International best-selling author Dean Koontz has signed a deal with Amazon Publishing for five books and six short thrillers, the publisher announced today. Amazon’s thriller and mystery imprint Thomas & Mercer will publish the first book – Devoted – next spring.
Koontz’s short thriller collection Nameless will be available on November 12 from Amazon Original Stories for free to Prime and Kindle Unlimited customers.
“For many years, I have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Brilliance Audio, an Amazon company, and later with Amazon Original Stories,” Koontz said in a statement. “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.”
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Koontz said the 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.”
Said Mikyla Bruder, Publisher of Amazon Publishing: “We are honored Dean has chosen Amazon Publishing to bring his newest work to readers. 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 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. Brillstein Entertainment Partners rep film and TV rights.