Last week I headed up to Sydney to meet the publishers New Holland (can you believe it? We’ve spent a year putting a book together but never actually sized one another up) and discuss our plans for viral marketing, future books and eventual world domination. The occasion was an Author Evening which meant a whole group of us got to chat about writing and publishing for a good couple of hours. And a wonderful time was had by all, not least because of the generous platters of drinks and nibblies on offer.

I also took the opportunity to head into a few Sydney bookshops and sign some books. Though I tried hard to be inconspicuous, I suspect the first-time author is a dead give-away — running their eyes longingly over of the New Releases section (wishful thinking really, unless you’re Bill Bryson or Bryce Courtenay), then checking the relevant shelves to see whether the book is displayed prominently. Apparently some brave — or audacious — authors have been known to go into bookstores and shift their books with the covers facing outwards, or even, more cheekily, to put them in the New Releases section.  Not that I would ever dream of doing such a thing.

It turns out that I’ll be in Sydney again soon for some sort of special event, so watch this space.