Craning his neck to spot the end of a long line of his fans, Robert Dugoni takes a moment to reflect on his good fortune. Seated at a table surrounded by his books and a growing fan base, he does not take his success for granted.
"I remember vividly not having anybody come to a book signing," said Dugoni. "I was literally at a desk with a pile of my books on it and there was nobody."
It was 2014. His books weren't reaching enough people. Something had to change. "I'm questioning whether I'm doing the right thing. Maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I need to think of something else." But Dugoni wasn't ready to give up. "I had a strong sense of survival."
Dugoni had just finished writing a new novel, "My Sister's Grave," introducing Tracy Crosswhite, a homicide detective with the Seattle Police Department, who dedicated her life to tracking down killers after her sister Sarah's disappearance and subsequent murder trial 20 years earlier. He told his agent that he wanted to find a different kind of publisher, one who would "promote my work and get the book out there." His agent set up a meeting with Amazon Publishing.
"Bob was someone whose name we knew but he just hadn't found his readership yet," said Grace Doyle, Editorial Director of Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. "It became really clear in talking to him that first day that he had such a passion for his Tracy Crosswhite series. We knew that this book could really be a blockbuster."
Amazon Publishing is a leading trade publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. Its mission is to empower storytellers, connect them with readers around the globe, and help their stories change the world. "What really sets Amazon Publishing apart is that we are constantly listening to our readers, what they want to read, what stories they're looking for," Doyle added. "Our job is to find great storytellers and connect readers with those stories."
Dugoni signed with Amazon Publishing and "My Sister's Grave" went on to sell more than 1 million copies and counting. The Tracy Crosswhite series has reached more than 4 million readers. Dugoni has published nine books with Amazon Publishing, including his latest thriller, "The Eighth Sister," which is already a #1 Kindle, Amazon Charts, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal bestseller. It's the first book in a new fictional series about a former CIA case officer who, after falling on hard times, agrees to take on a risky undercover assignment in Russia. The Associated Press review says, "['The Eighth Sister']is destined to be a classic in the genre, and Dugoni is arguably one of the best writers in the field right now." Dugoni is already at work on the next book in the series.
"Before Amazon Publishing, I was a writer struggling to be known," he said. "After Amazon Publishing, I'm a well-known, respected writer. It means everything."
Amazon Publishing, founded in 2009, has teams in Seattle, New York, Grand Haven, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, and Munich, and publishes emerging, bestselling, and critically acclaimed authors in digital, print, and audio formats. Meet the team and discover other great authors published by Amazon Publishing.
Photo by JORDAN STEAD
Robert Dugoni signs copies of his latest novel for fans.
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