[TR] Books

[Chuck White]

Jonmac,

I feel your pain.  I would dearly like to help you with your situation 
but I have no experience in either area where help is needed.  But I 
will say I'd be interested in buying both of the books you are working 
on.  I have your other books and found them must enjoyable.  As to 
producing PDF versions and emailing them, I wouldn't suggest that.  As 
you say, too much chance of infringing on your rights.  Also, I think 
you'd want to have the recipient pay a fee up front before sending the file.

Just my thoughts.  I wish you well, my friend.

Cheers,
Chuck White
Xenia, Ohio USA

On 9/2/2025 9:21 AM, John Macartney wrote:
>
> Bill,
>
> The book side of things is in a doldrum. The truth is there are two 
> books. The first has taken me well over forty years to research and 
> write and addresses the amazing escape from Austria in 1939 of the 
> Standard Motor Company’s (and Jaguar’s too) importer husband and wife 
> team because they were Jews. Amazingly, they made it to England by 
> separate routes and travelling alone, getting here just days before 
> war broke out in September 1939. Storyline is set against the day to 
> day activities at Standard as well, so it’s a story within another 
> story. After endless rejection letters, I eventually found a publisher 
> to take it on board, but last November I was informed they’d gone 
> bust. Fortunately they didn’t take the manuscript with them. So I’m 
> looking for another publisher.
>
> The second book is more of the same stories of ‘Life at Triumph’ which 
> sold incredibly well but the company who did that was sold to another 
> business who then asset-stripped it. Since my stroke, I’m finding it 
> fairly hard going to use a computer and it seems the only course open 
> to me is to self-publish both books via Amazon and Kindle. Believe me, 
> actually doing that isn’t nearly as easy as some would lead you to 
> believe. The issues are further compounded that if you go down the 
> Amazon route, you have to structure the whole book including the cover 
> to meet the American requirement for the book sales for the US, while 
> the rest of the world markets require you to still go via Amazon but 
> to upload the files via Ingram Spark who have an entirely different 
> set of requirements which means doing it all over again and also doing 
> it twice for Kindle. Because my post-stroke brain is so ‘frazzled’ I 
> simply can’t work out these differing ‘tech’ requirements and I really 
> need someone to do it for me. Those I have uncovered who might be able 
> to help are seeking payment up front and to a level I simply cannot 
> afford or justify. Believe me, I’ve tried but so far failed.
>
> So, until my brain can work as it used to do – improbable and 
> unlikely, I’m rather stuck in low transfer, four wheel drive and both 
> front and rear axles are buried in mud. The other side of the coin is 
> that even if I managed to get the book printed here to mail out to 
> wherever, many member states in the European Postal Union are now not 
> accepting small parcels to the US and US overseas territories. My 
> local post office tells me that since your President has imposed his 
> tariffs on all goods from various countries, as things relate to 
> shipments out of UK, small packets worth more than one dollar are 
> tariff liable at 10% of the goods value and the organisations involved 
> in handling that mail to the States are required to collect the tariff 
> by the person sending the package and then pay the invoice submitted 
> to them by US Customs when the package lands in the States. I can’t 
> see that ever happening but the postal people won’t accept it – and it 
> would be an administrative nightmare to control. It’s the same picture 
> in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium. Post offices will not accept 
> low value parcels for the States, so it’ll be interesting to see how 
> the UK parts suppliers get round that one. Probably UPS or somesuch 
> but it won’t be cheap. I’ve no idea how things are likely to be with 
> high value items.
>
> In conclusion, it seems to me the only possible route open to me is to 
> turn both books into PDFs with a US paper size (8.5x11) - that’s your 
> usual size n’est pas - and send out the book as an email attachment 
> you can download and print yourself. That’s not an option I  find all 
> that attractive because its wide open to copyright infringement.
>
> Sorry – long post but that’s the situation here.
>
> JM
>
> *From:*Notakitcar <notakitcar at yahoo.com>
> *Sent:* 01 September 2025 23:37
> *To:* 'John Macartney' <johnBMacartney at gmx.com>
> *Cc:* 'MASSEY DAVID' <dave1massey at cs.com>; 'List Truimphs' 
> <triumphs at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* RE: [TR] Happy Birthday, John MacCartney
>
> John,
>
> The pleasure has been mine, sometimes I can see myself at the assembly 
> line or the sales floor through your comments and books.   It does 
> seem the email traffic has quieted, but not gone as the various TR 
> marques are well represented on Facebook these days.
>
> I seem to recall you are working on another book, is this so? Please 
> keep me posted.
>
> All the best,
>
> Bill B
>
> TS30766L
>
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