I’m gonna be a millionaire. Yes indeed.

The more sharp-eyed reader of Undaunted notices that it is like the proverbial donkey’s roar: short and sweet. Part of this is because I know the reader, particularly on the web, wants a quick hit. They want the artistic equivalent of a line of coke. I think I supply that hit. I try to get as much in, in as few words as possible.

It is my act of kindness. Or it could just be utter laziness on my part. Get everything in the first 500 words and move on. I caused grief to teachers who marked essays but couldn’t quite make up their minds on whether I was a genius or just chancing my arm...

There could be a physical explanation too. Writing with just one finger means I’ve an average eight words per minute. That’s just a fact. I would never attempt to use that as an excuse. I love writing for you lovely people so I just write.

Let’s get back to my plans to be a millionaire. It could happen thanks to Amazon. Since yesterday, they’ve changed how they pay authors who self-publish on Kindle. I’ve never heard of such things but they’ve switched to a pay-per-page model.

The plan is to pay writers on how many pages a reader reads after they’ve downloaded your book. So, if you have a fantastic 50-page novella and it’s devoured, you’re quids in but if you are contemplating writing a follow up to Ulysses, you are on your way up those stairs to that damp, dark artist's garret.

When I read the plan, my reaction was of a reader not a writer. I felt a tiny shock that my kindle or Kindle app actually squirrels how much of a book I actually read back to Amazon. Life is never a one-way street it seems. I had never expected this. Big brother, eat your heart out. At least Orwell would have cashed in on Animal Farm. 1984 would have been more problematic.

Is the new model a good thing? It depends on what you think about self publishing. Is it the ultimate act of narcissism? Then pay-per-page could well stop the wannabe Tolstoy, who is actually not very good at deluding both him and us. The art of writing short pieces might undergo a renaissance. Who knows?

As for me, I’ll be here keeping you entertained while waiting for the mail from some massive publishing house who cosies up to me and offers me a million for the collected Undaunted...

We all have dreams...