Charles N Palmer

Good morning from a warm, cloudy Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Last Sunday, I said I would relaunch a campaign to encourage more reviews for ‘Beyond The Shining Portals’.

That statement was completely upended on Friday.

On Thursday at 1.17 pm, an email dropped into my inbox.

Hi Charles N

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On Friday afternoon, I had a moment to read the email in full. I signed up on the authorwebsites.bookbub.com site. It all seemed...

Good morning from a cool sunny Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Book promotion can be a dirty business.

Mark Dawson, a self-published author, bought 400 copies of his book, The Cleaner, to boost its position on the Sunday Times bestseller list. He was motivated to do this after seeing his book at number 13 in the midweek chart. His book briefly reached number 8, but he was subsequently removed from the list after admitting to the purchase and its intent to influence the chart's...

Good morning from a hot sunny Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

There’s classical music playing in the background. In the foreground, there’s the hiss of milk being boiled, the sharp tapping of coffee grounds being discarded, the clatter of crockery and cutlery.

As I order my Americano (with hot milk on the side), the barista asks me how I am.

“Good,” I reply. “I was imagining I was in Italy.”

“Ooh, I want to go to Italy and visit the mountains!”

“You will see them if you fly over the...