matty-a7x Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Hello everyone, thought I best do a post about my two latest books. First up we have "Preserved Industrial Railways of the North East & Cumbria". This book has sections on all the railways and museums listed below. Each section starts off with a brief history of the site before moving onto various photographs I have taken in recent years. As an industrial railway modeller I always try to take photographs that I feel would be beneficial to other modellers. Bowes Railway Tanfield Railway Beamish Museum North Tyneside Railway Threlkeld Quarry Museum Also a section dedicated to railways that rely on ex industrial locos and stock to provided their services. These lines are: Aln Valley Railway Weardale Railway Stainmore Railway South Tynedale Railway Lakeside & Haverthwaite This book is priced at £19.99 and can be purchased from here. My next and latest book "Industrial Locomotives in Preservation" This book aims to give an insight into the many preserved industrial locomotives at various railways and museums. A lot of the images were taken while locomotives were visiting my local heritage railways (Tanfield & Beamish) but over recent years both sites have had a wide variety of visiting locos from all corners of the UK. Sections include: Steam, Diesel & Electric and Narrow gauge. Each section containing a wide variety of locomotives from different industrial back-grounds, builders and where to find them now. This book is priced at £34.29 and can be purchased from here. I'd also like to point out I have nothing to do with the post and packaging side of things, but it is my understanding that there are a number of services available starting at around £2.99. If you have any questions or comments I'm more than happy to answer them! Kind regards Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Dear Matt I have just ordered both of them as they are on my favourite subject, regards David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grw184 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Looking good - am about to order both - if you can now direct your attentions to either South/South West or Wales then you can expect regular puchases from me! All the best Graham Woodruff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Looking good - am about to order both - if you can now direct your attentions to either South/South West or Wales then you can expect regular puchases from me! All the best Graham Woodruff Hi Graham, good stuff hope you enjoy them! I would love to do that. But sadly I don't have access to a car at the moment so these version of the book are focused on my local area. Thankfully my local lines do have visiting locomotives on a regular basis so there is a good selection of locomotives included. Kind regards Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgood Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Another order for both just placed by me. The P&P charges offered seem perfectly reasonable - £4.99 for both books and a calendar. Did anyone else notice the Industrial Railways 2016 calendar? Go back and get it on order - now!! I appreciated the preview facility on the calendar, some lovely work there Matt. It may pay to add a coupe of preview pages onto the books too? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 Another order for both just placed by me. The P&P charges offered seem perfectly reasonable - £4.99 for both books and a calendar. Did anyone else notice the Industrial Railways 2016 calendar? Go back and get it on order - now!! I appreciated the preview facility on the calendar, some lovely work there Matt. It may pay to add a coupe of preview pages onto the books too? Hi Osgood, sorry about the late reply I've been away gathering material for my next book which I hope to start work on soon... Thanks and hope you enjoy my books and calendar! I have thought about previews for my books but sadly I don't think the preview feature provided does my books any favors. Hope you enjoy the stuff when it arrives! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Afternoon everyone, I'm very pleased to announce that I will soon be starting working on another book. The working title at the moment is "Cumbrian Narrow Gauge". I'll do my best to keep people up to date on progress so please stay tuned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 11, 2015 I ordered both books and regret to say that I am extremely disappointed with 'Industrial locomotives in preservation'. Not the content but the fact that it has been very poorly made. The top of many photographs has been cut off during the trimming process together with the captions at the bottom of the page! This book should not have left the printers in that condition, before I ask for a replacement I need to know if this is a one off or are the other editions affected in the same way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 11, 2015 Further to my remarks above in contrast the other publication 'Preserved industrial railways of the North East and Cumbria' has vast swathes of white paper above and below the the photographs/captions. Could the sizes specified for each book have been transposed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgood Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Phil - my copies were printed to fit the paper fine, so it must be a one-off fault. Matt - I don't think Lulu does your images any justice at all, they certainly warrant better quality printing! Having said that, I'm sure it is very difficult to find a good print-on-demand service at a sensible cost - the only other book of this type I have bought is fantastic quality but about 6 times the price!! Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 11, 2015 Thanks for that Tony, I agree that the print quality is awful. The top inch or so has been cut off of every page of 'Industrial locomotives in preservation' and a similar amount has also been cut off of the bottom, often on the same page. This is the smaller of the two books and has two photographs on each page where there is only enough space for one. The other book in contrast has only a single photograph on each page with a huge amount of white paper above and below. Also as they are not of marketable quality I want to return them and get my money back but although they were posted in this country there is no return address. I have e-mailed Matt but have not received a reply. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgood Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 I do find the images taken inside the shed at Marley Hill very evocative - if nothing else these books have convinced me I should pay a visit!!! Is entry to the shed fairly straightforward Matt, or would I be advised to contact them to seek permission? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 12, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 12, 2015 I've identified the problem with my copies. The insides for each book have been placed in the covers of the other. If both publications were the same size it would not matter so much. I want to send them back for a replacement* only there is no return address for me to send them too and the author seems reluctant to reply to me. As the law states that as these books are not as described I am well within my rights to ask for a replacement or a refund. *As some people have stated their books are satisfactory I accept that this might be a 'one off' but the difficulty in contacting anyone about this is not very good business practice to say the least. If I don't receive any replies in the next 48 hours I will be contacting trading standards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 My apologizes about the late reply, I'm really disappointed that you've had problems with your copies Phil. As I'm sure everyone can understand the printing side of things is out of my control and I do not get to check every copy personally. How ever I will be sending lulu an email expressing the concerns raised here. Osgood, you are right finding a cheap print-on-demand service is extremely hard. The shed is open for everyone to explore. You don't need to seek permission. Again I'm sorry about the late reply and problems you've encountered. I shall keep you all up to date with what Lulu say. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 13, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2015 Thanks Matt, I've replied to your PM with details of my order number. A friend in the printing trade has informed me that it is now common practice with low volume products to print the pages and covers but not 'assemble' the book until a firm order is received, this is probably how this happened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 Hello again, I've been in touch with lulu about this matter, I directed them to this thread so that they could see for themselves what issues people where having with the quality. They've advised me to send them photographs of the problem so I've been in touch with Phil about this. This does appear to be an isolated incident as I've not had any other messages to say there are problems with my books. As I hope people can understand I do this as a hobby and I'm very upset that people have had problems. I am doing everything I can to get the issues resolved. I also mentioned about the quality of the printing which they will be looking into. I'll do my best to keep everyone involved up to date on this. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Evening everyone, I had an extensive chat with lulu the other day, I won't go into specifics but I feel like it had a positive outcome. I also put Philjw in touch with the correct people there so hopefully they can fix his quality issue, they seemed very keen to. Progress on my next book "Cumbrian Narrow Gauge" is good. It will be the first of my books to have both a colour and black & white version. Obviously due to printing costs the colour version will cost more but it will better display my photographs. In time my 2 existing books will also be re-released in colour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 18, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 18, 2015 Evening everyone, I had an extensive chat with lulu the other day, I won't go into specifics but I feel like it had a positive outcome. I also put Philjw in touch with the correct people there so hopefully they can fix his quality issue, they seemed very keen to. Progress on my next book "Cumbrian Narrow Gauge" is good. It will be the first of my books to have both a colour and black & white version. Obviously due to printing costs the colour version will cost more but it will better display my photographs. In time my 2 existing books will also be re-released in colour. I can confirm that they have been in touch and offered me replacement or a refund and I opted for a replacement, now awaiting the postman. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Good to hear! glad it's been resolved. in future if someone wishes to get in touch with me it may be quicker and easier to go through the message option on my photography page on Facebook. Notifications of messages are sent to my phone so I have a greater chance of been able to respond faster. Matt Ditch Photography & Art Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 After a lot of hard work I'm very pleased to announce that my latest book "Cumbrian Narrow Gauge - Past and Present" is now available for purchase.Chapters include: Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, South Tynedale Railway, Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum and Honister Slate Mine. As well as chapters on some of the now disused mines and quarries that at one time had internal narrow gauge systems. I am offering this book in both colour and black and white, but due to the costs of printing in colour the price is higher but this is reflected in the quality of the publication. Black & White (£15.00) : http://www.lulu.com/…/cumbr…/paperback/product-22336585.html Colour (£27.50) : http://www.lulu.com/…/cumbr…/paperback/product-22336554.html For all my other books and 2016 calendars please visit my shop, here:http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mdrail Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 28, 2015 Just like to say that I received the replacements a couple of days ago, thanks for your help Matt. I can confirm that they have been in touch and offered me replacement or a refund and I opted for a replacement, now awaiting the postman. Good to hear! glad it's been resolved. in future if someone wishes to get in touch with me it may be quicker and easier to go through the message option on my photography page on Facebook. Notifications of messages are sent to my phone so I have a greater chance of been able to respond faster. Matt Ditch Photography & Art Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Good to hear, happy to help Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I think the above exchange between Matt and Phil shows the advantages in being able to talk to a small supplier directly rather than trying for the same result from a big faceless corporation. Glad there was a happy ending. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Hello everyone,Next weekend (5/6th September) is the Aln Valley Railway in Northumberlands model railway exhibition. There will be a number of model railways and trade stands. And I will be there on the Saturday only with a stall selling and signing copies of my books. All going to plan I should have copies of my latest book "Cumbrian Narrow Gauge - Past and Present". If you can make it please come over and introduce yourself Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 I hope this is ok to post here, I have a number of copies of my books for sale, they are left over stock from the Aln Valley Railway model show I did yesterday. 3x copies of Industrial Locomotives in Preservation. Normally retails at £12.00 but offering these at £10 each. 2x Copies of my new book Cumbrian Narrow Gauge Past and Present. Normally retails at £15.00 but offering at £10 due to formatting error. P&P is £3.00, Please PM me if interested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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