SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon Publishing (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it has signed international best-selling author Dean Koontz for a five-book deal and a collection of six short thrillers. Thomas & Mercer will publish the first book, Devoted, next spring, and Nameless, the short thriller collection, will be available from Amazon Original Stories for free to Prime and Kindle Unlimited customers on November 12th.
“For many years, I have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Brilliance Audio, an Amazon company, and later with Amazon Original Stories,” says Dean Koontz. “Although there were numerous options for the future, it was most natural to sign with the team at Amazon Publishing, which presented a marketing and publicity plan smarter and more ambitious than anything I’d ever seen before. This new arrangement is so exciting, I’ve been creatively rejuvenated. The times are changing, and it’s invigorating to be where change is understood and embraced.”
“We are honored Dean has chosen Amazon Publishing to bring his newest work to readers,” says Mikyla Bruder, Publisher of Amazon Publishing. “Building on the success of Dean’s Amazon Charts best-selling short story, Ricochet Joe, our first publication together, we’re excited to expand our relationship with five new books from Thomas & Mercer and an episodic collection of short thrillers from Amazon Original Stories, delivering the kind of exhilarating and deeply resonant suspense his millions of fans expect and we know new readers will love.”
Amazon Publishing Editorial Director Grace Doyle acquired North American rights in the five-book deal for the mystery, thriller, and true crime imprint, Thomas & Mercer, and Editorial Director Julia Sommerfeld acquired World English in the collection deal for the digital- and audio-only imprint, Amazon Original Stories. Koontz is represented by Richard Pine and Kimberly Witherspoon of InkWell Management and Richard Heller of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
“Even when an author’s books have sold over 500 million copies, there are new horizons to explore and readers who haven’t yet discovered his work,” say Richard Pine and Kimberly Witherspoon of InkWell Management. “Dean is at the peak of his storytelling powers and Amazon has committed to a highly ambitious and creative publishing plan that’s certain to delight his existing fans and create millions of new ones.”
The first book in the deal, Devoted, introduces Megan Bookman, an artist and widow whose every adversity has made her stronger, a golden retriever named Kipp—one of a community of self-aware, strangely gifted dogs living secretly among us—and Megan’s son Woody, a brilliant but unspeaking autistic boy who seeks vengeance against his father’s killers. In this epic thriller, Kipp, Woody, Megan, and their extended family confront a terrifying threat to all humanity. Devoted is planned for publication in spring 2020. Readers can follow Koontz on Amazon.com to receive new release updates.
Koontz’s Nameless collection features six short thrillers following a mysterious amnesiac vigilante called Nameless, who travels from town to town, dispensing justice when the law fails. Directed by a shadowy, powerful organization and driven by splintered visions of the past and future, he’s headed toward the ultimate confrontation—with his own past. Readers and listeners can download the collection as a Kindle eBook or as an Audible audiobook on November 12th.
When he was a senior in college, Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages and he has sold over 500 million copies to date. Fourteen of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover best-seller list, making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback. His books have also been major best-sellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden.
In December 2017, Amazon Original Stories published Koontz’s Amazon Charts best-selling short story, Ricochet Joe, a supernatural thriller about an average Joe in extraordinary danger.
About Amazon Publishing
Amazon Publishing is a leading trade publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books with a mission to empower outstanding storytellers and connect them with readers worldwide. The Amazon Publishing teams based in Seattle, New York, Grand Haven, Luxembourg, London, Madrid, Milan, and Munich publish emerging, best-selling and critically-acclaimed authors in digital, print, and audio formats. For more information, visit www.apub.com.
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