Self-publishing trailblazer LJ Ross moves to Cornerstone
After more than 10 years of self-publishing, LJ Ross, the Northumberland-based bestselling author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries series, has moved to Cornerstone. As part of the deal, Century, an imprint of the Penguin Random House division, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a “hotly contested five-way auction” to 37 catalogue titles (comprising the DCI Ryan, Alexander Gregory and Summer Suspense series), as well as 12 frontlist titles, including a new six-book DCI Ryan Met Years series, to be published in 2027.
The publisher confirmed it had also acquired e-book and audio rights to some of these titles, but not all of them. Ross will continue to self-publish some titles in the future.
Ross said: “Having built a successful author brand over the past decade, including a strong physical presence in the UK trade market more recently, I hoped to find a publishing team who could match my ethos, prioritising integrity, work ethic and a ‘reader-first’ approach.”
Cornerstone MD Venetia Butterfield and Century publisher Selina Walker did the deal with Millie Hoskins at United Agents with Oliver Malcolm as consultant. Sourcebooks, under CEO Dominique Raccah, will publish alongside Century in the US.
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Ross added: “I’m delighted to have found that in the teams at both Cornerstone and Sourcebooks, whose dynamism and enthusiasm is infectious. I feel confident entrusting my physical backlist as well as a brand new series to their capable hands, and hope many more readers come to discover and enjoy the stories I tell with the help of their unparalleled global reach.”
Ross’ debut was published back in 2015, and became a “word of mouth” bestseller. Since then, more than 30 of her novels have taken the top spot in the UK Amazon charts.
Six of her DCI Ryan Mysteries have featured in the top 20 most read titles on Kindle Unlimited and she is the most read adult fiction author in the UK on that platform. The series is also the second bestselling series on Amazon UK after Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
“I am very excited that we will be publishing LJ Ross – a writer that I have long admired both for the stories she tells, the characters that stay with you and her
extraordinary ability to connect with readers,” said Butterfield. “We are very ambitious and thrilled to help her find millions more readers.”
Hoskins added: “Louise’s writing is a gift to readers and her success over the past decade has been incredible to watch. I’m so looking forward to seeing what the next chapter with PRH and Sourcebooks holds for LJ Ross!”
