Cover

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About the Author

Paul Kitcatt was a bookseller and an English teacher before he was lured into the world of advertising.

He started as a copywriter, then became creative director and, in 2002, founded his own agency with three partners. It did well, with clients such as Waitrose, VSO, Lexus, the NSPCC, AXA, Virgin and the WWF.

Throughout his career, he continued to write – for clients, for the trade press and, when possible, for himself.

He left his agency in 2016 and wrote his first novel, We Care For You.

During his time in advertising, the digital revolution transformed his business and the entire industry, as it has everything, everywhere. Technology is changing the world, and us with it, and the journey has only just begun. Paul’s novel is about where it might take us next.

Paul is married with four children and lives in London.

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To my mother, Audrey (1927–2015)

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Dear Reader,

The book you are holding came about in a rather different way to most others. It was funded directly by readers through a new website: Unbound.

Unbound is the creation of three writers. We started the company because we believed there had to be a better deal for both writers and readers. On the Unbound website, authors share the ideas for the books they want to write directly with readers. If enough of you support the book by pledging for it in advance, we produce a beautifully bound special subscribers’ edition and distribute a regular edition and e-book wherever books are sold, in shops and online.

This new way of publishing is actually a very old idea (Samuel Johnson funded his dictionary this way). We’re just using the internet to build each writer a network of patrons. Here, at the back of this book, you’ll find the names of all the people who made it happen.

Publishing in this way means readers are no longer just passive consumers of the books they buy, and authors are free to write the books they really want. They get a much fairer return too – half the profits their books generate, rather than a tiny percentage of the cover price.

If you’re not yet a subscriber, we hope that you’ll want to join our publishing revolution and have your name listed in one of our books in the future. To get you started, here is a £5 discount on your first pledge. Just visit unbound.com, make your pledge and type WINIFRED17 in the promo code box when you check out.

Thank you for your support,

Dan, Justin and John
Founders, Unbound

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Super Patrons

Vonnie Alexander
Caroline Beard
David Brown
Chris Cavell-Clarke
Chalice Croke
Nobby Davies
Lu Dixon
Kate Flather
Christie Jennings
Phil Keevill
Dan Kieran
Caroline Kitcatt
Mark Kitcatt
James Kitcatt
Ellie Kitcatt
Elizabeth Kitcatt
Cathy Kitcatt
Simon Kluge
Helen Ling
Richard Madden
Tania Mendes
John Mitchinson
Mo Morgan
Marc Nohr
Ben Parsons
Rob Pateman
Justin Pollard
Jill Richards
Simon Robinson
Margaux Sloan
Reannon Tapp
Tot Taylor
David Yates

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With grateful thanks to Chalice Croke
and Kate Flather who helped to make this book happen

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‘… he deserved no such return
From me, whom he created what I was
In that bright eminence…’