Lightning Books acquires sequel to UK’s #1 Kindle bestseller

Hard on the heels of The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay, Lightning will publish the paperback sequel by bestselling romantic comedy writer Nicola May

Lightning Books is to publish the sequel to Nicola May’s bestselling The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay, which earlier this year spent a month at the top of the UK Kindle charts and remains Britain’s #1 bestselling romantic comedy on Kindle.

Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay, the second volume in a proposed trilogy, reunites London-bred Rosa, the surprise inheritor of a shop in an idyllic Devon village, with the cast of local characters she encountered in the first book. Newly wed, and with her shop successfully up and running, Rosa seems to have it all – but her suspicions that her husband is having an affair produce dire consequences. Reaching rock bottom before she can climb back up to the top, she is forced to face her fears, addiction and jealousy head on.

The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay was the ninth novel by Nicola May, who self-published all her titles up to that point. She had enjoyed the rare distinction for a self-published author of being stocked by Waterstones. Two of her novels won awards at the Festival of Romance and another was ebook of the week in The Sun. Reaching the top of the UK Kindle charts was her crowning achievement. Since her soaraway ebook sales have gone largely unrecognised in the industry, BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours recently dubbed her the ‘invisible’ bestselling author.

In February, Lightning Books stepped in to publish a new paperback edition of The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay, with May retaining ebook rights. Scott Pack, Lightning’s editor-at-large, has now signed a similar deal for the sequel, acquiring World English rights for the print edition of Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay.

He says: ‘It may be unorthodox these days for a publisher to let an author keep their ebook rights but Nicola has done an amazing job of self-publishing her books and got to #1 on Amazon all by herself, so she should absolutely keep those rights. If she relinquished them to a publisher she’d be receiving a lower royalty, and it isn’t as if a publisher could improve on her ebook chart position or sales. What we, as her publisher, can do, is get her print edition into bookshops across the globe, and we are delighted to have the chance to do that.’

Nicola May says she is delighted to be publishing her Cockleberry sequel with Lightning: ‘Allowing me flexibility and control of my works, plus offering a direct and friendly relationship makes Lightning the perfect publishing match for me as an author.’

Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay will be published in September.

Published on
April 11, 2019