The last bookshop

I will be sorry to see the end of bookshops. They have been friendly places: and brave too, stocking books the booksellers knew they would never sell, but giving them accommodation, heat and light before returning them to their publisher for a credit. I feel a bit guilty too that in a tiny way I may be contributing to their demise. It is not my fault that most of my books are now sold through Amazon, which is not particularly friendly but is efficient at selling world-wide. All the same, I have spurned offers to join the Organisation of Latterday Luddites, decent people though its members are, and consider that its slogan, Gutenberg Lives, is not really accurate. I agree that, looking around one of the great book supermarkets, say Waterstones in Piccadilly, London, conventional book marketing does have a look of permanence. How could all this disappear? But they said the same about the British empire. Sorry about that. But there will still be secondhand bookshops. Very friendly places.
Hot news. My publisher Solidus has entered my most recent novel, Beyond Reason, for the People's Book Prize. This is a new prize with entries restricted to books from independent publishers. So no conglomerates. You can read about it at www.peoplesbookprize.com and, if you are so inclined, vote for your favourite book.