The catch

You might think, reasonably, that a writer's work ends when he, or she, finishes writing his, or her, book. This was the view of Maggie Gee. So it came as a shock when her editor at HarperCollins turned down her fifth book because not enough people had heard of her and this was an age when "profile" counted. Like many writers, Maggie had shown no special interest in the "literary set". She had concentrated on writing and her home life. Maggie's dismal encounter with her mainstream publisher is told in her new book, My Animal Life, and quoted in the Guardian. She is now published by a small independent publisher. Many writers who now find the world of mainstream publishers impenetrable have done the same. I am among them. The publisher of my new novel, Five Deadly Words, is Solidus. The book is sold either by direct order or though Amazon, which after all is the world's biggest bookshop. I believe the best publicity is by word of mouth. Distribute some copies of your book to people you know to be readers in the hope that they will like the book and recommend it to a friend. It takes time to show results but be patient.

My new book

My new novel, Five Deadly Words, has just been published. This is the eleventh to get into print. The first, The Money Tree, was the easiest. I sent the ms off to Hamish Hamilton and three weeks later I had a letter inviting me to call in. I came away with an advance of £100, quite a respectable sum in those days. Getting published was easy, I decided. Silly me. These days mainstream publishers would rather receive a tax demand in the post than a ms from an author. Fortunately there is growing number of smaller publishers who retain the personal link with their writers. My publisher is Solidus, run by a clever woman called Helen Miles who uses new developments in printing to keep costs down. Five Deadly Words is sold though Amazon, the world's biggest bookshop, which thoughtfully also stocks almost every one of my previous books. More on this later.