Announcing the Deal
Plus, pre-order links and the draft cover!
Welcome to the thirteenth edition of my Path to Publication series. Today, I’m talking about Announcing my Publishing Deal.
Honestly, it feels like it’s taken a lifetime to reach this point. I first met my commissioning editor — plus the rest of the editorial team, marketing and publicity — in February 2025, when the deal was agreed in principle.
Since then, I’ve been under a standard industry embargo, unable to say much about my deal, other than the fact I had one. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone who my publisher was, what the deal was for, or when my book would be out.
Of course, I did tell immediate family and very close friends, but they had to promise to keep schtum too. On pain of never getting a complimentary copy.
And, of course, I’ve said a few things on this blog. But as of today (well, technically a few days ago when the announcement came out), I’m now free to say absolutely anything and everything about the deal.
So, here it is…
I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a confirmed publication date for the UK paperback, eBook and audiobook (all in the English language) — 14 January 2027. It cannot come quickly enough, even though the 213 days (eek!) will almost certainly pass in a blur.
I also can’t wait to see my novel translated into Swedish, Dutch and Ukrainian. While these publication dates are still to be confirmed, you can be sure that I’ll be doing something to celebrate each of them too.
And, of course, now that I can talk about all of this, I’ve also updated my website with a couple of new pages:
‘Books’ now provides the draft blurb and cover for The Domino Man, plus pre-order links for the UK, US, Canada, Australia / New Zealand, and India markets. Pre-order links for Sweden, Netherlands and Ukraine will be added later.
‘Events’ now lists where you can come and meet me. I’ll be at the Theakstons Crime Writing Festival (Harrogate) in July 2026, plus I’ve been invited to Stockport Noir in January 2027. More events will be added soon.
Now that the news is out, the marketing and publicity processes will begin, but my time will still largely be taken up with editing Anna 2 and, when I have time, drafting more of Book 3.
In the meantime, here’s what’s coming up next on Arsenic & Cold Case:
1st July: Exploring Agatha Christie’s Devon
Thanks for reading. See you next time!
Big congratulations, Helen! That's wonderful news.