Let's go Fly a Kite!

Remember the Peter Powell ^TM stunt kite? Apparently the Toy of the Year in 1976 is back http://www.peterpowellkites.co.uk and better than ever! I had one – a blue plastic kite with a long tail that would inflate in the wind. We used to take it up to the playing field to fly. On a good day, with a steady breeze, it was extremely exciting to put the kite through its paces, spiralling one way and then back the other while being pulled across the grass by the surprisingly strong kite with its aluminium struts. It was thrilling to develop a feel for the kite and the wind, to make the kite perform at its limits and to test your strength against the tug of the kite that seemed desperate to get away and fly on its own. On a bad day, I would spend most of my time untangling the two flying lines, running frantically backwards to no avail time and time again, dealing with the frustration of the parent or brother who had to throw the kite back into the air after each crash and then, when I gave up, spending ages getting the air out of the tail so that I could roll it up. 

Before the Peter Powell kite arrived, we children had made various attempts at making a kite out of sticks, paper and a piece of string – most were very disappointing and ended up stuck in trees. The best things about the Peter Powell kite were the dual control lines and its robust construction. Mine crashed into the ground on numerous occasions but it was easy to repair and would be back in the air quite quickly (as long as your ‘thrower’ hadn't got bored and gone home for a cup of tea!).

Here is a link to a YouTube video of someone flying stunt kites in stacks of 3-6. They look wonderful flying together like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXv5Lt06_s

Trying to describe the thrill of kite flying reminded me of the descriptions of the thrill of flying in our two aviation titles – The Boys’ Book of Aeroplanes and Sky Roads of the World. Amy Johnson and Hubbard and Turner are far better at describing what it is like to fly than I am at describing kite-flying. Of course, when these authors were flying they were doing so when manned flight was at the exciting visceral stage, where they stared death in the face on numerous occasions and when the skills needed to fly a plane made of balsa wood, paper and wire were being learned through trial and error by everyone.

The Boys’ Book of Aeroplanes was written only nine years after the Wright brothers made their first successful motor-driven flight. Here Hubbard and Turner describe the thrill of flying in an aeroplane for the first time:

The machine is held back, the motor started by swinging the propeller, and the wild clamour of the motor arises, obliterating all other sounds. The pilot seated by him raises his arm, the machine is released and rushes over the ground, and before the passenger has time to realise it, the machine is in the air, climbing steadily. Glancing right and left he sees the country spreading out like a map, and then looking down he sees the ground, far below, shrinking between his feet. The wind blows hard in his face, but it is not unpleasant, and he soon gets used to it, and also hardly notices the unending roar of the motor behind him. Movements of the pilot's hand and foot on lever and cross-bar footrest send the machine turning, tilting over towards the side to which the turn is made. There is no sensation of giddiness, certainly none of fear; he feels as secure as in an armchair in his own home. Far below, now, he can see the roofs of the aeroplane sheds, and the little black dots, which are in reality men, moving very slowly over the ground. Another turn, and the machine is passing over a belt of trees, and for the first time he feels an indescribable thrill - a thrill of inexplicable pleasure. To fly over the tops of trees is to experience a mystical exultation; flying over grass is nothing, over houses nothing, over water a mere incident, but over trees is a mysterious delight - a riddle that a Sphinx might propound but no Oedipus ever satisfactorily answer.

Another half-circle and the machine heads back towards the sheds, and then the pilot, momentarily turning his face, shouts two words which the passenger fails to hear, but assumes, and rightly, to be "Hold tight!" The nose of the machine suddenly dips sharply downwards, and immediately the noise of the motor ceases, for the pilot has switched off for a glide. The passenger grips the upright spar on his right very tightly, thrusting his legs very firmly against the foot-rest. He misses the noise of the motor now it has stopped, though previously he had been hardly conscious of it. He hears the wind singing against the planes and wires, and sees between his feet the ground rushing up to meet him. High up, the ground, by a simple optical delusion, seems to move very slowly, but increases its apparent motion the nearer one is to it. Faster and faster flows the ground, and then, obeying a slight movement of the lever, just as the passenger imagines a collision with the earth is inevitable, the machine gradually straightens out; there is an almost imperceptible shock at the moment the wheels touch; the machine runs along the ground, losing speed rapidly, and finally stops; and the passenger, his mind still in a whirl with his novel experiences, finds himself at the door of the shed. There is no noise, no rushing wind, only a few spectators standing in front of the machine asking him casual questions which he cannot, for the life of him, answer. He wants to sit still and think, but he is hustled out of his seat, and becomes, to his growing disgust, a mere crawling pedestrian once more.

Fantastic. This description is followed by an even more dramatic description of what it is like to make your first solo flight. Amy Johnson too, a few years later in Sky Roads of The World, is eloquent about the excitement and sheer joy of flying:

As dawn breaks you are treated to such a vision of beauty that you find it difficult to concentrate on the prosaic tasks of fuelling your plane and preparing for the take-off. Brilliant stars in black velvet sky have gently faded away, gracefully giving first place to the rising splendour of the sun. Knowing full well our poor eyes could not stand the sudden sight of an African sun in all its glory, it first sends out faint warning rays of pearly grey, shading to lemon, then pale rose and dim gold, growing ever deeper and more intense till suddenly, as though losing patience, it bursts with dazzling radiance on the uncaring world.

Breathing the dry, tonic air, you jump aboard your plane, longing to be away in the light blue sky, already feeling the fascination of the desert.

First you will be flying over the oasis belt. Tiny groups of mud huts shining whitely in the glowing sun nestle amongst clumps of towering green palms. Some of the ground between is stony and rocky, much of it covered with a fine film of sand. South of the oasis of Tarhit, to my mind most beautiful of them all, stretch three hundred miles of golden sand dunes, wave after enormous wave, as though some god had stretched his arm over a restless sea, petrifying its restlessness into waves of stone.

Amy was the first to see many parts of the world from the air. What a privilege to be the first to appreciate our beautiful planet in a completely new way.

Escaping gravity was the desperate dream of so many people for centuries. It took so long for them to work out the science of flying but that didn’t stop them trying. It was only when the Wright brothers grasped the scientific method – proper experimentation (and without killing yourself in the process) – that the answer finally revealed itself. The Wright brothers’ experiments in flight is covered in some detail in The Boys’ Book of Aeroplanes. What is so delightful about the two descriptions above is that they demonstrate that those centuries of effort proved to be worth it – flying was a wonderful experience, particularly for those flying in an open cockpit, ‘close to the wind’.

Our final extract extolling the thrill of flying is a poem called High Flight, written by Pilot Officer John Magee RCAF (1922-1941) who died aged only 19 during World War II.

Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunwards I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-spilt clouds – and done a thousand things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence, hovering there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air,

Up, up the long delirious burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,

Where never lark, or even eagle flew;

And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Kite-flying is as close as many of us can, or wish to, come to the experience of physically controlling an air-borne object. It does require patience and a certain amount of determination. One day someone will create a kite that you can get into the air on your own, without needing a bored parent or sibling to launch it for you. Also, a kite whose control lines didn’t get tangled would be a great innovation. Sadly, kite-flying has been out of fashion for some time and many children prefer the artificial thrill of simulated flying on their tablet or computer. Perhaps adults who remember the Peter Powell stunt kite can take a lead, get out into the fresh air and show their children or grandchildren what they are missing.

Ten Ways to Improve your Discoverability

Self-publishing, discoverability and commercial success

Aside from the self-satisfaction derived from communicating thoughts and ideas, most writers are also striving for critical and commercial success. A survey of authors at Digital Book World 2014 found that their number one priority was to publish a book that people will buy and, secondly, to build a career as a writer, sharing stories with others. Attaining success is not easy and, for a self-publishing author, it presents a particular challenge.

In my previous blog I highlighted five barriers to self-publishing success and showed how these could be overcome. I emphasised that, firstly, you have to demonstrate knowledge of your audience, then select an appropriate subject matter and, most obviously perhaps, write well. Add the assistance of an experienced editor and good design for both the cover and the internal layout and these factors combined will give you a great opportunity to maximise your success as a writer.

Unfortunately just removing these barriers is not enough. You now possess a beautifully crafted book, of which you are rightly proud, but you need to get it read, reviewed, discussed and debated. This is where discoverability comes in.

Discoverability is about making sure your title stands out from all the others competing for attention; and it is a very crowded and noisy marketplace. In the UK alone a new book is published every 20 minutes. This over-saturation of the market poses a daunting challenge for a self-publisher, as you have to ensure that your book finds its audience and that your readers find you. Your voice has to be heard so that your potential readers know your book exists.

Discoverability is down to the publisher or, in this case you as self-publisher, and it requires considerable effort. The reader’s role in the discovery process is, by comparison, somewhat passive. They will react to stimuli that provoke interest and thus learn about the existence of your book. As publisher you have to provide that stimulation and make the reader’s discovery an easy and inevitable process that then converts into a sale.

Books sell by a combination of active promotion and word of mouth. Promotion primes the process by drawing the attention of not only readers but also other influencers such as reviewers, bloggers and reader communities such as Goodreads. The ideal situation is created when, as more people read your book, like it, talk about it and then recommend it to others, the velocity of discoverability increases with more readers drawn into a virtuous circle that propels your book to commercial success.

But what are the steps towards discoverability? Although promotion is one of the cornerstones for commercial success it is a part of a much broader marketing activity. Marketing starts early in the process that is publishing your book. It is about understanding markets, defining your target audience, creating an audience development plan (which PPS can help you with) and identifying influencers such as the leading bloggers, reading communities, Twitter accounts, Facebook groups, and so forth that are interested in your genre/subject area.

Promotion is concerned with getting the message about your book to your target market and those influencers: enhancing discoverability.

Finally comes sales, the activity required to turn a lead into a sale. This will include demonstrating a USP – why your book is a ‘must-have’ rather than a ‘might-like’ – and the provision of discounts, offers and negotiation with retailers.

In marketing terms the complete selling process is frequently described as a funnel that represents, in sequence from the broad top of the funnel to its narrow tip: Awareness–Interest–Desire–Action.  Discoverability is concerned with that very first step, showing readers that your title exists. Solving this challenge is crucial and that means creating awareness among your audience. It is unlikely that more than a few readers will find you by serendipity or accident. Therefore, the process needs to be proactive and you have to take your book to the readers.

Andrew Rhomberg, the founder of Jelly Books (www.jellybooks.com), has identified five ways in which readers are stimulated to discover books beyond simple perusal of the Amazon or newspaper bestseller lists. These are:

·         Serendipitous discovery—the random stumbling over a book;

·         Social discovery—word of mouth and trusted recommendations;

·         Distributed discovery—discovering books from sources of distribution such as book reviews, conferences, blogs, etc.;

·         Data-driven discovery—books marketed to readers through data, such as apps or adverts personalised based on shopping habits or previous purchases;

·         Incentivized discovery—book giveaways, contest rewards, promotions, etc.

Consideration of these channels can help with your promotion plan as you determine how you can influence the discovery process.

The first thing to do is to put yourself in the shoes of the reader. Where do you find out about the books you like to read? Where do you search for these books? How do you search? Which of the five discovery channels above do you use most frequently, or infrequently? What is it about a book that catches your attention? How do you find out about new authors?

Many questions can be asked but the purpose of this activity is to identify how your readers behave. It continues and extends the ‘Need to know your audience’ that I highlighted when considering barriers to success. Having mapped this behavior in an audience development plan you can then more tightly focus your promotional activity.

So here are some tips and ideas.

TEN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DISCOVERABILITY

11)      Your personal website

Effective promotion for a self-publishing writer starts with the creation of a personal website that features you as the author and provides a showcase for you and your writing. You can engage a web-designer but at PPS we know that it is feasible to construct your own site quickly and easily using one of the many free or low-cost options, such as Weebly or Wordpress. If you do only one thing to enhance discoverability this should be it.

22)      Get active on social media

Your website should be supplemented by widespread use of social media promoting you and your books. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and others can all be used to build a presence, generate interest and develop a following. The emphasis here is on proactivity. It is not sufficient to expect readers to discover you via a Google search. Readers normally search by title or author, which indicates that they are already know what they are looking for.

33)      Build contacts

One advantage of establishing an interested audience is that you can build a database of contacts and use this to communicate directly with these people in future. Obtain email and contact details as a minimum and add more data if you can, although there is a balance between maximizing your data gathering and turning away readers. A list of influencers and potential customers is a valuable asset. Regular communication with them ensures you maximize opportunities for promotion.

44)      Blogging

Regular blogging and blog tours are an important part of the promotion process. You are a writer so this should be easy! Offering opinion, providing comment and insight as well as responding to other blogs will raise your profile. There is a lot of information available on the web that suggests how you can use blogs to good effect. At PPS we monitor our website analytics and have noticed that regular blogging significantly increases website engagement.

55)      Community websites

Active participation in relevant reader community websites will grow your presence and build audience contact points. Use your blogs and website to facilitate the development of your own online reader community. This offers an opportunity for readers to gather, socialize and share their thoughts. Traditional publishers use this concept to establish a direct rapport with their readers, as do successful self-publishing authors.

66)      Offline activities

Authors have traditionally used book festivals to promote themselves and increase their profile. Although usually the preserve of traditional publishers who want to highlight their ‘stable’ of authors, festivals and other events provide an opportunity for the self-publisher too. Depending on the nature of your book these can include attending local interest societies, a reading at your local bookshop or library and school events. Such events lend themselves to printed books but it is possible, with some imagination, to promote your ebook effectively too through these kind of activities.

77)      Data

Website and social media sites can provide a lot of useful data and analytics about usage of your sites by visitors. It is possible to track the behavior of readers, their interests, buying habits and purchasing activity. Accessing and considering this information can indicate what is, or is not, generating interest and enable you to fine tune your web presence in order to maximize engagement with readers and influencers.

88)      Incentives

Offering readers an incentive to engage with your site or provide information such as email addresses is a classic way of driving more traffic towards you and your books. Sample chapters, free ebooks, free downloads of ancillary material, or even competitions, are all examples of incentives that can attract attention and encourage potential readers and customers.

99)      Reader devices

Unless you have decided only to publish in printed form it is important that your ebooks are compatible with the wide variety of reader devices available. Whether an ereader, smartphone, iPad, laptop or tablet your book should be available and look its best. At PPS we have seen many ebooks that are poorly laid-out or incompatible for certain devices. This applies to your promotional tools as well as to the book itself as readers will miss the discoverability opportunity if their device is not supported or the ebook is of low quality.

110)  Building sales advances

The principle objective should be to have sufficient advanced orders and sales leads to sell enough books on publication that you cover the cost of production. To achieve this you have to plan your discoverability campaign well in advance of publication. Traditional publishers have always done this, positioning their authors and books to maximum advantage so awareness and interest have been aroused and a desire created among potential readers. The successful outcome is a large pre-order and customers desperate to get hold of a copy of the book on the day of release. As a self-publisher you need to work on discoverability from the start and thus maximize your potential for commercial success.

And finally…

Commitment and persistence does pay. Review your audience development plan regularly, update it and add to it. Promotion should be frequent and regular, particularly so within social media and among online communities where acknowledgement is often ephemeral and your presence can be forgotten quickly.

Valentine's Day Advice from Heath Robinson

With Valentine’s Day almost upon us some words of wisdom on the subject of love and romance may be helpful for those looking to use St Valentine as an excuse to ‘pop the question’. Words to the Wise has the perfect guide for old-fashioned men who prefer to do the popping themselves (rather than waiting for a Leap Year and hoping that their partner does the popping for them). The advice in How to be a Perfect Husband by W. Heath Robinson and K.R.G. Browne certainly stands the test of time. The book covers everything from selecting a mate, courtship and proposal, the wedding and then married life, having children and finally the challenges of marriage for the middle aged.

William Heath Robinson was clearly a romantic old soul. Indeed, as Geoffrey Beare points out in his Foreword to our Heath Robinson titles:

Heath Robinson received much teasing from his family about the choice of subject for the second book, How to be a Perfect Husband, but looking back over his cartoons one finds that romance and courtship had been among his most frequently chosen subjects, from early ‘Cupid’ cartoons to such pictures as ‘The Coquette’ and ‘Stolen Kisses’ which were repro­duced in Absurdities in 1934.

Here are some selected extracts to whet the appetite for further invaluable guidance from Heath Robinson and Browne. As How to be aPerfect Husband is now available as an ebook you can get your hands on this vital pre-reading before Saturday. Firstly, we have the authors’ ideas for courtship and, in particular, for attracting her interest by sharing your beloved’s interests:

Is she an ardent swimmer, counting that day wasted on which she does not astound the onlookers with her skilful trudgeon? Then he must conquer his natural distaste for water in any form, master the rudiments of the breast-stroke, and flounder manfully beside her. (By the way, may I draw the attention of all to the Heath Robinson Bathing-Suit for Evening Wear, designed for formal aquatic occasions? Though we cannot hope to outshine the peacock, we can at least look pretty snappy as we stand poised at the water’s edge, bronzed and fit and the cynosure of all eyes.)

Another good way of attracting a woman’s interest is to give her things – pearls, small yachts, two-seaters, mink coats, and the like. The youth who cannot afford such gestures can try his luck with packets of cigarettes or bunches of cow-parsley; but naturally he will not get such quick results. As for the swain whose means will not permit him to lay even a bag of acid-drops at the feet of his adored, I can only advise him to take her for a series of moonlight walks. True, the British moon is seldom there when needed for this purpose, while in recent years it has been greatly over-advertised by dance-band vocalists with their mouths full (apparently) of suet; but the pale orb of night (copyright in all countries, including that little pinkish bit between Siam and China) can still be blamed for a good many announcements in The Times.

However, the nervous swain may be unsure that his romantic feelings are reciprocated by the object of his affection. Heath Robinson and Browne can help with this too:

Personally, I hold that the Tapioca Test is as good a method as any of deciding this vital question. The young man has only to take the girl out to dinner and at the appropriate moment offer her tapioca. The girl, naturally, will refuse with a delicate shudder, whereupon her cavalier should observe casually:  “No? Now, I could never marry a girl who didn’t like tapioca.” This is the crucial moment, for if the wench replies: “Oh, yeah?” and asks for a banana, it is clear that she is still heart-whole and fancy-free. If, however, she hesitates for about three seconds, and then says shyly: “On second thoughts, Mr. Dumbell, I think I will have some tapioca. It’s so delightfully vitaminous, isn’t it?” then her companion can fling up his hat and rejoice, for he has found True Love at last.

Once a man is sure his beloved is open to offers, he can contemplate making a proposal. Here again K.R.G. Browne provides valuable insight into the modern method of plighting one’s troth:

As to the actual manner of the proposal, this has changed considerably in the past hundred years. In the Victorian age, when men’s features lurked unsuspected behind a zareba of whisker, and the bustle was more of a garment than a habit, it took the form of a lengthy oration, delivered usually from the knees and prefaced by a gift of hollyhocks – or whatever flower it is that signifies to the initiated: “I’m that way about you, Baby.” Beginning: “Miss Throttlebutt, you cannot, I venture to believe, be wholly insensible of the nature of the sentiments I have long entertained towards you…” and ending, rather hoarsely: “…so let me implore you, dear Miss Throttlebutt – dare I call you Susan? – to put an end to my suspense and make me the happiest man in England – nay, in all Europe! – by bestowing upon me the inexpressible honour of your hand in marriage”, it lasted a full twenty-five minutes and did no good to the knees of the trousers.

But things are very different today. The modern suitor cannot absent himself from his office long enough to do the thing in the grand Victorian manner, while no modern girl can sit motionless and mum-chance for more than five minutes at a time. The modern proposal, therefore, is a brisk and business-like affair, averaging little more than a minute and a half from question-pop to troth-plight.

The direct method of attack, of course, is still the best: “Marry me?” “Yup,” Many young men, however, are compelled by circumstances, shyness, or an impediment in their speech to approach the subject in a more round-about manner; and it is for the benefit of such that Mr. Heath Robinson – as kindly a man as ever refrained from kicking a stray cat – has devised and illustrated divers methods whereby tongue-tied swains (though not necessarily divers; dentists, deans, and even dukes will find them useful, too) can convey to the Only Girl in the World that they are simply cuckoo about her.

To find out what Heath Robinson’s methods are for shy young men to propose I recommend that you purchase a copy of How to be a Perfect Husband (available from Amazon and all other good ebook retailers). A quick read before Saturday will ensure that your Valentine’s Day is everything you might hope for. Also, on the day that the film Fifty Shades of Grey opens in cinemas, many will prefer to turn to a more gentle approach to wooing a partner. Indeed, in How to be a Perfect Husband, Heath Robinson and Browne make it clear that they are strongly against wife beating (and, of course, husband beating too)!

A Lucky Find, a Free Vintage Needlework Gift Pack, a Prize Draw and some Pompoms!

One of my favourite tasks here at RHE Media is searching for interesting and relevant out-of-copyright titles to add to our Vintage Words of Wisdom list. However, sometimes the books we unearth are not suitable for ebook conversion, often because the illustrations are not of sufficient quality. This is the case with two titles I acquired recently – Needlework and Crafts by Irene Davison, Agnes M. Miall and R.K. & M.I.R. Polkinghorne and Stitch Patterns & Designs for Embroidery by Anne Brandon-Jones. Both of these titles contain a great deal of useful information on embroidery and other crafts. The contents of Needlework and Crafts includes everything from plain sewing and hand embroidery through dressmaking, mending, crochet and knitting, to crafts such as gesso-work, poker-work,  leather work and basketry. Sadly, the illustrations are poor and don’t scan well, which is a shame.

On the upside, there was a nice surprise at the back of the Needlework and Crafts book – an envelope containing 10 gift transfers. These are iron-on transfers of a range of designs that were very popular in the 1920s. The designs are pretty, as you can see from the illustration at the top of this post and the following example.

Our aim with the Vintage Words of Wisdom titles is to make wise words from the past more widely available again as ebooks. Therefore, I have selected some useful and interesting content from Needlework and Crafts and Stitch Patterns & Designs for Embroidery, and added this to a section from our edition of Lillie London’s NeedleworkBook, to create a Vintage Needlework Gift Pack. The Gift Pack includes scans of some of the transfers I found at the back of Needlework and Crafts as well as the section of the book that relates to these transfers.

To request a copy of the free Gift Pack please register with us by completing the Registration Form and click on ‘Craft’ in the list of topics of interest. The Gift Pack PDF will be sent to you by email.

All those who register with us to receive the free Gift Pack will also be entered into a Free Prize Draw to win our office copy of Needlework and Crafts with the 10 iron-on transfers in the back. One lucky winner will be selected on 29^th March 2015 (when British Summer Time begins and we can look forward to longer and warmer days). Register soon to be included in this free prize draw.

In the midst of winter gloom and post-Christmas, my thoughts turn to spring and to the next holiday, which is Easter. My family often come to me for lunch on Easter Sunday and there are gifts and an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. This year I am planning to revive a childhood craft skill, inspired by Project 77 and Lillie London Lesson on creating wool toys for children in our edition of LillieLondon’s Needlework Book. When I was at primary school there was a craze for making wool pompoms by winding odd bits of multi-coloured wool around cardboard circles. It was a fad that was probably inspired by the children’s TV programme Blue Peter (I think Lesley Judd made Flumps using pompoms) and we spent hours winding wool and experimenting with different effects by tying in a variety of colours at intervals during the wind.

I was therefore both amused and pleased to find that Lillie London had included a project in her book to create chicks and bunnies for children using these wool pompoms. It hadn’t occurred to me as a child to trim the pompoms into different shapes and use different sizes of pompom together to create animals. It will be fun to create Easter gifts using this technique and I have included the project and lesson from the book in the free Vintage Needlework Gift Pack so you can have a go too.

For a nostalgic indulgence, here is a link to some clips of children’s TV from the 1970s and 1980s, including Blue Peter. Sadly I couldn’t find a video of Lesley Judd making pompom Flumps but there are several episodes of Blue Peter from the 1970s on YouTube.

http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/childrens/bbc_a-l.html

How to Boost Wellbeing through Hobbies and Activities

At this time of year, after the excesses of Christmas and because of the cold dark January days, our thoughts naturally turn to our own wellbeing. We book holidays so that we can look forward to sunshine and relaxation, we go on diets or join a gym to improve our health and we take up hobbies to sustain our mental and physical wellbeing during winter days.

According to research done by the New Economics Foundation (nef) there are five ways to wellbeing http://issuu.com/neweconomicsfoundation/docs/five_ways_to_well-being?e=0/1034984 With a little thought it is possible to apply these five ways to most hobbies and activities to demonstrate that they boost wellbeing. For example, photography is a very popular hobby and research also shows that photography is a great way to support wellbeing:

Connect – social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing so taking up photography as a hobby, joining a camera club, sharing your photographs with family, friends and using social media like Pinterest and Flickr, taking part in competitions and so forth are all great ways to maintain existing relationships and to create new ones.

Be Active - Exercise is essential for slowing age-related cognitive decline and for promoting wellbeing generally. Photography provides many opportunities to get outside in the fresh air and take exercise.

Take Notice - Studies have shown that being aware of what is taking place in the present directly enhances your well-being and savouring ‘the moment’ can help to reaffirm your life priorities. Photography is all about taking notice and capturing the moment.

Learn - Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life. Taking up photography as a hobby provides great opportunities for learning. We hope that our photography titles will provide interactive exercises that promote active learning.

Give - Research into actions for promoting happiness has shown that committing an act of kindness once a week over a six-week period is associated with an increase in wellbeing. There are many case studies that show how photography can be used to give something back to the community. Photography is now an integral part of a great many social and community projects and can therefore be seen as an act of giving in many instances. Also, on a very basic level, sharing photographs with family and friends gives great pleasure to both the photographer and the recipient.

Another example of five ways to wellbeing is inspired by the wonderful HenPower project developed in Gateshead  https://www.facebook.com/henpowerproject It is clear that this project, designed to encourage older people to become involved in keeping chickens, improves wellbeing in all five areas:

Connect – keeping chickens has helped the ‘Hensioners’ wellbeing by reducing their isolation and depression. HenPower actively encourages people to connect with other members and to take part in chicken-related activities.

Be Active – as well as advice on practical hen-keeping, which involves physical activity, the HenPower project also includes other hen-based activities like music, art and craft and even dance. Having a pet to care for means you have to get up and get active and physical activity is one of the best ways to improve your feelings of wellbeing.

Take Notice – there are plenty of opportunities to savour the moment and take notice when caring for hens. Taking time to watch your chickens search for food, have dust baths, interact with each other and with you will provide opportunities to notice that hens have personalities, they are not stupid, they make caring mothers and they are a social animal that has complex relationships.

Learn – there is plenty to learn when you start keeping hens. You can learn from others by actively engaging in the hen-keeping community and you can learn from books such as our own edition of Poultry-keeping and from other sources too.

Give – HenPower is clearly an act of giving to older people but the people involved have the opportunity to give their knowledge and experience to others – providing words of wisdom on keeping hens based on their own experience. Also, on a very basic level, having pets provides lots of opportunities for giving care to animals, which is, of course, good for their wellbeing, but having something to care for is good for the carer’s wellbeing too. It is also clear that the HenPower hens give a great deal to their carers in many different ways. For example, it is estimated that isolation increases the chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 50% (The Campaign to End Loneliness). The hens provide many opportunities to connect with others and reduce isolation. The hens also give older people a purpose in life, they reduce depression and give laughter and entertainment.

Of course, you could combine your hobbies by taking and sharing photographs of your chickens (we have some lovely photographs of beautiful chickens on our Pinterest Self-sufficiency and Keeping Chickens board http://uk.pinterest.com/WttWBooks/self-sufficiency-and-keeping-chickens ).

All our books are designed to support wellbeing in one way or another. Also, of course, there is the pleasure to be had from reading itself, whether it be reading about the exciting airborne adventures of Amy Johnson in Sky Roads of the World and the early aviation pioneers in The Boys’ Book of Aeroplanes, or the more down-to-earth but delightful description of working on a smallholding in The Cottage Farm by F.E. Green. This year will see the publication of our new titles in photography, health and other topics relating to wellbeing. We are also striking out in new ventures including Professional Publishing Services for authors who want to self-publish their work, and our project to sell high-quality prints of some of the lovely illustrations in our Vintage Words of Wisdom titles (see the new ‘Prints’ page). So come and visit us often to see what’s new from Words to the Wise and RHE Media. If you would like to receive a regular email newsletter then please register with us.

Happy New Year! We look forward to helping to adding life to your years and years to your life in 2015.

Using and Maintaining Your Vintage Tools

Like many house-owners I possess some of the tools essential for sorting out problems and making minor improvements around the house. Although this ‘work’ may not extend much beyond hanging pictures, changing plugs or tightening hinges and catches, the quantity of the equipment is considerable.

There is the ubiquitous power drill plus assorted screwdrivers, hammers, pliers, saws, spanners and Allen keys. And then there are gimlets, spirit levels, a power sander, set squares, gauges, wrenches, a power screwdriver, adjustable spanners, mallets, chisels, files, pincers and planes. Note the use of the plural – it seems one is never enough.

After rummaging through one toolbox yesterday to find an appropriately sized electrical screwdriver I started wondering how and why I had amassed this collection. I’m a typical, average, would-be handyman and like to think I can handle those basic repair jobs, but rarely have I embarked on anything more ambitious. So why all the tools? I concluded that, like many others, I cannot pass an opportunity to acquire another piece of kit even it is a just-in-case purchase. I realised I can justify this too. I remember very clearly as a youngster watching my father at work with a plane – he was quite good at making and fixing things around the house and garden – and how he impressed upon me the importance of having the right tool for the job. So that explains the multiple screwdrivers, hammers, etc. A specific job required a specific instrument. However, perhaps what I failed to pick up from him was that you have also to know how to apply the right tool in the right way if you want to get the right result! But I can work on that.

My collection consists mainly of modern tools of variable quality but I also have acquired hand tools from street markets – there is a particularly good stall in Bridport run by the Dawsons, who also sell vintage tools online at www.secondhandtools.co.uk/about.htmfew. A few tools were handed down through the family. My grandfather was a joiner and a great-grandfather was a skilled machinist. Like many professional artisans they had their own sets of tools, many made by themselves and a few of these, following disbursement, have found their way to me.

Despite my lack of experience and ability there is something special about holding a well-used, hand-crafted and beautiful hand tool. You hold it knowing it is truly unique. Add the family connection and there is a little magic at play. For a moment I am suddenly Grinling Gibbons!

Older hand tools are very collectable and there are numerous dealers and specialists, particularly in the UK and USA, who will buy and sell. I presume the buyers fall into one of two camps. There are those who just like vintage tools for their beauty and distinctiveness and those who see them as a useful, working tool for their workshop. I think it is particularly rewarding to see these tools remain in use and, with appropriate care, their longevity is assured. It is not unlike the perennial debate concerning classic cars – use them or cocoon them? There are those cars maintained in concourse condition but which remain unmoving, parked in an environment where the temperature and humidity is managed carefully and the public, if admitted, stand behind a rope. Of course they are a wonder to the eye and seemingly factory-fresh but there is something missing and it seems almost unfair to leave them there. [Rather like an animal caged in the zoo I believe they long to be given their freedom.] In my opinion the best cars are those that are driven as intended. Of course they are well looked after and maintained but they go out in the rain and the revs are pushed up towards the red when the opportunity arises. This approach recognises that they were built for a purpose and that was certainly not to remain static in a museum or collection.

The same applies to good tools. They deserve to be handled; to carve, gouge, saw, plane and hammer. Whatever your skill level or ambition cherish them, but use them.

If you need more advice then take a look at our Vintage Words of Wisdom title WoodworkTools and How to Use Them written by William Fairham and first published in 1925. Despite its ninety years it is packed with information on how to use your hand tools and maintain them in peak condition.

As this is the last blog post before the holidays, we would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Visit us in 2015 for more words of wisdom.

How to be a Motorist? Some Words to the Wise from the 1930s

In 1935 the driving test became compulsory for anyone wishing to hold a British driving licence and a rite of passage for adults, young and old alike, was established.

In the early days of motoring drivers were obliged to hold a licence but this was purchased at the local post office for 5 shillings (25p) and no test was involved. Anyone wishing to drive could simply buy a licence and drive off. The only risk was incurring a £5 fine if you failed to sign your licence in the appropriate place. When the test became compulsory the lucky existing licence-holders were considered experienced enough and were not obliged to go through the stress and anxiety of the exam.

It was just a few years later, in 1939, that William Heath Robinson collaborated with K.R.G. Browne to publish a book entitled How to be a Motorist. No doubt inspired by the scenes of the motoring masses – there were over 2 million vehicles on the road by then – and their resultant antics and madness, Heath Robinson addresses all aspects of motoring, from selecting a car through to etiquette on the highway. He explains, aided by numerous amusing illustrations, how the car works, undertaking simple repairs and how to go about touring the continent in your car, perhaps with your caravan attached.

In true Heath Robinson style there are Expandacars for the growing family, portable petrol pumps, and safety streets designed to minimise damage by and to the learner driver.  His imagination is extraordinary but the scenes are readily identifiable and familiar.

Browne’s narrative tackles those perennial topics of concern for the motorist: the law, and the inconsiderate behaviour of all other road-users from pedestrians and cyclists to farm animals!

On the law he says:

It is impossible to be both law-abiding and a car-owner!’, and continues with ‘the many pitfalls that await the free-born Englishman who has the confounded impudence (from the point of view of the policeman, the pedestrian and the cyclist) to be a motorist.

And on other road-users he warns of the unpredictable:

An Indian mahout, abruptly emerging from a side road, should be viewed with grave suspicion, as where there is a mahout there is very apt to be an elephant, than which there is no more damaging animal to be run into.

The book also alerts us to the perils of not paying attention whilst driving. In particular the distraction caused by an attractive member of the opposite sex. One can imagine that the authors would have enjoyed highlighting the distractions we encounter today – mobiles, texting, messaging and complex sat-navs – as well as the continuing lure of the opposite sex!

Much has changed since 1935. The number of vehicles on Britain’s roads has increased ten-fold. Cars are faster, safer, more efficient and more reliable. The driving test is more comprehensive. There are motorways and congestion zones.

Yet many of Heath Robinson and Browne’s observations remain true today. The problems of parking, envious glances at the neighbour’s new car, breakdowns and all those inconsiderate other road users that provoke annoyance and sometimes rage. They certainly recognise the latter for in conclusion they say,

And if, as a result of our labours in the cause of bigger and better motoring, a nationwide improvement in road-manners generally is not very shortly apparent, we shall both be profoundly grieved, but not – let’s face it – intensely surprised.

Here are some links to marvellous Huntley and British Pathé films about the driving test, driving safety and car gadgets from the 1930s. They make it clear why the driving test was necessary and provide a fascinating glimpse into the world of motoring in the early twentieth century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ysancYiow

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/safety-first-no-1/query/Motorists

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/safety-first-no-2/query/Driving

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/safety-first-and-last/query/Driving

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/from-crocks-to-comfort/query/Driving+test

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/essex-mobile-police-in-action/query/Motorists

How to be a Motorist is one of four titles published in the 1930s by Heath Robinson and K.R.G. Browne. The other three books (also available from Words to the Wise – see our Products page) are How to Live in a Flat, How to be a Perfect Husband and How to Make your Garden Grow. In addition, for the driver who also golfs, we offer you Humours of Golf by Heath Robinson.