A journalist turned author thought he had struck literary gold when he received a positive response from a reputable international publisher who told him they had thoroughly enjoyed his submission.

Former Abergavenny Chronicle reporter, Bob Rogers quickly responded to their request for the full manuscript and was delighted when they replied, stating they would be keen to publish. But an astonishing condition of the offer has caused him to turn instead to his own efforts to get his work noticed.

‘It seems they liked the story - and the way it was written, citing its bold and imaginative narrative and compelling characters,’ said Bob who has an honours degree and a Master’s in creative writing, ‘…but what they weren’t so keen on, was me apparently.

‘I wasn’t a “new or emerging talent” - which they elaborated on stating, “We’re seeking exciting authors who will develop their writing careers with us,” - which is a polite way of saying, “We don’t think you should begin reading any long novels let alone writing them.”

They did, however, offer an alternative states Bob, ‘My novel is called ‘The End of the Sky’ and tells the story of my great-great grandparent’s emigration to Queensland in the 1870s where they struck gold, were robbed of it, and encountered dangers, death, a new and unorthodox love and finally incurred the wrath of a murderous enemy.’ The publishers wanted to market the book under the name of a “promising young writer” which, they claimed, would ensure the best possible platform for its launch.

‘It developed during the subsequent discussion that the “Promising Young Writer’s” own story was not deemed promising enough and “Didn’t have enough spine.” It sounded like bare-faced plagiarism to me and I told them so. I genuinely believe that if the writer is good enough, then their name should be on the cover. It’s simple honesty.’

The incident prompted Bob to set up Human Writes Books, dedicated to promoting not only his own work but that of anyone who may have hit the brick wall of modern publishing where, even if one gets to the top of the slush pile, making a name for yourself is not guaranteed.

‘We hope there will be some enthusiasm for our ethos which proclaims, no AI, no unacknowledged ghostwriters and no ‘celebs’. The name on the cover is the name of the author.’

The meteoric spread of AI into publishing cannot be stopped but Bob states, ‘Where once writers wrote and readers read, it is now likely that in many cases the only human input into that much loved novel has been the paragraph-or-two outline inputted by the programmer before hitting the button and leaving a cohort of blindingly clever microprocessors to churn out the next bestseller. Over and over and over again.

‘And then there’s the ‘Celeb’ novel where, in many cases someone whose claim to fame lies far from authorship produces a clumsily told, inane and predictable story 30,000 words too short. But a team of anonymous ghostwriters - inevitably aided by AI - will knock it into some sort of shape, give it a coat of paint and a quirky cover with the celeb’s name writ large and voila! He or she will be on a chat show in a few days saying how much fun it was to write it - and real writers up and down the country will be cursing the TV before changing channels only to see the same ‘personality’ doing whatever it is they are really famous for.’

Bob is under no illusions that little will change in a system which, according to him, has profit as a primary objective. He said, ‘As Sir Terry Pratchett stated, "The dream of all those who publish books, is to have so much gold in their pockets that they would have to employ two people just to hold their trousers up."

‘Our little venture is an ant stinging an elephant. Ultimately, the juggernaut of well-financed and established big business will win and we are not naïve enough to imagine we will change a thing. But every time a human buys a book knowing for sure it was written by a fellow human, reads and enjoys it and maybe passes it on, the elephant might blink - and somewhere, someone you may never meet will feel validated and hopeful.’

Bob will be taking his peripatetic bookshop, Human Writes Books on the road throughout 2026 with appearances at Abergavenny Market, Storyville Book Fair, Pontypridd on March 7th and both Abergavenny and Brecon Pride days already booked. The End of the Sky by BZ Rogers (ISBN: 9781738415809) can be ordered via bookshops.