The best thing about being a publisher? You get to give people the greatest day of their life. Tell someone that you are going to publish their book and you know this is the best day they’ve ever had. Better than sex. Better than the day they got married. Better than kids or winning the lottery or discovering your birth certificate is wrong and you’re actually a year younger. It’s the happiest day of their life and you got to give it to them, like a fairy godmother minus all the hassle with pumpkins and singing rodents in possession of unfeasible tailoring skills.

On the rare occasions when I get to have lunch with an author, they inevitably drag me up to introduce me to someone as their publisher. The someone doesn’t matter. I have been introduced to family members, colleagues, waiters, the doorman and even a Big Issue seller. During the introduction I glow modestly in the background while my author shines like an over-excited supernova. I am happy for them. It makes everything worthwhile.