A north Norfolk author who helped himself by publishing a self-help book watched it soar to the top of an Amazon best-seller list.

Mike Robinson, family and friends tracked sales of his book The True Dynamics of Life on the retail website's bestseller list for US books when the title was re-released, on Tuesday September 21.

They were thrilled to see it reach number one in a lifestyle sub-category and, for a time, according to Mr Robinson, the book also reached number 32 in Amazon's overall US list which included titles such as Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Tony Blair's account of his time as Prime Minister, A Journey.

Mr Robinson, 55, who describes himself as a spiritual teacher, said the book had also been doing well on Amazon's UK list until the suppliers had run out of stock.

The book's success followed a determined campaign by Mr Robinson, from Spa Common, North Walsham, and his supporters.

Some 100 of about 400 friends on his page in Facebook, the internet social networking site, had agreed to buy the book on the re-launch day.

He said: 'That really got it moving. I felt immense joy, especially for the people around me. We couldn't believe it when it started snowballing. To have it anywhere in the top 100 is quite amazing.

'We didn't have a lot of money for advertising but we needed a way for the public to find out about it. We also put out a lot of press releases.'

Mr Robinson, his partner and editor Jo Le-Rose, and three daughters moved to Norfolk about 15 years ago.

Brought up in children's homes, he said it had taken him some time to adjust to the outside world. He had realised that he had the ability to recognise suffering in others and had become interested in exploring its causes, which he believed was the key to dealing with chaos in the world.

His latest book helps readers to find solutions to their problems and ease others' pain.

Mr Robinson teaches and lectures around the world, and takes groups on personal development trips. He had previously self-published one other book, The True Dynamics of Relationships. His new book is available via Amazon, or ring 01692 407324.