Books you may like to hear about

[Maggi Young]

Two more entries have arrived since my last plea.... come on, you can do it!

By the way, have I bored you already with my opinions about making voting ( in general and local elections) compulsory? I'm toying with the idea, here, i tell you!

[David Shaw]

The Publications Section of the club has some new titles in stock that might be of interest to members.

Ian has already glowingly described the new Roscoea book in a recent bulb log (30/5/2007). We offer this at £33 (RRP£35).
Another new title to us from Kew is 'The Genus Sorbus' by Hugh McAllister. It brings up to date the latest botanical research and has invaluable sections on propogation and cultivation.
We await the imminent delivery of a stock of 'Buried Treasures' by Janis Ruksans. This describes his methods of bulb growing and his amazing bulb exploration adventures in the former Soviet block Europe and across Asia. A gem of a book which we are selling at £25 (RRP £30).

The Genus Roscoea        Jill Cowley                                  £33

The Genus Sorbus          Hugh McAllister                           £32

Buried Treasures            Janis Ruksans                             £25

See secretaries pagesfor postage nd packing costs

Enquiries and orders to carol@findhornpress.com

If you wonder why I am posting at 1o'clock on Sunday afternoon it is becase the weather is miserable outside. It might  be sunny 10 miles inland but here the haar is in and it is cold and wet. If it doesn't improve I will soon finish reading Buried treasures!

[Maggi Young]

One last call for entries to identify Paddy's plants, pictured earlier in this thread,page one, to win a super book!WIN A COPY OF ALPINE PLANTS, ECOLOGY FOR GARDENERS BY JOHN E.G. GOOD & DAVID MILLWARD.
All entries must be received by 8am tomorrow morning UK Time) that is, 12th June.
A winner will be announced later tomorrow!

[Carol Shaw]

Just to remind you all that 'Buried Treasures', 'The Genus Roscoea' and 'The Genus Sorbus' are now all available - check out the bookstore pages on the main web site for info. Also, and just as important, if you spot an ew book you think we should be carrying - let me know!

[mark smyth]

and the winner is ............

I see Janis' book is already available second hand for under half price. I darent show the link or Carol will kill me! I pre-booked mine it still isnt here

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Mark
My copy has arrived!!...At the house of the member who ordered it, so I can pick it up the next time I get to Melbourne, probably on July 7th!
So you'll probably get to see a copy long before I do!
cheers
fermi

[Carol Shaw]

Mark, where did you order from - not the SRGC! I had an e today from another SRGC member who ordered from us who received her copy today and was happy to note the the AGS site was still showing a July delivery date.

Folks when a new title is about to come out I do my best to get it asap and to offer the best price to you guys. In this case a discount plus no postage within the UK! Sometimes it is difficult as the publisher/distributor is less than helpful on the ordering front!

The book list is not there to make a profit for the SRGC, but to serve the membership. If the majority of members order elsewhere we need to look at the viability of continuing this service which does generate its own costs, which can not be covered if the members chose to buy new titles from the like of Amazon. In this instance amazon.co.uk is offering Buried Treasures at £23.10 stating an rrp of £35 when it is actually £30 as stated by Timber Press. Given that Amazon will then charge P & P on top of this cost, buying from the SRGC (assuming you live within the UK) will cost no more than buying from Amazon and you are supporting a facility that club members who don't have access to the internet need.

The SRGC 'can' get a discount which I can pass on to members - if I order enough of a title - BUT can I justify a big order if I am then going to have to sell off stock at a significant reduction later on and actually lose money - no I can't. Like so many things these days this is a 'use it or lose it' situation.

 David & I will do our best to keep everyone updated on new titles we are about to bring into stock and ask for pre-orders. In turn please flag up a title we might otherwise miss - I'd rather receive a dozen e mails telling me about something I already know than miss a title!

Alternatively tell us this is not a service you want and I will take that to the next Council meeting.

[mark smyth]

bought from Amazon. They offer free postage if there is no hurry for the book. Thats usually 4 days

[David Nicholson]

and the winner is ............

have I missed the result, or hasn't it been declared yet? Maggi seems to have been very quiet for the last week, is she not well??

[Paddy Tobin]

And the winner is...

David,

I'm as in the dark as you are. I have been away for a few days and have not been in contact with Maggi re the competition. I'm sure she has it all at her fingertips.

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

Mark,

I'm afraid it is the fate of most gardening books to very quickly end on the remaindered stack in bookshops or at the wholesalers. Publishers make a great effort to publicise a book at the time of its launch but very quickly it is apparent if the book is a seller or not. If a book does not sell well immediately it is very quickly viewed as a dead loss and left at that. There's always the next book, I suppose.

So, Janis' book selling at half price is nothing unusual. Obviously pre-publication publicity moved a number of  people to purchase prior to publication.

Paddy

[Carol Shaw]

The 'new & used' on Amazon is NOT from Amazon direct but via a 3rd party... You pays your money and you makes your choice...

Again I would ask the forum members do you want an SRGC book shop?

[David Nicholson]

My own view, taking into account the way I tend to buy books, is no, but I accept Carol's point that some members of SRGC will not have access to the Internet.

 Looking at the situation from a purely hard-headed business point of view, if the service does not generate a surplus to contribute to the SRGC 'whole', or indeed cover its own costs, then there seems no point in offering it

[Carol Shaw]

This, and isn't a reply to David!
Given that the SRGC is an educational charity it is important that we offer our members a way of buying titles that it would otherwise be difficult for them to get. Equally we do not need to make a profit on the sale of said titles. The presence of the book stall at the various shows we manage to get to allows the membership, and Joe Public, the opportunity to buy specialist books and helps to raise our profile, for example we were the only stand selling gardening books at Gardening Scotland (Scotland's Chelsea). Overall we are probably around break even and that is fine with me, but I have to say I do feel frustrated when so many forum members happily announce they have bought a book from Amazon or the AGS, is it because you don't think of the SRGC as selling books? I can understand foreign members ordering from Amazon but not the AGS, perhaps you are not members of the SRGC? A quick e-mail to me asking if we have a book or can get it at a reasonable price will be answered the same day unless I am out of the country as I have my e-mail 'live' all day.
I hope this is not coming across as a rant - I just want to offer SRGC members the best service I can, with David's help. As we get new titles, or hear about forthcoming titles, these will all be posted on the books page of the main SRGC website. Would it help if this info. was also posted on the forum?

your friendly publications manager 

[Maggi Young]

re the SRGC bookshop...surely the point is that those without internet access can use the service?


re Paddy'e comp.... I am still feeling grotty and PC is in repair shop ( interesting non sequitur, that, don't you think?) only accessing briefly via laptop to keep up with Forum. More later!
Maggi