The 'End of December Winter Holiday Cum Spending Spree'

A few weeks is all that now separates us from the lilting strains of ‘Rudolph the Snowman’ and ‘Frosty the Red Nosed Reindeer’ leaking at high volume from the speaker systems in every shopping mall in the world.

The idea, of course, is to persuade us that the mid-winter holiday season is a time of great happiness and cheer; a time when we should be wandering the streets with wide smiles, open hearts and wallets agape.

It is a time when the limitations imposed upon us by sundry financial institutions are no longer enforced, we can, with considerable abandon, spend freely with our credit cards and disburse our hard earned cash throughout the commercial and retail outlets far and, courtesy of the Internet, wide.

There are times when we shall find bargains on the Internet. We may find that it is cheaper (= ‘less expensive’) to purchase on-line than it is to visit our local store.

Sometimes, for the retailer, this is less of a golden period.

As many of you will know, we have written a book that is for sale on ‘Amazon’. A physical book. It is called ‘A Simple Guide to Understanding Jet Engines’. The object of the book was to give students an easy bite at the gas turbine engine; it would tell them the basics required to understand it without going into deep theories. It is written to IATA (International Air Travel Association) knowledge level 3; the English used is to IATA Level 4. This is acceptable to all aviation authorities as the level required for Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineers.

So far, so good.

As a secondary consideration it was required to keep the price down so that it would be more accessible to students. The size of the book was designed to fit easily into a lap-top bag and to be fairly light. The paper used is good quality so that it will last through the rigours of aviation training programmes.

And now the hard part.

The postage from here to the United Kingdom and the United States of America from here is quite high. The profit the publisher made, per copy, was minimal—after ‘Amazon’ had taken their (large) cut of the cover price.

The postage rate has just doubled. Sending books to overseas locations has been reclassified from ‘documents’ to ‘small packages’.

The publisher now makes a loss on each copy. A large loss. As a result the book has had to be discontinued for sale through ‘Amazon’.

It is hoped that the book can be converted into an e-book soon otherwise the only source of an actual paper book will be to write directly to the publisher (http://www.ebbnfolks.com/) or go to a bookstore in Malaysia.

Coming here on holiday might be a good idea. You will, I am certain, enjoy it.

Be that as it may, the withdrawal of the book from ‘Amazon’ is a big blow to me personally and to the publisher, too.

It means that those starting their training programmes in aviation in the autumn (fall) will now find it less readily available.

I apologise for that.

I am also sorry for those that had considered it as a great Christmas gift for their loved ones who are entering aviation or who are interested in aeroplanes generally.

Oh! Sorry about that. I meant to say ‘a mid-winter holiday’ gift.

So much for my roast reindeer with Yorkshire puddings.