"After watching from the sidelines while two of his novels were brought out by Macmillan's Picador imprint, Eaves found the idea of seeing the project through himself from beginning to end proved irresistible.

"It's partly a matter of wanting to take control," he admits, "of being in charge of the whole process. A big publisher wants your input, but not too much of it. I wanted to find out how difficult it is to publish a book yourself."