Sheila Rodgers (born 1952) is an English author of psychological thrillers under the pen name Rachel Abbott. A self-publisher, her first seven novels (and one novella) have combined to sell over three million copies, and have all been bestsellers on Amazon's Kindle store.Dalya Alberge, "Crime writer hits killer 1m sales – with no publisher," The Sunday Times, 8 February 2015. In 2015, she was named the 14th bestselling author over the last five years on Amazon's Kindle in the UK.Hannah Furness, "Retiree who wrote novel for fun joins world-famous authors on bestseller list," The Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2015.

Early life Abbott grew up near Manchester, England. She worked as a systems analyst and then founded an interactive media company, developing software and websites for the education market. She sold the company for around £5 million in 2000. Following the sale, she moved from Lancashire, England, to Italy, where she restored a 15th-century Italian monastery that for a time she and her husband operated as a venue for weddings and holidays.Smita Mistry, "I Spent 14 Years Plotting a Murder!" Woman's Own, p. 38.

Career In 2009, Abbott decided to write a book about an average, everyday woman put into a situation where she had no other option but to commit murder. It took Abbott 18 months to write the first draft. In November 2011, after rejection by several literary agents, Abbott, then 59, published her first novel, Only the Innocent, on Amazon, under her pen name. The book sold slowly at first, with sales taking off after Abbott put together a strong marketing campaign.Lisa Campbell, "EL James tops five-year Amazon Kindle chart," The Bookseller, 5 August 2015.Ben Falk, "How I Used My Retirement To Become Kindle’s Bestselling UK Author," Yahoo Finance, 7 September 2015.

Abbott followed up Only the Innocent in 2013 with The Back Road and in 2014 with Sleep Tight. Her fourth novel, Stranger Child, was published on 24 February 2015."Bestselling writer in Alderney celebrates fourth novel," ITV Report, 24 February 2015. Later that year, she published the novella Nowhere Child, which has the same characters as Stranger Child.Emma Lazenby, "How to write your first book and get it published: 10 insider tips," bt.com, 11 December 2015. In 2016, she published her sixth novel, Kill Me Again.Rachel Abbott, "14 hour days, marketing and dealing with snobbery: my life as a self-published bestseller," The Guardian, 30 March 2016. Her five novels and one novella all focus on relationships and crime, and all feature the same detective, Chief Inspector Tom Douglas. Abbott has described the character as "a genuinely honest, nice guy who just seems to be attracted to the wrong women."Caroline Carpenter, "Self-published Rodgers hits a million in sales," The Bookseller, 9 February 2015.

Working with an agent since 2012, she published in the UK and through a publisher in North America."Rachel Abbott: ‘Self-publishing means the success of my books is entirely down to me," The Guardian, 2 July 2013. Her books have been translated into seven different languages.

By 2015, Abbott's first three novels, all published in the UK, with the first two published by Thomas & Mercer in the US, had combined to sell one million copies. All three have been bestsellers in Amazon's Kindle store. By March 2016, she had sold two million books. In 2015, Abbott was named Amazon's most popular independently published author in the UK;Alison Flood, "Kindle turns five: independent women thrive in ebook bestseller charts," The Guardian, 5 August 2015. she is Amazon's number one e-book seller in crime and thriller writing. Also in 2015, she was named the 14th bestselling author over the last five years on Amazon's Kindle in the UK, after first publishing on the platform in 2011. For the year 2015 (through August), Stranger Child was the most borrowed book from Amazon UK's Kindle Owners' Lending Library service, and number 11 on Amazon UK's list of best-selling ebooks of 2015.Stefan Kyriazis, "Female authors whip the men' asses after writing 18 OUT OF TOP 20 bestsellers in 2015," Daily Express, 26 August 2015.Alison Flood, "The Girl on the Train tops Amazon's UK ebook sales this year so far," The Guardian, 25 August 2015.

In 2017, The Express called her the "Queen of the twisted suspense novel." That year, following a five-way auction, Abbott signed a two-book deal with Headline Publishing Group to become a hybrid author. The first book in the deal, And So It Begins, is a psychological thriller that asks if there can ever be a proper defence for murder. It introduced a new character, Sergeant Stephanie King, and was published in 2018.

Abbott was invited to be a judge for Amazon's inaugural Kindle Storyteller Award in 2017, alongside model and actress Lily Cole and the Alliance of Independent Authors founder Orna Ross.

In 2018, Abbott published her seventh novel, Come a Little Closer. As of 2021, Abbott has sold more than four million copies of her books worldwide.Kindle turns five: independent women thrive in ebook bestseller charts, The Guardian

Personal life Abbott and her husband divide their time between Marche region of Italy and the island of Alderney, one of the Channel Islands.

Bibliography Title Publisher Publication date ISBN Only the Innocent Thomas & Mercer / Black Dot Publishing 15 November 2011 The Back Road Thomas & Mercer / Black Dot Publishing 3 March 2013 Sleep Tight Black Dot Publishing 24 February 2014 Stranger Child Black Dot Publishing 24 February 2015 Nowhere Child (novella) Black Dot Publishing 29 October 2015 Kill Me Again Black Dot Publishing 17 February 2016 The Sixth Window Black Dot Publishing 21 February 2017 Come a Little Closer Black Dot Publishing 13 February 2018 And So It Begins Wildfire 15 November 2018 The Shape of Lies Black Dot Publishing 12 February 2019 Right Behind You Black Dot Publishing 16 January 2020 The Murder Game Wildfire 16 April 2020 Close Your Eyes Black Dot Publishing 11 February 2021

References

External links Official website Official blog