You can guess where this article is going. It will start as an honest attempt to explain why so many newly published books are being ignored in the UK and quickly become a pathetic plea for someone, anyone, to say they loved my book, and would like to buy a copy.

Well, that is not the intention. My purpose is to try and show how stacked the odds are against a writer of niche non-fiction. I am using my books and my experience as an example but there are thousands of writers out there with the same experience.

I used to be a teacher and took early retirement so I could write and give talks. My first book came out in 2022 and my latest, which took me four years to research and write, came out in August. I give talks to various organisations – Arts Society Associations, U3As, Probus, Rotary, Western Front Associations and the like. The talks seem to go down well, and I always sell a few books off them, but both books have been ignored by UK book reviewers.

Take my latest book. I contacted all the mainstream newspapers and magazines and sent copies to many of them. The only email I got back was from the most famous British literary newspaper.

I hope you don't mind this speculative email, but I was walking past the book desk this morning and spotted your book… I don't know if anyone plans to commission a review of it (the fact it's on the book table suggests that it hasn't been picked up yet) but I wanted to mention that I'm looking for extra ads …

Yes, it was from the advertising manager.

More success overseas

I don’t think my book is without merit – I wouldn’t would I, and I have had more interest abroad. In New Zealand the literary editor of the New Zealand Herald came back to me and reviewed the book on her website NZ Booklovers calling it ‘a well-written, well-researched nonfiction work with the excitement of a novel.’ In Australia the literary editor of the Australian recommended my book in a column suggesting books for Father’s Day. In Hawaii the leading online magazine Civil Beat ran a long feature on the book. But in the UK, nothing.

The peril of self-publishing

This is where I have to come clean. My books are self-published. Yup, vanity publishing. And it seems to be that mainstream newspapers and magazines in the UK avoid reviewing books that are self-published.

Of course, following my experience with my first book Utterly Immoral I knew this, so I did everything I could to get a ‘proper’ publisher. The first problem was that most publishers only accept books from literary agents. I wrote to numerous agents with my full book proposal, sample chapter and the like and lots of nicely worded rejections followed.

In retrospect it was so obvious that I wouldn’t be able to find an agent. Who would take on an author who writes one niche nonfiction title every four years. The average lifetime sales of a nonfiction title is about 3,000 copies. For a publisher to breakeven they need to sell nearer 10,000 copies. What are the chances of the agent making any money supporting a non-prolific writer?

So, without an agent I tried to move on to publishers. Most only countenance approaches from agents. But I did have one lead. Quite a prestigious publishing house, run by a member of the House of Lords was interested. I was even invited to the House of Lords for lunch to discuss the book. I was offered a contract on condition that I made a contribution towards the printing and marketing costs. All seemed good, until I was told my share. It was to be £16,000.

So, I went back to my Troubador. They charged less than half of that and the book is my own to market and publicise as I wish.

Literary Festivals

And now I am hit by further problem. I would love to take my book to some of the UK’s top literary festivals. I am an experienced speaker. My book is original and, I believe, interesting. But no, festivals are not interested. They are looking for books which have been well reviewed or come from a prestigious publisher. Well, I fail on both those fronts.

Does it matter

Does it matter that I don’t get any reviews in my home country for my books. I know it shouldn’t. If I told you why it mattered this article would surely turn into that pathetic plea I warned you about at the beginning. So, I better end here.