The web hosting Tentmaker has been using moved us to new servers; but in the process did not move our SSL certificate and changed a number of other settings required for the site. We were not adequately informed of this in advance and so could not take steps to prevent problems.
I have now moved the tentmaker site to new hosting.
I apologise for the inconvenience to customers.
If you have made orders in the last two weeks, I advise contacting Phil directly on +44 1782 746879
Health
My health has been problematic for some time. The Parkinson’s progresses slowly with the most noticeable symptoms being an inability to write, a growing problem typing and a difficulty with struggling to remember words when speaking. I still preach on average one service a fortnight but can foresee the day coming when that will not be possible. The other problem is my back. Though a long-standing problem, it became critical in April 2016 when I damaged it badly on a walk. Since then I have had a floppy left foot due to damaged nerves which makes walking uncomfortable. Then in Jan 2016 my back deteriorated due to two compressed disks and stenosis of the lower spine, resulting in my being unable to walk upright or stand. Except for a period of 10-12 weeks last summer this was the situation until a fortnight ago when again I have had some mobility and been able to stand and walk, though standing still is not possible without pain. My hope is that I can now exercise and strengthen the muscles so as to prevent another relapse.
Future plans
All this explains our decision to stop book production, at least as it has been done (sewn-section hardbacks) as this takes too much manual work and dexterity. I am investigating continuing some titles as paperbacks (yes, going over to the dark side!!) but no decision made as yet. We are steadily selling off our current stock and a number of titles have already sold out.
Phil
Over the years we have tried to absorb the rising costs of overseas orders and have subsidised the cost of postage. We now face a requirement that the minimum spend per Mbag despatch has to be £30. This means we have to wait for multiple orders to be processed before a despatch can be made as the normal postage of a small order is around £8 – £10. This means that overseas customers will have to wait until we receive sufficient orders. For customers in the USA, we suggest they check if Reformation Heritage Books or Solid Ground Christian Books have the title in stock and order through them. We are committed to ensuring that our customers get the very best postage rates.
We offer trode terms on almost all our products. The normal terms are 40% discount plus post at cost. This does not apply on sale items where discount may be reduced to 25%. Email for a quotation. Proof of eligibility for trade discount may be requested.
Very reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that it is time to begin running down Tentmaker Publications. The business began when we were in Ireland 23 years ago and over the years we have produced 1,000s of books, each of which required hand folding of the sections on top of all the other work. In recent months a number of factors have come together which have convinced us that the time is approaching when we have to call it a day. Firstly, Phil’s health has deteriorated since the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease two years ago. This leaves him tired and affects his left side making writing very difficult and typing problematic. Secondly, the binders we have used for the past 12 years have encountered difficulties and have had to increase their prices substantially making our books less economic to bind. Finally, we desire that the strength we have be directed in ministry in the church here. Phil retires in Sept. 2017 and his successor will become pastor this November giving us an 11 month handover.
In the short term the effect of this decision will be seen in that most titles will not be reprinted as they go out of stock. We have good stocks of many titles and so will continue selling for some time but expect that over the next two years the range will diminish. There is a possibility that certain titles will be taken on by other publishers and we would be glad to hear from any interested in doing so.
Thank you to all those who have supported us over the years.
Phil & Joy Roberts
We are pleased to announce an addition to our Classic Commentary series with the republication of An Exposition of the Frist Epistle of John by James Morgan. Of this work, C H Spurgeon said:
Dr. Candlish says that this is a work of great ‘practical interest and value,’ and that had it appeared at an earlier date, ‘he might have abstained from issuing’ his own Lectures on this Epistle. We are glad to possess both works.
Those who have read Morgan’s work on Palm 51, The Penitent, published by Tentmaker Publications will need little encouragement to obtain this. Morgan is deeply spiritual and practical, yet easy to read. He served as minister in the central Belfast Presbyterian Church at Fisherwick Place.
We are hoping to have it ready by late May at a retail price of £20.95.The book will be cloth bound with a full colour dust jacket and has 540pp. We are offering a discount to those who pre-order it. Simply email us and we will issue a Paypal invoice to be paid upon delivery of the book.
After a number of weeks of being offline we have finally got our new site up and running. We still have many tweaks to do so please ignore the other posts which contain text with no meaning. We had to take the old site down as the programming language that had been used was susceptible to hacking.
We have a constant battle in trying to keep our shipping costs to a minimum.
UK:
For UK orders we ship post free.
Overseas:
We charge 15% for shipping with a minimum of £5. The cheapest we are able to send a book to the USA airmail is £9 so we are effectively subsidizing customers to the same extent as UK customers. There is another factor and that is that Mbag (the cheapest rate for books airmail) has a minimum weight requirement of 2kg. This means that on a single book we have to include excess packaging to make up the weight. Alternatively we can add a second book for the same shipping cost. We are therefore offering customers overseas a second title at a 25% discount, post free (the 25% being off the cheaper title). Simply order the first title online and then email us with your choice for the second title and we will send you a Paypal invoice for the difference.