Book of Islay ready to roll – with a surprise For Argyll bonus

Colonsay publisher, House of Lochar, has just announced that 250 copies of its facsimile edition of the historic The Book of Islay have arrived and distribution has begun.

Over the next few days, Kevin Byrne of House of Lochar, will be circulating everybody who expressed advance interest and will be giving them first refusal on copies at the astonishingly generous price of £35.00 plus postage per copy.

The book weighs all but 2kg so postage is not cheap and will be worse after 6th April when an increase comes into effect.

Mind you, with the cost per copy for advance orders having been expected to be around £50, the actual price now charged by House of Lochar takes the heat out of the postage cost.

But there are two answers to the postage price if you have formally expressed interest in advance.

• You can pay for your copy and its postage now, giving the publisher time to get the advance orders packed up and posted before 6th April.
• You can pay for your copy now and arrange to have it packed up and kept for you to pick up later, by arrangement, in Colonsay. Choose your day well and that could involve a breathtaking Highland Airways flight from Oban airport out to the island and back – and a chance to meet the legendary Kevin Byrne himself.

Anyway, everyone registering interest in advance before 22nd March will be given first refusal to this special offer price of £35 plus P&P; and access to a private payment webpage which cannot be reached from any other website. That carries, at the foot of its information page – on the book and on the delivery options and costs – a drop down menu for you to select the postage option of your choice (added to the basic advance order price of the book). It then has a various secure online payment options.

Anyone with any problems will be given an email to contact Kevin Byrne direct.

House of Lochar will not offer The Book of Islay for normal sale until it has fulfilled its obligations to all confirmed advance purchasers. Once pre-publication activity has been completed, The Book of Islay will be stocked at Roy’s Bookshop in Bowmore on Islay.

It is encouraging that the response to this publishing initiative has been so energetic. Kevin Byrne launched House of Lochar into the adventure as a labour of love for The Book of Islay. He had no idea and less guarantee of the outcome. This has been one of those wonderful occasions where the cliche comes true. He has made his own luck.

The For Argyll Bonus

If you hadn’t heard about this exciting publication until now, or if you’re away this weekend and aren’t online until early next week – and therefore have not registered advance interest or cannot do so before 22nd March, all is not yet lost.

Kevin Byrne has told us that he will do his best to fulfill any late interest on the same special offer basis – for registrations received before 1st April and by mentioning For Argyll.

If this is you, email Kevin Byrne at byrne@colonsay.org.uk and put ‘For Argyll offer on late orders’ in the subject line.

And after 1st April, this offer is toast.