Self-published author Kerry Wilkinson lands 6-book deal

The deal will see Wilkinson write three new novels in the Jessica Daniel series, to be released in print and ebook form.

It also covers the release in print form of his three published ebooks - Locked In, Vigilante and Woman in Black. For the first time, Wilkinson’s novels will be available to buy in bookshops in traditional format.

Publishers scrambled to sign Wilkinson after the phenomenal success of his foray into ebook publishing, and the backing of Macmillan could propel him into the same league as Lee Child and Martina Cole.

Wilkinson said: “This type of six-book deal for a ‘nobody’ like me is absolutely unprecedented in the publishing world.”

The 31-year-old sports journalist began writing novels barely a year ago but went on to sell 250,000 copies in six months despite no formal advertising, becoming the number one best-seller on Amazon in the last quarter of 2011.

Locked In, which he sold for 99p as part of a strategy to attract readers, sold its 100,000th copy on Christmas Eve.

Wilkinson produced his first three novels in double-quick time but the involvement of a publishing house - and the editing, marketing and promotional work that entails - means that fans will have to wait until February 2013 for the fourth in the series, Think of the Children.

Trisha Jackson, editorial director of Macmillan, said: “We are delighted and excited to be the publisher to be taking Kerry to a wider market in the physical format and in ebook.

“His storytelling skills, the plotting and his characters, plus his enthusiasm and energy, are a recipe for success.”

Wilkinson added: “I am thrilled to be linking up with Macmillan. The fact they have committed to publishing six books in a series that didn’t even exist a year ago shows the faith they have in both me as an author and the world I have created.”