Jude Hardin

Author, Drummer, Turtle Whisperer

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Friday, July 08, 2011

What's Your Number?

Over on the Kindle Boards I just saw the announcement by self-published author Mark Edwards that he and his co-author Louise Voss have signed a four-book deal with a major publisher. Here's the press release:

HarperFiction have moved quickly to snap up internet sensations, Louise Voss and Mark Edwards, whose two self-published novels have stormed both the Amazon Kindle and the Amazon Books chart. Catch Your Death, their second novel, has remained at the top of the Kindle chart for weeks and sold 42,000 copies in the month of June, while Killing Cupid, their debut, remains in the Top 10. The authors have sparked huge interest, appearing on BBC Breakfast, Sky News, Radio 2 and Radio 5, along with numerous newspapers and sites including BBC News, The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Kate Bradley secured World Rights for four books with a six-figure pre-empt from the agent Sam Copeland at Rogers, Coleridge and White.

Bradley said ‘When Killing Cupid and Catch Your Death were submitted, I ripped through them in just a few hours and it was clear that we had found something very, very special. Louise and Mark have done a fantastic job of publishing their own books in the digital space and I’m thrilled that we are going to take them to the next level, both in terms of their ebook profile and in the physical market. They are writing clever, fast-paced, psychological thrillers that are highly addictive and we can’t wait to get these out into the wider world.’

The first book Catch Your Death will be published as a physical edition in early Spring 2012, while the ebook editions will continue to sell online.


"Six figures" doesn't really tell us much, but for the sake of argument let's just say they're getting $999,999. World rights for four books, two of which are already top sellers as ebooks on Amazon. Is it worth it? What dollar number would a publisher have to come up with for you to sell the rights to four books?