Self-published author claims Kindle top spot

08.02.12 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller

Self-published crime writer Kerry Wilkinson claimed the top spot in the UK Kindle bestseller chart for the last quarter of 2011, Amazon has revealed, as speculation mounts that the online retailer is planning to open its own physical store to push its exclusive book sales.
Wilkinson, from Lancashire, published his novel Locked In, one of a series featuring detective Jessica Daniel, using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing tool, and sold “hundred of thousands of copies” of it in the three months before Christmas, according to Amazon. The e-book is currently selling for 98p and the paperback, published by KAW Publishing, for £8.53 on the Amazon site.
A second self-published author, Katie Stephens, saw her novel Candles on the Sand rank as the fifth bestselling Kindle book in the third quarter of 2011, according to the company.
Gordon Willoughby, European director of Kindle, said: “This is a significant milestone for independent publishing in the UK and we’re extremely excited to see authors benefiting from the success of Kindle. Kerry Wilkinson’s series of detective novels have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the Kindle Store and we look forward to helping many more independently published authors achieve similar levels of success in 2012.”
Wilkinson has also released two other books in the Jessica Daniel series, Vigilant and The Woman in Black, using Amazon’s self-publishing tool, with Think of the Children and Playing with Fire due for release later in 2012.
Full story at The Bookseller