Who's Sorry Now?

I’ve been reading a whole lot about e-books and the effect they are having on the big publishers, how Amazon are playing dirty and what the big guns must do to offset the ‘damage’ being caused by the digital age to their profits and their muscular control over the world of publishing. Five years ago I was in my publisher’s office in London where John Hale told me that the publishing industry is controlled by the big five conglomerates covering America, United Kingdom, France, Holland and Australia. He told me there was no chance of my books (hardback) being published by the paperback imprints (houses) because I wouldn’t make them any money: fact of life. I was an unknown quantity, talent and good penmanship didn’t come into it. I remember contacting the producer of the Richard & Judy book show on Channel Four. I was told that if I wanted to get my books published I should get a copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book. I didn’t want to know that seeing as I was an established writer. After reading an article about four years ago where the woman in charge of paperback imprints claiming she wanted more British thriller writers, I contacted her. The reply from someone else was almost exactly the same as that from C4. I replied, pointing out that I was already published and received a further reply from another woman with exactly the same answer. Now Amazon is giving free reign to writers like me and thousands of us around the world, the big hitters are hurting and crying. If they hadn’t operated such a closed, old boy shop and been more amenable to approaches from us bottom feeders in the literary fishpond, they might not be weeping so much now.

I will be putting ROSELLI’S GOLD on a free promotion on April 30th. for two days. With luck this will lift me in the Amazon rankings and result in more sales. Following that, sometime in May I will be promoting A COVERT WAR and putting NORTH SLOPE back on Kindle. And Harlequin now have four of my novels, none of those on Amazon, which they are reading with a view to assessing their potential and making an offer for the paperback rights in North America. I would guess that they might like two of those, but whatever happens, those four books will be available eventually, in paperback and e-book to the buying public. And with no thanks to the UK paperback imprints. Wish me luck.