Dear Bookseller,
We – writers, readers, booksellers – are told over and over again what a strange time it is for the publishing industry. We’re told about the threat of digital, about e-readers, about market forces. We’re told how much the business has changed. What we don’t focus on, perhaps, is the one major way that it hasn’t.
That’s you, the bookseller. We’ve always relied on you, because you’re how readers get books into their hands. There’s no marketing plan or media strategy stronger than the sheer force of actually having somebody excited about a book or author, and telling those people looking for something to read about them. It’s as simple as that.
Which is why I’m writing to you. Some of you I’ve met already, and told you in person how much I appreciate you getting behind my books. A great many of you I haven’t, so this is my chance.
Thanks. Your support means the world to me.
HarperCollins would likely murder me if I didn’t also now mention my new novel, so I will: it’s called No Harm Can Come To A Good Man, and it’s out on May 22nd. It’s a thriller about where we’re heading; about how increasingly digital lifestyles can threaten to change our world for the worse. If you’d like to read it, I’m sure that they can sort you out with a copy. I’m proud of it, and I hope that you like it.
But regardless, the point of this was to thank you. So, again, and from the bottom of my heart, thanks for your support. Keep on doing what you’re doing, because it’s the most invaluable thing in publishing.
James Smythe
No Harm Can Come to a Good Man
James Smythe
978-0-00-754190-4
22 May 2014
The Borough Press
£16.99, HB
