A deal for readers

[Richard Herley]

I have a deal for readers.

One of the least appealing aspects of independent authorship is the need for self-promotion. I'd rather be writing than puffing my own books. Frankly it's better all round if satisfied readers recommend them.

My first published novel won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for 1978 (that shows how long I've been in the game). Now you may set little store by literary prizes, but the Holtby was judged by the Royal Society of Literature in London and puts The Stone Arrow in an illustrious company that includes novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, Jim Crace, Nino Ricci, Hilary Mantel, Shiva Naipaul and Anita Desai.

You can download that title for nothing, DRM-free, in various formats, from Smashwords.

My later books are better, especially the ones I have published myself online. This is the link to my Smashwords page.

The deal is as follows. If you post a Smashwords review of any of my novels, I will send you a coupon to download another of your choice at no cost.

To participate, please PM me or send an email via the link here. Send me the text of your review, if you are planning to post one, before you submit it to Smashwords. That way, I'll know you really are the author. Once it has appeared I'll send you your coupon code. I hope you'll like the work enough to post something positive, but you are of course entirely free to say what you like. Since your only reward will be another novel by the same writer, I'm pretty sure this doesn't amount to undue influence – you will only be motivated to write a review if you actually think the book worth discussing and want to read another of mine.

Please don't forget to say which of the novels you'd like. For each extra review you write, you will be entitled to another coupon.

The coupons will be valid for one month from today (that is, until April 26). If this offer is successful, it will be extended.