I seem to have bored one of our regular visitors by moaning about the airport in Paris. He has a fair point. Whingeing travellers are a pretty boring lot. In mitigation I had spent 10 hours in the air flying to Chennai, a day's solid work and then ten hours back.

But where I disagree with the correspondent is that international travel has nothing to do with understanding book buyers. My critic runs an antiquarian bookshop in middle class England and I have no doubt he understands his clientele. My job is to manage an international publishing house and our most important clients are school teachers and scientists in emerging markets such as India, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. The universe in which I travel is very different from Clive Keble's but I'd contend that kids in India represent the real world just as much as traditional book lovers in England - and maybe just maybe it's more important to work on developing these markets than on specialist antiquarian bookselling in Middle England.

Incidentally, who said anything about first class? A rule in Macmillan is that we seek the lowest cost travel wherever feasible.

And finally.... Macmillan's imprint for first novels, Macmillan New Writing, has attracted a great deal of attention, some positive, some negative, but most of it serving only to promote it further with authors and booksellers, all of which is very helpful. But one somewhat amusing trend is now emerging - a stream of submissions from, how shall I put it, 'incarcerated'  individuals, hoping that somehow their artistic endeavours might serve as a 'get out of jail free' card....

I'm posting here a letter recently received at the MNW offices:

"I am an artist and I’ve recently written two (2) books. One of the books is completed the other is still in the works. The completed one is Hot! (Not to toot my own horn) ....

The problem is this- I am incarcerated (since 2004) in a California state prison, on some bogus conviction. Due to the fact that I wasn’t financially able to afford a “real” attorney I was given a court appointed “dump truck” thus the results being a 16 year conviction.

What I offer is this - I will give you the completed book, original manuscript, copy rights, and all the profits from the book sales.

What I want is this – I want a lawyer that can get me out of this position I am in. If he / she can’t get me “out”, at least get me a sentence reduction (although I know nothing in guaranteed through the courts) I want to be recognized as the author and a flat 10.000 ( ten thousand dollars).

So basically there is no loss for your company. To make it even better, I will give you the book in hand, manuscript, copyrights, and al the profits as well as the “author” title for a flat 20.000 (twenty thousand dollars).
That’s without the lawyer.

As you can see my main focus is getting out of prison and/or getting a real lawyer. If that means I have to give up “all” my rights to the book just to get enough money for a lawyer then that’s what I’m willing to do."

Now that's what I call a tempting offer...