Meredith Wild, whose erotic Hacker series has been a self-publishing success, has got a book deal.
The 32-year-old author signed with Grand Central Publishing’s Forever imprint for $7 million, according to the Associated Press. Her series has appeared on both the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best-seller lists.
The initial four books of the series were self-published, beginning with Hardwired in 2013. GCP says the series has sold 1.2 million e-book copies and approximately 200,000 print-on-demand trade paperbacks.
The novels follow young businesswoman Erica Hathaway and her relationship with billionaire — and rumored hacker — Blake Landon.
The first four books — Hardwired, Hardpressed, Hardline and Hard Limit — are to be released as Forever e-book editions on April 7 with paperback editions following on May 12. The fifth and final installment of the Hacker series, Hard Love, will be released in both e-book and paperback on Sept. 15.
Self-published romance novels and erotica continue to be a hot area for acquisition since E.L. James scored a multimillion-dollar advance for her Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy back in 2012. The movie adaptation of the book starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan has grossed more than $566 million worldwide since its Feb. 13. release.
Leah Hultenschmidt, editorial director of Forever, acquired the world rights for Wild’s series — the books have already been sold in 12 countries. Wild is represented by Kimberly Brower of Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency.
