The whole point of publicity is to raise awareness before an event. Obvious, yes? So it’s just as well I’m not claiming to be a publicist as it’s only when author Nina Bell sent me the following thank you note that I’ve thought to mention last Saturday’s event.

For several years now, Glen Pycraft, the tireless Director of the Guildford Book Festival has asked me to MC the Readers Day they stage as part of the festival each year. It’s possibly one of the easiest – and best – jobs in the world because Karen Weatherly and her team do all the hard work of organizing the day. All I have to do is turn up and be a gob on a stick – something I‘ve never found it too hard to do!

And it would seem I get it right,

“Dear Guy,

Thank you so much for such sympathetic and expert chairing on the

Guildford Book Festival's Readers Day on Saturday. Your questions made

the event a pleasure to participate in. When we arrived in the Green

Room, the authors who had been on before us were commenting on what a good Chair you were, and indeed it turned out to be so!

Thank you, too, for the review you read out, which was lovely. Funnily

enough, we had all been talking about how our covers don't seem to

convey what our books are like. Both Natasha Solomons and Anne Berry

felt that their covers, too, just didn't reflect their books properly,

and Natasha, in particular, felt that a book chain had forced her

publishers to change her cover to something that looked too romantic.

So your first words about my book really struck a chord with us all.

Thank you so much again, with best wishes,

Nina Bell

www.ninabell.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter @ninabellbooks

My Nina Bell books are The Empty Nesters, Lovers & Liars, Sisters In

Law and The Inheritance”