Not the end

Yesterday, an email was sent out to all the Hobart Books' authors explaining our parlous situation. so there is no point pretending now. We have invested thousands of pounds in this venture and made not one penny either for ourselves or our authors. We are losing money hand over fist, selling handfuls of books and, in some cases, losing money on sales.

By default I became responsible for marketing whilst my business partner Adam, did the admin side of things and did so impeccably. So, if the blame for our near demise lies with anyone, then it lies with me.

I have posted extensively on social media and pushed our wares in every way I can think of. Christmas was make or break and sadly the latter has come about. The bottom line is that few people have bought our books. Even the friends and family angle has proved to be of limited value. Hobart cannot survive on good wishes and there have been few enough of those.

So, to the small number of genuine supporters - the ones who actually bought a book - I would like to offer my profound thanks. But sadly, I have learned a lesson about friendship. I have often said to my wife that if I had a friend who was a writer, I'd have every one of their books on my shelf. Indeed I have supported many other writers over the years and I doubt if one has reciprocated.

From now on we will be a digital only publisher. My modest dream has crumbled; I never got to see one of my own books on a shelf in a bookshop.