About Ackroyd Publishing
Rachel McLean started Ackroyd Publishing in 2020 to publish her crime thrillers. Over time we've added more members to the team, helping to publish more books and make them available to as many readers as possible.
We've published over 40 books and continue to produce new books and new editions in additional formats such as audiobook, large print and hardback, as well as foreign translations.
To get in touch, please use our contact page.
Our Authors
As well as publishing Rachel's crime books, we also publish crime books co-written with other authors and a growing number of women's fiction books by other authors.
Here are our authors:
Rachel McLean
Rachel writes books designed to get you turning the page well past midnight, with characters you'll be rooting for. The first novel in her Dorset Crime series, The Corfe Castle Murders, won the Kindle Storyteller Award, and she's sold 2.5 million books.
Joel Hames
Joel Hames has been working with Rachel since her first crime novel, Deadly Wishes, and edits many of her books. He also co-writes the Cumbria Crime series, which is a follow-on from the Birmingham-based DI Zoe Finch series.
Millie Ravensworth
Millie Ravensworth is the pen name of Heide Goody and Iain Grant, who are known for their comedy novels including the Clovenhoof and Sam Applewhite series. Millie writes cosy mysteries and with Rachel co-writes the London Cosy Mysteries series and the Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club series.
Sally Brooks
Sally writes women's fiction with a sapphic twist, including romantic thrillers and romantic comedies. Her fourth book, Swiping Right (and other disasters) is the first to be published by Ackroyd Publishing.
The Ackroyd Publishing Team
Ackroyd Publishing is run by a small but experienced team of publishing professionals.
Rachel McLean writes the books and oversees publishing, marketing and everything else. If you send her an email it's Rachel who will reply. She knows she'd be nothing without readers and values every piece of feedback, even if it's to point out a typo. You can contact her at rachel@rachelmclean.com.
Rebecca Collins manages the publishing process and steers books from the initial idea to publication in multiple formats.
Jayne O'Keeffe ensures all books are published on the right platforms with the right content and covers and looks after admin and reporting.
Sharn Hutton designs covers and artwork and ensures they're set up correctly for all the formats the books come in, including ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardback and large print.
Catherine Matthews runs the newsletter and provides reader support, as well as managing audio and print files. She's the person who'll probably be helping you out if you have a problem with a download!
Simon Fairbanks is our ambassador to bookshops and libraries and works with them to make books available to readers and arrange author appearances.
Joel Hames edits most of the books and also co-writes the Cumbria Crime series (which he doesn't edit - that would be weird).
We also have a larger team of people who help with specific aspects of book production, design or marketing, including (but not limited to):
- Jan Cramer and Lesley Mackie, audiobook narrators
- Graham Bartlett, police advisor
- Ann, Nicola, Claire and Nicola, our beta reading team
- Maria Burns, artist and illustrator
- Hanna Elizabeth, editor
- Claire Rushbrook, proofreader
- Kerstin Jandl and her team of German translators (Detective Zoe Finch series)
- Tanja Lampa, German translator (Dorset Crime series)
- Maria Lopez, Spanish translator and publisher (Dorset Crime series)
- Jenny Burgess, TV & film rights agent
Non-Fiction By Rachel McLean
5 Steps to Author Success
New edition revised and updated for 2025!
The key to becoming a bestselling author is to understand what readers love.
Are you trying to get published?
Are you a self published author with great reviews but disappointing sales?
I was just like you.
After three years of publishing, I was no closer to my goal of being a full-time author. So I took a good hard look at my author career to see what I needed to change.
Five years later, I’ve sold over two million books and have had multiple books in the Amazon UK Top 10.
People often ask me questions about writing and publishing. Which is the best way to get your book out there, with a publisher or self publishing? How do you write books that will sell? What are readers clamouring for?
This book is my attempt to answer those questions. Click here for more information.