WHEN JK Rowling’s first book for adults goes on sale later this month, no one except Rowling and her editors will have read the first line.

Her publishers, Little Brown, are refusing to let reviewers have copies of the book before the public get their hands on it and decide for themselves whether it’s any good.

Rowling’s book, The Casual Vacancy, which tells of life in a seemingly idyllic English town, is likely to sell by the truck-load thanks to the success of her seven-book Harry Potter series.

Such is her popularity that she had a starring role at the Olympics opening ceremony and her appearance at London’s Southbank Centre for a Q&A on the night of publication has already sold out.

The Casual Vacancy will no doubt be a bestseller and fill the stockings of many readers this Christmas, as well as further adding to Rowling’s estimated $1bn fortune.

But for other authors, selling a book is no easy feat in the face of ever-increasing competition.

The number of books published in the UK year has increased from 110,000 in 2001 to just over 150,000 in 2010.

In 2000, a survey from the Society of Authors showed that 75 per cent of authors earned less than £20,000, while only five per cent earned more than £75,000.

Very few authors can expect to do an EL James, when word of mouth sent her Fifty Shades Of Grey to the bestseller charts for weeks, overtaking the Harry Potter series as the biggestselling book on Amazon and spawning a plethora of copycat erotic fiction titles.

The internet has made it easier for anyone with a book inside them to self-publish on Amazon, but it’s also opened a can of peculiar bookworms, which was thrown into the spotlight last month when crime writer Stephen Leather admitted using fake personas or “sock puppets”

to create a buzz for his books online.

Award-winning mystery writer RJ Ellory was also “outed” by fellow writer Jeremy Duns, who discovered that Ellory had posted five-star reviews for his own books on Amazon, under fake guises, while panning those of his fellow authors.

The practice was condemned by a string of writers including Ian Rankin and Jo Nesbo, who signed an open letter which read: “These days, more and more books are bought, sold, and recommended online, and the health of this exciting new ecosystem depends entirely on free and honest conversation among readers.

But some writers are misusing these new channels in ways that are fraudulent and damaging to publishing at large.”

THE scandal also crossed the pond when it was uncovered that US author John Locke had paid for more than 300 reviews of his books.

“We’re quite a nice bunch in the crime-writing world, so this whole episode has felt rather unpleasant,” admits David Mark, author of The Dark Winter (which gets four out of five stars on Amazon). “Writers aren’t really supposed to behave this way. We have enough problems without being horrible about each other.

“All writers have a desperate need for validation.

Ours is a rather solitary existence, with months at a time spent locked away in our imaginations. At the end of that process, we want to know if what we have created is any good, and reviews are really the best indicator.

But when reviews are done with an agenda or malice in mind, they are rendered invalid. That means that when you have a look to see if people like your stuff, you’re left wondering whether to believe it. The whole process is undermined.

‘‘It’s an odd feeling, looking at your Amazon reviews, and wondering whether the author of the one-star reviews is somebody you know and admire.”

Mark says Ellory is a superb writer and an established star in the game, and cannot understand why he felt the need to rubbish his peers. He adds: ‘‘I don’t know how you can feel good about yourself when you read a review saying you’re a genius, and know in your heart you wrote it yourself.’’ Ellory has apologised for what he called a “lapse of judgement” after Duns exposed his findings on Twitter.

AT the other end of the spectrum is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, whose publishers have taken a rather novel approach to publicity.

Bloomsbury recently called in support from some of the Archbishop’s influential acquaintances to help promote his final book in office.

Faith In The Public Square was sent to six leading religious figures in the UK, including Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, who were asked to review it.

Robin Baird-Smith, publishing director at Bloomsbury, explains: “We were aware that one of the traditional methods of promoting a new book, namely arranging a multitude of author interviews, would not prove possible. The Archbishop’s pastoral duties mean that his is a diary with few, if any, free spaces.

“Likewise, one of his key themes is the role of Christianity in the modern age and its relationship with other faiths – so we thought that an innovative means by which we could throw this central theme into relief was to ask leading religious leaders from other faiths – Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, Methodist and Muslim – to each write their own review of the book, by sending them copies in advance of publication.

“The response to this idea from all religious leaders approached was positive, and their opinions on the book are proving most rewarding and insightful – offering alternative perspectives matching the Archbishop of Canterbury’s own desire for constructive inter-faith dialogue.”

With the rise of the e-book seen to threaten the future of the publishing industry, now has never been a more important time for honest book reviews.