And you thought self-published books were all rubbish. Author Boyd Morrison sold two books, the first one called The Ark, to Simon & Schuster. Boyd uploaded and sold the books himself and raised awareness for his novels by being a member of Kindle Boards and generally self-promoting.

He will be published in hardcover in 2010 and is working on his next book featuring swashbuckling adventurer Tyler Locke.

I’m sorry I went into radio silence mode for a while, but I had to keep a low profile while our negotiations were ongoing. It was hard staying quiet for so long. I have been monitoring the boards, though, and I’m so grateful for all the kind words.

Now the big news: Today I received confirmation from my agent that The Ark will be published in hardcover in summer 2010 by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. I couldn’t be more excited! The two-book deal is for The Ark and the next book in the Tyler Locke series, so Locke’s adventures will definitely be continuing. I also have book deals in seven other countries so far. We’re still working on The Palmyra Impact and The Adamas Blueprint, but those will be back in readers’ hands at some point.

Note to all you aspiring authors: Boyd seems to have his act together. He already has a road-map of books he’s planning and is attending a number of conferences for writers to spread the word. Not everyone, as we see from this self-published page, is going to get a two book contract with Mssrs. Simon and Schuster