The Dry

Abacus was aware of The Dry before it went out on official UK submission, thanks to a tip-off from a colleague at Hachette Australia, and set itself up for acquisition before the UK auction even began, motivated by Harper’s plotting, characterisation and page-turning narrative.

Once it had acquired the book, the team planned an extensive pre-publication promotional campaign and printed 300 exclusive editions for the goody bags at the Harrogate Crime Festival in 2016. When Harper was then invited to take part in the festival, they organised a tour of Waterstones bookshops in the North of England. Also key to the book’s success were a digital advertising campaign with Total Media, a slot on “The Radio 2 Book Club” and coverage in the Sunday Times. The publisher used e-book price drops to drive reader reviews, which were then pushed through Twitter and Facebook advertising.

The judges unanimously praised Harper’s novel, which one describes as “an out-of-nowhere, word of mouth sensation that the publisher really capitalised on at the paperback stage”, adding: “The clever cover design helped position the title in its own unique space when much of the market is geared towards psychological thrillers.”

Another said: “The Dry has it all: breathtaking and page-turning pace, a sympathetic if mysterious main character, and a singularly unique and exotic setting.”