I now have a full week behind me and around 60 books have been given to potential readers. When I stuck my finger in the air and guessed that I might get 100 per week in the height of summer, I was not wide of the mark (May is early in the season and usually quiet). This stage in the project is all about gathering data points in the hope of understanding the best way to distribute the full compliment of 10,000.

The question remains: How many will pay? That will take a while longer. In my early research, I found that it took some people 6 weeks to get round to reading and finishing the book and others a few days, having read it in one sitting. Others never got back at all and I had to assume that it was not to their taste.

With a dozen copies gone over a week ago (while the recipients were on a walking holiday) and a handful yesterday, I will continue doing this for a while before drawing any conclusions.

I can say that – almost without exception – every person I talked to is both astonished and extremely enthusiastic about the idea and loves the fact that they tripped over such a thing in the middle of nowhere.

Surreal but brilliant.