#1 and #5 bestselling Kindle books of the last quarter of 2011 published independently by UK authors Kerry Wilkinson and Katie Stephens

Luxembourg – February 8th, 2012 – Independent UK authors are benefiting from the success of Kindle as Amazon.co.uk today announced that Kerry Wilkinson, a 31 year old debut novelist from Lancashire, was the #1 bestselling author in the Kindle Store in the last quarter of 2011, after he published his novel independently using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Katie Stephens, a writer of contemporary romance novels from Surrey, saw her independently published debut novel ‘Candles on the Sand’ become the #5 bestselling book in the Kindle Store over the same time period.

"This time last year, I hadn't even started writing ‘Locked In’ and now I have a number one bestselling book in the Kindle Store, outselling many authors that I have grown up reading," said Kerry Wilkinson. "It has been terrific to be able to utilise Amazon's KDP platform and engage directly with readers."

"This is a significant milestone for independent publishing in the UK and we’re extremely excited to see authors benefiting from the success of Kindle," said Gordon Willoughby, Director, EU, Kindle. "Kerry Wilkinson’s series of detective novels have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the Kindle Store and we look forward to helping many more independently published authors achieve similar levels of success in 2012."

Kindle was the biggest selling product at Amazon.co.uk in 2011 and sales of Kindle books in the three months following the launch of the all-new Kindle were almost five times higher than the same period in 2010.

Independently published crime fiction writer, Kerry Wilkinson’s first book in his Jessica Daniel detective series, ‘Locked In’, was the #1 bestselling book in the Kindle Store in the last quarter of 2011. Wilkinson has also released two other books in the series, ‘Vigilante’ and ‘The Woman in Black’, using KDP and together they have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk. Books four and five in the series, ‘Think of the Children’ and ‘Playing with Fire, are due for release in 2012.

KDP is a fast and easy way for authors and publishers to make their books available to Kindle customers in the UK and around the world via Kindle, and on free Kindle reading apps for Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Windows Phone, PC and Mac. For further information on KDP visit https://kdp.amazon.com.

In 2011, Amazon.com announced that two independently published authors, John Locke and Amanda Hocking, had sold over 1 million Kindle books using Kindle Direct Publishing, joining the ‘Kindle Million Club’ alongside 12 established authors - Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Kathryn Stockett, Suzanne Collins, Janet Evanovich, George R R Martin, David Baldacci and Stephenie Meyer.

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Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office: For more information please contact the Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office on 0208 636 9280. You can also email pressoffice@amazon.co.uk.

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