When I first became an author I must have had only the vaguest idea of what the publishing world really looked like, the scale of the business globally and the amazing constellation of specialists that make up the industry. I didn't think much about it, it seemed to me you thought of a story, typed it up, sent it to a publisher, they sent you a cheque, and the book appears on bookshop shelves. Just like that, as someone once said. Of course we all know it’s rarely like that – even for JK you-know-who.

In March I attended my fourth London Book Fair . . .