PVLF 2025

Five Years and two Million Books Later, a Self-published Novelist obtains a Book Deal in the United Kingdom

Discover the remarkable journey of crime writer JM Dalgliesh, from self-published success to a major book deal. Explore his captivating crime thrillers now!
on Dec 19, 2023

JM Dalgliesh, a crime writer from Norfolk, topped the Amazon and Kindle bestseller lists before being signed by a formal publisher.
JM Dalgliesh, a stay-at-home father, wrote his debut murder novel to six literary agents in 2018, only to receive polite rejection letters - or no response at all. He refused to give up and was inspired by a friend's idea that he try self-publishing. The counsel could not have been more appropriate.

Divided House, the story of a detective's journey to redemption, was to be the first of 22 self-published crime thrillers, part of three series of police procedural novels that have sold over 2 million copies in total.

Dalgliesh, whose first initial stands for Jason, has now been picked up by a traditional publisher and will be able to reach even more readers, thanks in part to the sale of worldwide rights.
Bookouture, a Hachette UK company, has bought four new thrillers by the author for publication in 2024 and 2025. "I am so proud to be publishing JM Dalgliesh, an extremely talented author with an army of devoted fans," said Rhianna Louise, the book's commissioning editor. Jason and I have been discussing some extremely intriguing, hooky thriller themes, and I believe they will be totally amazing in his hands."

Elizabeth Fowler, the head of Clear Pictures Entertainment, has also optioned Dalgliesh's books. Her previous films include Official Secrets, a 2019 drama starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes that was based on the Observer's exposé of US-UK spy operations against UN members prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"I was struck by his strong original voice and compelling characters... as well as the rich atmospheric geographic settings he chooses," Fowler remarked. Jason's phenomenal success comes as no surprise to me, and I'm beyond thrilled to bring each of his series to the big screen."

Dalgliesh, 48, lives in Norfolk with Helen, his wife, and their two children, ages 12 and nine. He had previously worked in a variety of jobs, none of which were particularly spiritually edifying.

For many years, I worked in retail management, operating out-of-town shopping centres. I was a stay-at-home dad when I wrote my first book. Because my wife is a chartered engineer, she did an excellent job. We didn't want our children to spend the entire day in nursery. So I stood down and quit my job."

When he first approached agents in 2018, he received some encouraging words. One wrote that it would not hire him but advised that he write something different and return to it in six months or a year, he recalled.

"But I saw it as a numbers game." Every week, hundreds, if not thousands, of authors submitted to the same agency. And, while I was receiving positive comments, it didn't make logical sense to me because the chances were not stacked in my favour."

He went on to say: "Self-publishing put the odds back in my favour because it put it back in my control." He spread the word by advertising on Amazon and Facebook, and his books have topped Amazon and Kindle bestseller lists.

When asked why he has now collaborated with a traditional publisher, he stated, "I've gone as far as I can."

I have three series of police procedurals that are doing extremely well, but when you're an indie and you're advertising mostly online, you're blocking off a lot of other routes where readers are."

Most consumers still purchased books from bookstores, he explained, so a traditional publishing business was another option for expanding his reach.

He went on to say: "Now I just have to focus on the writing, which is - let's face it - the fun part."