Judging by the reactions quoted in the Guardian, you'd think Macmillan's "New Writing" imprint was roadkill being offered up for dinner -- cause for immediate concern and/or repulsion.The Ryanair of publishing, Hari Kunzru calls it; shocking and an exercise in futility, says agent Natasha Fairweather. A more enthusiastic response goes like this: "not a complete rip-off."

Grumpy Old Bookman's response, though, reads more like Goldilocks exclaiming, This one's just right!:

...If you look at the invitation page, you will also note that Macmillan are doing some other sensible things. They are taking submissions in the form of digital files, for a start. No more bloody great piles of paper everywhere. And they are discouraging you from telling them your life story in the covering letter. And they say that there will 'a minimum of communication between publisher and author'. Which would suit me just fine. I don't want to be close personal buddies with my publisher; I just want him to do a decent professional job.

Macmillan seem to have all sorts of reasonable ideas like that. Life gets weirder by the minute, doesn't it? Who is running this operation? What medication is she on? Is it available on the NHS?