The problem

David Sellu was a surgeon with a distinguished record extending over forty years. In 2010, a patient died under his care in a private hospital. There followed a sequence of extraordinary events that led to David being prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned for the patient’s death. His licence to practise medicine was suspended and his career cut short. After serving fifteen months, he won an appeal against his conviction and was released. David decided that he wanted to tell his story. After a contact recommended whitefox, he became intrigued by the creative control that self-publishing would offer.

The solution

By self-publishing with whitefox, David maintained the rights to his story, and was able to tell it exactly as he wanted. whitefox project-managed the entire process, matching David with the perfect editorial expert to finesse his manuscript, ensuring it contained no stylistic or grammatical errors and that the content and tone were consistent. David had high hopes for sales and distribution and so, once the cover design was complete, whitefox got in touch with their publicity partner, Midas, who managed to secure David excellent PR coverage. David’s debut book, Did He Save Lives?, was primed for success.

The result

The immediate popularity of David’s book has prompted three print runs. Did He Save Lives? has over ninety 5-star reviews on Amazon and continues to sell well, gaining attention from the Guardian, Observer and The Royal College of Surgeons. Most importantly, it allowed David to tell his story, in his own words.

‘I wish to express my gratitude to my literary agent, Jemima Hunt of The Writer’s Practice, and to whitefox for recognising the potential of the manuscript that I presented to them and for their help in turning it into the powerful book that my friends say it is’ – David Sellu 

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