Another Pan Mac deal for Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson has contracted to write a further two crime novels for Pan Macmillan. Editorial director Trisha Jackson bought the books via Greene & Heaton.

The contract follows a deal earlier this year extending Wilkinson's Jessica Daniel series to a minimum of nine books, and a further contract for a young adult fantasy trilogy, Silver Blackthorn, which launches this autumn.

Wilkinson now has 14 titles in all with Pan Macmillan.

The first novel in the new deal, Something Wicked, will be a spin-off from Playing with Fire, book five of the Jessica Daniel series, and will feature the private investigator character Andrew Hunter. Also in the contract is Down Among the Dead Men, a novel about a man drawn by accident into Manchester's underworld after he is saved from a mugging by a local crime boss.

Wilkinson said on his website that "at least one" of the two new books will be out next year.

Pan Macmillan first signed Wilkinson, whose Jessica Daniel series was a self-published Amazon bestseller, in a six-book deal early in 2012.
 
Agent Nicola Barr commented: "The brain of Kerry—his output, his creativity, his understanding of the publishing process–is something we all marvel at. Trisha and the team at Macmillan are doing the most incredible job bringing his talent to the world. It’s an exciting working relationship and there’s plenty more to come."

Wilkinson's novels for Pan Macmillan have sold upward of 50,000 copies in their printed editions according to Nielsen BookScan records. Jackson said Wilkinson's e-book sales had been "phenomenal".