Imagine that launching your book into the world is like putting it in a dinghy and shoving it off a pier into the sea.

You might have spent years working on your book and been careful to make sure your boat is sturdy and leak proof but what happens to it out at sea is out of your hands.

Sometimes a boat will get swamped by the bow wave of a much bigger boat and be lost.

Sometimes an unexpected storm will come along and all the books on all their boats will be swamped and lost

Sometimes a fair wind will find your sail and your boat will surge forward, sending your book into the arms of readers

Sometimes a strange calm will settle on the ocean and your boat will float quietly and serenely on the water ready to be found by passing readers

Sometimes a huge wave will lift up your boat and send it racing across the sea to hit the shore in a huge spray that showers the land

Some boats may be bigger than yours, may have fancier sails and so might get further, faster but it too is at the mercy of the winds and could flounder while a smaller, slower boat keeps going

What I'm saying is, you can't control the weather or the waves, you can only send your book out with love and hope for a fair wind.

And if your boat doesn't make it the first time all you can do is try again and again and hope a well timed wave and a generous wind will find you