that Tom has finely tuned during his career working with top sporting professionals and business owners, Just Help Yourself is full of practical advice to help you take those initial steps to recognising that you, and only you, have the power to change the situation that you find yourself in.

With a foreword from the former England Captain Terry Butcher, Tom's book is packed full of common sense advice for building confidence, belief and self-esteem, eating nutritionally balanced foods, and the importance of taking time out.

Tom makes it crystal clear that it's not the destination, but the journey that is the key to success. Einstein, Edison and Colonel Sanders could have given up after each of their set backs but they carried on, confidently and with determined self-belief. What would our world today be like if they hadn't?

And their story could be your story; what would the world miss out on if you don't make the effort to achieve your fullest potential within your lifetime?

To discover Tom's common sense guide to dealing with life's ups and downs and achieving the life of your dreams, pick up a copy of Just Help Yourself from www.thehothive.com,

Amazon and all good bookstores. Published by the HotHive priced £8.99. Tom runs Head to Head Sports & Business Consultancy - www.headtohead.org.uk

Britons Take to Books on National Reading Group Day

Reading groups celebrate first annual event today, Saturday 25th June.

Avid readers around the country will be flocking to their local independent bookshops for discussion groups, author events and lunches, to celebrate National Reading Group Day, (NRGD), today, Saturday 25th June.

The day is part of Independent Booksellers Week (IBW) and demonstrates what the ‘indies’ do best - creating and supporting their local community. Reading groups have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, encouraged by local independent bookshops who host, and in many cases run, local reading groups. Many are well-established, while others are being launched on NRGD itself.

As well as author-led talks and discussion groups, activities include competitions and even a world record attempt.

A visit by Dawn French to a reading group is being offered as first prize in a major national competition, launched tomorrow, Saturday. The competition is open to all reading groups in the UK who are invited to enter by explaining, in 30 words or less, why Dawn should come to their reading group. The competition celebrates the paperback publication this month of Dawn’s No.1 bestseller, A Tiny Bit Marvellous. More information is available at www.readinggroups.org/dawnfrench.

More unusual initiatives include the launch of a world record attempt for the largest ever reading group. The attempt by The Big Green Bookshop, Wood Green, London, takes place on 30th July and will be made by joining people nationwide using social networking sites, a website forum, Skype and video links. An online discussion will take place from 4pm–8pm, with a central forum set up for people to share their views.

In addition, a new series of The TV Book Club Summer Read starts this weekend on More4, giving reading groups the opportunity to read along with the series. The programme is offering the chance for a reading group to watch filming on 19th July – more information is available at www.readinggroups.org/tvbookclub

FACTFILE:
• National Reading Group Day is part of Independent Booksellers Week, an annual celebration of the ‘the indies’ around the country, run by The Booksellers Association.

• The Booksellers Association is working in partnership with The Reading Agency’s Reading Groups for Everyone initiative, a central database and resource on reading groups.

Be That Writer: Overheard in a bookshop “Did Beatrix Potter ever w...

Be That Writer: Overheard in a bookshop “Did Beatrix Potter ever w...: "Every bookseller has stories about some of the weird and wonderful comments they have overheard in their bookshop whilst on the shop floor, ..."

Be That Writer: Welcome to Be That Writer

Be That Writer: Welcome to Be That Writer: "Welcome to Be That Writer. Be That Writer is a free online course for people who want to be writers. You could well have read books on w..."

Self-Published “Business Cook Book” to be Stocked at Waterstones

Self-published book ‘Business Cookery: Tried and tested recipes for business success’ is to be stocked at Waterstones.

Hot on the heels of best-selling Kindle authors John Locke, Louise Voss and Mark Edwards two UK authors are using their business experience to self-publish and promote their own paperback and e-book.

The quirky novel/business book hybrid is selling well on Amazon (both in paperback and on Kindle) and now Waterstones have agreed to stock the title in their high street stores. It’s also available online from Blackwells, WHSmith and Foyles.

Entrepreneurs Hannah McNamara and Patrick White decided to go down the route of self-publishing, even though McNamara had worked with a publisher on her first book, ‘Niche Marketing for Coaches’.

McNamara says, “Many authors don’t realise the amount of marketing publishers expect you to do for your own book. They assume that their job is just to write a good book and the publishers will take care of making it sell.

“My experience first time around taught me that there were so many aspects of publishing a book we could easily handle ourselves and be in complete control of. Most self-published authors focus on e-books but it was important for us to be published in print as well and be stocked in book stores. As business people we’re always focused on the profit margin, so doing it ourselves means that we could make publishing a book very profitable. It’s also been a lot of fun!”

This emphasis on making a profit is very apt given the topic of their book. Business Cookery uses cookery analogies to teach business principles and it’s already receiving acclaim from entrepreneurs and foodies alike.

‘Secret Millionaire’ property investor Caroline Marsh says, “I heartily endorse Business Cookery, Clear, easy-to-read. I like the stories that guide you through the fundamentals on how to start, run and manage a successful business. Follow the recipe and make a great pie!”

Sejal Sukhadwala of LoveFood.com describes the book as “a modern classic, this unique tome gives business and personal development advice via cookery-themed storytelling, recipes and food analogies.”

For a limited time, the authors are making the first 2 chapters available free from www.businesscookerybook.com.

Represent yourself in court . New books tells you how

The cuts in legal aid announced by the Government in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will force more and more people to represent themselves, often reluctantly, in complex, serious and potentially life-changing court proceedings, says the author of new book on the subject. Those now falling outside the legal aid scheme could include someone accused of domestic violence in the midst of a family dispute, perhaps over contact with children, claims Lucy Reed.

Lucy Reed, a practising family law barrister and author of a recently published book aimed at helping litigants in person in family proceedings, claims: “The exclusion of many family cases from the scope of legal aid will force more people to have to represent themselves in court. This will include people trying to respond to serious allegations of physical violence or sexual abuse against a former partner or child, and where the decisions being taken could have a lifelong impact on their relationship with their children.”

Even more worryingly, Lucy adds that “A parent making an allegation of abuse will be able to obtain legal aid, but the parent on the receiving end will not, even though the allegations may not be true.

“This could lead to “inequality of arms” where one party is forced to fall back on doing it themselves while the other side in the dispute has access to the knowledge, resources and experience of a qualified legal representative.

The changes were announced in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill published yesterday.

Lucy Reed has written a book called: Family Courts without a Lawyer: A Handbook for Litigants in Person which is published by Bath Publishing. An associated website,  www.nofamilylawyer.co.uk is now on line. The site contains working documents and resources referred to in the book

FACTFILE:

- A litigant in person is the term used for those representing their case in court without the assistance of a qualified legal representative.

- The author, Lucy Reed, is a barrister at St John's Chambers in Bristol. She is also the author of the well known family law blog, www.pinktape.co.uk.

- Bath Publishing are legal publishers, in print and online, who have been providing information to family lawyers and others working in family justice since 2005. They founded, developed, managed and subsequently sold (in 2010) a leading online resource for the industry, www.familylawweek.co.uk

Details about the book:
Family Courts without a Lawyer: A Handbook for Litigants in Person
Price: £29.00
336 pages
Website: Readers also have access to updates, useful documents and other resources on the accompanying website, www.nofamilylawyer.co.uk