HowardWright.com

Blog Changes

My other Blogs

Travel blog (www.travelwrightblog.com) - including hotel reviews, travel and photography tips as well as trip notes on our recent visit to Yellowstone Wildlife watching for Christmas 2008.

Motorbike Blog (www.R1200RTBlog.com) - BMW R1200RT tips and tours including reviews and installation notes etc.

Caterham 7 build blog and TIG welding experiences.

100 Great Innovation Ideas

 My new book '100 Great Innovation Ideas' was published on he 15th of December by Marshall Cavendish. I would like to say that it's been a great experience -and getting it to print was. However the post publication experience has been incredibly frustrating to say the least. 

Previously the publishers have been keen for authors to promote their books by having a launch party to invite guests, who buy books, send copies to radio and be press for review - and of course to a few selected influential contacts who may buy numerous copies. Or this is what I thought!

After repeatedly trying to contact the UK agent for Marshall Cavendish, who has previously been very friendly and supportive, and who now refuses to return calls, answer emails and even to respond to physical letters. I am now looking at my legal options, as I haven't been paid etc., for breach of contract.

One learning point from this experience is beware who you sign a contract with. Marshall Cavendish have effectively offshored all their publication work to Singapore so the contract is under Singaporian durastiction and therefore legal action becomes more difficult. I am dealing with the Society of Authors who offer free legal advice. I will keep you posted on progress - but don't hold your breath!

Publishing 2.0

 This week has seen two new authors come along who want to publish books. The first is an interesting book by a local author who's book is about using the principles of Buddhism in Life Coaching - not a new idea but this guy has a particular take on it which makes it fascinating.

The second book is on Tudor Roundels - effectively table mats from the 15th century. These are beautiful things and the author has been reaser hing them for the last 20 years.

What is interesting is finding out how much you actually know about something without realising it. Talking to these two authors about getting in to print I find that I now have experience of the whole process from editing, through design to printing and marketing! I am not sure how many authors have this, I guess I am not unique, but when you try and explain it to someone it really brings it home.

Anyway hopefully we should get the first book to print this week for a end of January launch and the second book is due out on the 1st of April!

Hectic weekend - book launch

This week has been particularly hectic getting ready for the Book Launch at Waterstones on Saturday and the Heritage Trail launch on the Sunday. It all kicked in with a

Howard GWEDD Radio Interview low

at Radio Verulam on Thursday evening on the ParentShow. Friday saw an article in the Herts Advertiser (Harpenden Issue),

 

Saturday morning we headed into St Albans to set up the 'stall' for the book signing. I was joined by Bonnie Friend, the illustrator, and Isobel my grandaughter who did the cover image for the book. We had a bit of a slow start but it soon picked up and we ended up selling over 40 copies of the book. The Wicked Lady (Annie Brewster) and Cassivellaunus (Neill Sankey) which casued a bit of a stir in the shop.

On Sunday we had the launch of the Wheathampstead Heritage Trail which is a lottery funded initiative to bring to life the history of the village and its surroundings. A number of blue plaques have been put up on historic buildings etc. in the village.

I was located in St Helen's church doing book signings along with the local archeological society and the history society who had old photographic of the village. Again we had a good day and sold and signed 33 copies of the book making a total of 74 books over the weekend.

The heritage trail was opened/launched (link to YouTube Video) by Imelda Staunton (Professor Deloroes Umbridge from Harry Potter) and Jim Carter (Mr Carter the butler from Downton Abbey). 

 

The day had a real buzz about it and mulled wine, served by Jim Carter, and mince pies supplied by the Guides provided sustenance to the hundreds of visitors to the village.

Following the formal opening people wandered off to see all the sites on the heritage trail guided by a great handout which had been provided for the trail.

 

My Thoughts Exactly

People are very strange I think. The things we do in pursuit of ‘perfection’ and ‘eternal youth’ seem ever more bizarre, and in the gym this morning I saw something that definitely confirmed what I have often held to be true – that plastic surgery rarely makes people look better, it just makes them look like they have had plastic surgery.

Gyms can be scary for the average girl just on a general basis – only yesterday a friend and I were talking about the somewhat self-defeating analysis that goes on when you see someone going ten to the dozen on the stepper in front of you with a backside to rival Kylie Minogue. Nonetheless, the changing rooms, are an altogether scarier place – as evidenced by my first sighting of a woman who had clearly undergone buttock augmentation, better known as butt implants – like car crash TV it was completely impossible to look away, and seemed so separate from the rest of her body as to completely defeat their point. In fact, I think their only purpose can have been to cushion any bones in her otherwise fleshless posterior from wear and tear.

Anyway, this is just another example of all the things we do to avoid the terror of aging and to achieve the body beautiful, but I firmly believe that the only way to get older is gracefully, healthily and acceptingly.

via bonnie-friend-thoughts.blogspot.com

Great review from Bonnie of the book launch

My new children's book on the shelves in Waterstones!

Just been in to Waterstones to check out my new book on the shelves - first time I have had one in a high street shop.

Tempted to hang around but as its in the children's department it felt a bit creepy!!!

Book signing Saturday in St Albans and Wheathampstead on Sunday 27th.

Book launch update

Getting ready for the launch of 'The great Wheathampstead elephant dung disaster' on the 26th of November at Waterstones in St Albans. Everything seems to be falling into line and I have secured support from the local historical society who are spurning up in costume around lunchtime.

I will also be doing a book signing at the Wheathampstead Heritage trail launch on the 27th of November. The launch is being undertaken by Imelda Staunton (of Harry Potter fame) so we should get a good turn out.

Per-orders of the book have been steady although the 3500 leaflet drop in the surrounding area doesn't seem to have resulted in any more orders - maybe they are all going to turn up on Saturday.

The other book I have just finished '100 great innovation ideas' - published by Marshall Cavendish, has now gone to print after a difficult birth and is due for launch on the 15th of December in London.

Update on the Great Wheathampstead Elephant Dung Disaster book launch 26th November 2011

The last two weeks have been a bit hectic with a trip down to Devon to pick up the books from the printers with a stop over at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay (including a great visit to Greenways the summer house of Agatha Christie). The books look great and Imprint Digital have done a great job. I did my first talk at the Prae Wood Primary School last week which was an interesting experience to say the least. I am used to presenting to large audiences at conferences all over the world - but I have to admit this was one of the most frightening sessions I had done for some time. The kids were great and very attentive with some fascinating questions. You realise that as we get older we build in a set if filters to stop asking certain types of questions - eight year olds haven't developed these filters yet! Hopefully they enjoyed the session and I now feel a little less fazed to do some more. The day after I was invited to attend an 'audition' to get on the speaker list for the Womens Institute (WI) for Hertfordshire, I had put together a presentation on 'How to Write a Book' which I thought would be an interesting topic for the group. In the invitation it just mentioned a 'selection committee' which, as did other speakers, I assumed would be half a dozen people. Was I wrong!. When I got there there was 60 or 70 people sat in a large hall and although they had a screen there was no projector. So with no way of projecting, a much larger audience than I had expected and the prospect of being scored by lots of ladies of a certain age, I launched into a strange version of what I was going to talk about. Whether they liked it or not I have still to hear. I had a meeting with Waterstones to update them on the book launch and to ascertain how to get the books into their system and I have to say they make it very easy and have agreed to take 100 books up front which apparently is not normal as they usually only agree to take 20 - 30. All we have to do now is to generate the interest...... We have radio and newspaper interviews/articles set up for the week before the launch and I am hoping to get a few more school visits in the diary in the next few weeks. I have also participated in a leaflet drop to 3,500 houses in the Wheathampstead area through the Wheathampstead Enterprise Board which is going out on the 31st of October. Amazon has generated 6 pre-orders which I guess is good and I assume that the leaflet drop will generate more orders through this channel - although they do tale 60% of the price in commission! I now have the book as an eBook and will be launching this after the new year at the same time as the next physical book in the series. Check back to see how things progress!

Postal Conference - Athens October 2011

Theme of conference is Adding Value to Business

For merchants in the US, Australia is now the number 2 shipping destination for goods, Canadaisthe 1st.

Shipping intnationally is becoming easier and this is shown in the rise in traffic. In the US people are prepared to pay for faster shipping.

Customer expectations are changing very rapidly - what used to be extraordinary is now the ordinary.

Postal Conference - Athens October 2011

Theme of conference is Adding Value to Business

For merchants in the US, Australia is now the number 2 shipping destination for goods, Canadaisthe 1st.

Shipping intnationally is becoming easier and this is shown in the rise in traffic. In the US people are prepared to pay for faster shipping.

Customer expectations are changing very rapidly - what used to be extraordinary is now the ordinary.

Making it easy for customers to post by using online postage services is holding back some of the decline in mail volumes.

Returns logistics is an increasing business as people buy more things online. Reverse logistics is "the process of planning, implementation and execution from the point of consumption to the point of origin to recapture value."

It is interesting that manufacturers will have to offer reverse logistics cross border in the future - especially on electrical goods. Consumers have the right to return goods within 28 days and expect the manufacturer/supplier to take them back?

79% of consumers will not shop with companies where they have had a bad returns experience - Royal Mail trend data.

120,000 post offices in Europe are being used to send back returns.

Total B2C ecommerce sales in 2010 are 591 Bn Euros and growing at 20% per year.

Reverse logistics will continue to grow due o legislation, e-commerce and environmental concerns. This is a new opportunity for the postal industry.

Interactive print - marrying paper and 'e' is starting to catch on. In 2011 14m people scanned QR codes and were typically 18-34 males earning over €100k.

Marketers in the US use around 3 marketing channels to hold conversations with their customers. Pesonalisation isn't enough it's all about engagement and interaction.

It's interesting that 91% of people who have opted out of marketing meals, 63% of people say that they would consider defecting from a brand that sends them generic irrelevant messages - 22% claim they have already defected.

Direct Mail started to grow again in 2010 after a 3 year trend of declining volume.

"The Great Wheathampstead Elephant Dung Disaster' Update

Had a great meeting with Waterstones in St Albans this morning who have agreed to promote and host the book launch which will probably be on the 12th of November. This is going to be a book signing as well as a number of related activities for children in the store.

We spoke to them about having some Elephant Dung products on sale in the store at the same time which seemed to get them excited. I found a great website that sells Elephant Dung paper, stationary, cards etc. and am going to get in touch to see if we can get a good deal on some stuff to have at the event.

Just need to get the illustrations sorted and I can get the book off to the printers next week ..... and then just wait........