Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson (born 4 November 1980) is a British author and sports journalist born in Bath, Somerset.

In 2018, his book Ten Birthdays won the Romantic Novelists' Association award for Young Adult Novel of the Year. Along with Marius Gabriel, he was the first man to win a RoNA Award in the organisation's 58-year history. He is also an International Thriller Writers Awards winner, with Close To You, for best ebook original.

In March 2023, he wrote an article for The Bookseller, entitled Autism can be a huge publishing strength—and challenge about how he was an adult when he discovered he was autistic.

Work Kerry Wilkinson is an author who has had bestselling ebooks in the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa. In 2011, he became one of the United Kingdom's most-successful self-published authors, but has since worked with 'traditional' publishers. In the final quarter of 2011, Amazon UK announced he was their top-selling author for their Amazon Kindle chart - and that he had sold over 250,000 ebooks.

His first novel, Locked In, went to number one on the Amazon Kindle chart and Apple's iTunes crime books chart. At one point in November 2011, he had the top three books in the crime chart.

He signed a six-book deal with Pan Books in February 2012 to publish his Jessica Daniel series of novels. Shortly after, it was announced he was one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling UK-born authors worldwide for 2011, and then one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling Kindle authors overall for the following year.

In September 2012, Pan Macmillan announced they had acquired a "fantasy trilogy for young adults", the Silver Blackthorn series, Meanwhile, when the same publisher released the fourth Jessica Daniel book, Think of the Children, it became Amazon UK's no.1 ebook pre-order in February 2013, with the paperback peaking at number 19 on the UK chart.

In August 2013, The Bookseller reported that Pan Macmillan had bought two more books from Wilkinson, including a standalone crime novel, Down Among The Dead Men; and Something Wicked, a spin-off from the Jessica Daniel series.

A further deal followed in 2014 for another book in the Jessica Daniel series, another Andrew Hunter book, and a standalone crime thriller entitled, No Place Like Home. In 2015, the Bookseller reported his sales were "fast approaching the one million mark".

With the Jessica Daniel series continuing through Pan Books in the UK, publisher Bookouture secured the rights to publish the series in the United States, as well as global rights for "two psychological thrillers".

In 2017, the first of those thrillers, Two Sisters, peaked at No.1 in Canada's Kindle chart and the iBooks chart. It also reached No.14 in the UK Kindle chart and No.20 in the United States.

The second, The Girl Who Came Back, reached No.1 in the UK Kobo chart and No.2 in the UK Kindle chart. It also acquired "World All Languages rights for two more addictive psychological thrillers, plus the coming-of-age novel Truly, Madly, Amy"

A year later, the publisher said they had "signed a four-book mystery series with bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson". The Whitecliff series was then released in 2023. The company also signed "a pair of linked books, about a girl who goes to a teenage sleepover: but when she wakes up, her friends have vanished." The Night Of The Sleepover and After The Sleepover were released in October and December 2023.

In August 2024, Wilkinson signed a deal with Bookouture for his 50th novel to be published. The company's publishing director, Ellen Gleeson, said: "Writing 50 books is an incredible accomplishment. Kerry has an unrivalled understanding of what makes a small town tick."

Awards DateAwardsCategoryBookOther nomineesResult Ref.March 2018Romantic Novelists' Association AwardsBest Young Adult Romantic NovelTen Birthdays Juno Dawson - Margot And Me Keris Stainton - One Italian Summer May 2025Crime Writers of Canada Awards of ExcellenceBest Crime Novel Set in CanadaThe Call Brenda Chapman - Fatal Harvest (A Hunter and Tate Mystery) Barry W. Levy - The War Machine Shane Peacock - As We Forgive Others Greg Rhyno - Who By Fire (A Dame Polara Mystery)

Education Wilkinson attended Oakfield Middle School and Frome Community College in Frome, Somerset. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Central Lancashire.

Support Wilkinson sponsors the annual short story competition for young writers in his home town of Frome. This is part of the Frome Festival.