Amazon imprints pick up grit-lit and romcom self-published successes

Amazon Publishing has signed up two successful self-published British authors covering the suspense thriller and romantic comedy genres.

The Thomas & Mercer thriller and mystery imprint has reached an agented deal with author Mel Sharratt which includes republishing her Kindle best seller Taunting the Dead. The book was self-published by Sherratt  in 2011 and hit No 1 in three different Kindle categories, becoming a top 10 Kindle UK best seller of 2012.

Thomas & Mercer will also publish her new suspense thriller, Watching Over You, at the end of this year. The Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency represented Sherratt.

Sherratt is also the author of three volumes in The Estate series of crime and psychological suspense thrillers, which are set in the fictional place of Stockleigh. She believes the Mitchell Estate can be found a few miles from anywhere in any town or city.

On her website, Sherratt says her books have been described in different ways, including grit-lit, sexy crime, erotic crime thriller, whydunnit and Brit-Lit.

Amazon’s Lake Union Publishing imprint is to publish two books by romantic comedy novelist Matt Dunn ­– A Day At The Office and the forthcoming What Might Have Been.

A Day At The Office was a big self-published success when it came out in February this year, topping the best sellers’ list in the UK humour, fiction/humour and contemporary romance categories. It has a massive 323 reviews on Amazon.co.uk with a four-star average.

The book was published through Notting Hill Press, which describes itself as “Publishing’s Third Way”. The firm was set up by a small group of traditionally published authors in a bid to combine the best of traditional publishing and self-publishing. It includes a team of editors and illustrators, with the writers keeping overall publishing control.

Dunn has written several novels, including The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook, which was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Of The Year award and the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance. His other books include The Accidental Proposal, Best Man, Ex-Girlfriends United, From Here To Paternity and The Good Bride Guide, which were all published by Simon & Schuster in the UK and various imprints in the US.