Please don't ask.......

Dear fellow bloggers

Much as I would like to give free copies of my new book to all you excellent people who follow and contribute -- or to just some of you, who might think of yourselves as the deserving poor -- I fear that commercial realities get in the way of charitable instincts.

Complimentary review copies have already gone out to magazines and newspapers, and I have already gone over my quota.  (Most of those copies will of course not result in reviews, but that's the way of the world.)

My new book is published by a small publisher (Greencroft Books -- namely me) at full commercial risk.  That's quite a rare situation in Wales, where maybe 90% of books published nowadays are published with grant aid -- in the form of publishing grants, writers' bursaries, design grants, editing grants etc.  In other words, publishing operations are underwritten by the taxpayer, and it is almost impossible for a "mainstream" Welsh publisher to make a loss on a book, no matter how few copies are sold.  As for me, within the next few days I have an extremely large printing bill to pay, and sales revenue is my only source of income.  With the large retailers and the distributors now asking for vast discounts (60%  is becoming the norm even for small quantities) publishing is now a very hazardous business, especially for small publishers.

I'm not complaining.  In fact, I quite enjoy living life on a knife's edge.  But this is a high-risk business.

The truth of the matter is that I need to sell as many books as possible at full cover price, to offset the very marginal profits coming from trade sales.   So please buy the book from  me, and not from Amazon or WHS!  The button is on the right,  and endless pleasure is just a click or two away........

I'll guarantee to get your copy to you in the week of publication (not earlier than that, since I must not upset the book trade).

So please don't ask for a free copy.  You will be disappointed.

Brian