Pope Benedict's works feature prominently in the catalogue of books published by Ignatius Press. There are also the works of other orthodox theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar; apologetics; catechesis, devotional work and occasional works of fiction. Some years ago they had published a novel, A Time Before You Die, by a Catholic friend, Lucy Beckett, that had failed to find a publisher in Britain. I imagined that The Death of a Pope would be published in the same way: a modest printing which would enable the author to give copies to friends.

However, in February this year, I was telephoned by the marketing director of Ignatius Press, Anthony Ryan, to say that Barnes & Noble, the chain of American bookstores, had agreed to lay on book-signings in a number of their stores. Ignatius Press would like to fly me to America for a four-week tour in May to promote The Death of a Pope.

The tour started in Oregon, moved on to Washington state, Colorado, California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, DC, Virginia, New Hampshire and back to California. There were around 18 book-signings, 18 interviews for radio, press and television and four talks on the predicament of a Catholic novelist in a secular society. The publishers set up a website, deathofapope.com, and put me on Facebook . 

The tour gave me some insights into Catholic culture in America. First, from a professional perspective, there is a "niche market" for Catholic writing and a means of reaching that market that does not exist in the UK. There are more than 67 million Catholics in the US, by far the largest single denomination. Many of these are quiescent and no doubt a large number are "liberal" Catholics who dissent from Catholic teaching on birth control and voted for the "pro-choice" Obama.

But Vatican loyalists have their own media outlets — a plethora of radio stations, journals and blogs, as well as the unique television channel, EWTN, started by a nun, Sister Angelica. The most important media event, from the point of view of Ignatius Press, was my appearance on EWTN's The World Over, hosted by Raymond Arroyo, which reaches 120 million homes worldwide. This was taped in Washington. Arroyo was a charming interlocutor, as interested in literature as religion. Whether some among his millions of viewers in the US, Costa Rica or the Philippines are buyers of hardback fiction remains to be seen.