It is difficult being a self-published author without a major publisher behind you. Despite the encouragement of friends, in the big wide world of e-books and print-on-demand publishing, the simple fact is that unless Amazon decides to promote you, it is a dispiriting process. Not many realise the power that is held by this electronic retailer for those wishing to market their writing – and crucially, how important is each and every review that an author receives. Receiving an honest and constructive review is like genuine gold dust. To everybody who has previously reviewed my books, a huge thank you. If you have finished reading this book, please do take a moment to go to the Amazon page where you bought it and write me a review. It makes a massive difference to me and represents, ultimately, the difference between success and failure. In advance of you doing this, I would like to say ‘thank you’.
I couldn’t have kept going if I had still been a twenty-five-year-old (I wish!) and needed to rely on the income from my writing alone to support a family. It has been a real lesson that despite the amazing backing of family and friends, it is tough to get recognised and sell sufficient books to form the basis of a career. My wife, Ginny, my two sons and my immediate family have been enormously encouraging and I couldn’t have written this without their support. Also my friends and former work colleagues have been fabulous. I apologise if I have pestered any of you too much both to buy and, indeed, to review my books. I continue to find social media an unnaturally invasive medium through which to engage with so many people that I have never met or are likely to meet. Again, if my tweets or posts have either been tardy or off the mark, I can only seek your forgiveness and patience. I am trying!! I reached #1 on Amazon’s best seller list for the Crime Mystery & Thriller category for six weeks with my second book, The Dossier. Let’s hope that readers enjoy The Reluctant Trader even more!
Finally, I learnt the hard way with my first book that an author is not the best person to proofread their own material! With The Reluctant Trader, I am blessed with a team who have displayed genuine excitement in their quest to help ensure that most, if not all, my typos and grammatical errors have been corrected. Autocorrect is my worst own enemy on this task but I hope, with the combined help of Jules, Molly, Rory, Ginny and especially Saul, with his red and black pens, that I have found most of them. Thank you to all my proofreaders.
If you enjoy my writing and have other comments to give me, please do visit my website at www.davidnrobinson.com and send me an email. I will try my very best to reply!