Well not exactly. But there’s enough of an interested trickle to tell me I’ve hit a nerve with Losing a Pet. Somewhere in the UK a few people have visited their local bookstore and asked them to order a copy. For the last three mornings I’ve had a message from Neilsen Bookdata who, for other publishing virgins like me, helpfully act as an intermediary to save bookstores the hassle of speaking to each of us separately.

A couple of things I never costed in when I started this malarkey – padded envelopes, stamps, plus trips to the PO. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to overheads.

But I remember my mum going on a small business course in the days she thought she might run a guest house, and coming away at the end of the week realising she’s never turn a profit. If I’d sat down and done a business plan at the start I’d have come to the same conclusion.

On the other hand, those big orders may be just around the corner. To date the biggest has been 20 books for the local borders, closely followed by 12 for Cats Protection. But over in Victoria, Australia, there’s talk of ordering 50 books.  I plan to toast the first half century with champagne!