R&M Publishing is a small, independent publishing house representing a small number of independent authors.

We do this to try to help out these writers, because we know how hard it is to be noticed in the tidal wave of new books that are published every single day.

The Life Of A Writer

Many people simply don’t realize what goes in to writing and publishing a book – after all, it takes a lot less time to read one than it does to create one.

For example, it has to start with an idea – something unique, something personal, something captivating.

Then there is the time that the author puts in to turning that idea into a finished product. And this doesn’t only include the writing, but all of the other activities that must be undertaken before their book can appear on Amazon’s vast virtual bookshelves.

Remember, being an indie author means that they are responsible for everything, including the editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, and more. Big name authors who have big name publishing houses behind them will get much of this done for them, but the indie author has to be a master of all these trades – or pay somebody else to do it for them, without the benefits of huge advances on their royalties.

Many authors also have families, so every minute spent writing is a minute not spent with the people they love. There is a cost to this, and for many, balancing their writing time and their family time is difficult, not to mention the full-time job that many also have.

And then, once they’ve done all of that, they have to market their books too – no big corporate marketing department for them!

Now, you may be thinking that they do it for the money – after all, everybody knows that author such as Stephen King have made a lot of money from their books (and the film rights they negotiate too), but you may be surprised to learn that a lot of writers aren’t in it for that.

No, they only want to create something, to release a part of themselves into the world, to share their knowledge, their ideas, their fantasies, to entertain or educate. For some, it’s to do with loving the act of writing itself. Many writers put thousands and thousands of words down on paper, but never even publish their work.

But rest assured, the royalties they receive for each book sold is small.

And then there are the personal challenges.

The image of the writer sitting alone in his (or her) garret may be somewhat antiquated, but the fact is that it’s still a lonely life for many. Even if family is nearby, when authors are writing, they’re alone with their thoughts, their worries (will it be good enough, will people like it), and the risk of exposing just a tiny piece of their innermost self to people they will probably never ever meet. (It’s almost impossible not to include a part of you in any book you write.)

How We Try To Help

So, we try to help them by publicizing their works here, and on other sites – we are active on social media such as Facebook, we create video trailers for their books, and we do whatever else we can to help them succeed.

In essence, we try to let them focus on the writing, leaving us to worry about all of the other activities that most authors hate.

How You Can Help

So, as readers, what can you do to help your favourite authors?

First and foremost, you can rate their books and write reviews once you’ve finished reading them.

You don’t need to be a world-famous critic or have a Masters degree in English to do this, and it doesn’t even have to be long – you simply need to write an honest review that lets other potential readers know what you liked about the book (and what you didn’t like, if that also applies), but remember that writers are artists and are sensitive souls, so please keep things polite and fair.

To do this, you can either leave a comment on this blog, on the appropriate page for the book (e.g. on this page) or, preferably on Amazon itself, where you need to look for the Customer Review section of the page:

Next, and even easier, you can click the Like button that you’ll find on Amazon near the top of the page:

Thirdly, you can spread the word to your friends, family, Facebook friends, people who follow you on Twitter, work colleagues, etc. You can do this by writing a review or status update, posting a link (e.g. to our site or to Amazon), or by good old word of mouth.

Remember, you can Gift a copy of a Kindle book to somebody – look for the small orange button near the top right of the page. Our books are very reasonably priced, so won’t break the bank!

Most of the books we publish on behalf of our authors are also available as paperbacks, and these can, of course, be gift-wrapped and sent directly to family and friends as unusual presents.

Whatever you can do to help our authors succeed will be greatly appreciated, not least because it will give them the encouragement to continue doing what they so clearly love – writing.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. On behalf of our authors, we appreciate your support.