When Sheila Rogers – using the pen name Rachel Abbott – wrote ONLY THE INNOCENT in 2011 she was repeatedly rejected by literary agents. However, as a former systems analyst who founded an interactive media company developing software and websites for the education market, she understood the power of the internet. She self-published. She also designed a website.
Her psychological crime thriller and two self-published sequels have now sold a million copies. All three have been No.1 bestsellers on Amazon’s Kindle store and are still in the top 100. She has also been taken on by Lizzy Kremer of David Higham Associates, who says: ‘She is probably the UK’s biggest-selling independently published author.’
Sheila Rogers is a writer, but tellingly she is also a saleswoman who has worked at promoting her product.
ninevoices 
Always love to hear these inspiring stories. Question, do we know why she used a pen name?
Just curious because as someone starting out, I often debate whether or not to use a pen name. On the one hand, writing a book is a lot of work to not obtain some notoriety for your own name. On the other hand, if my novel falls flat, I’d like to keep my normal, everyday life as is.
Does she still use “Rachel Abbott?” Does she use “Sheila Rogers” now?
She still writes as Rachel Abbot – check out her professional website on Google – but had an article in the Sunday Times a week ago with her actual name and a photo. She’s a multi-tasking woman, having also bought and renovated a 15th century Italian monastery and turned it into a successful wedding venue. Maybe she uses different names for different ventures?
If you’re writing Fifty Shades of Grey I guess a pen name would save your children some embarrassment. Otherwise, social media being so important, maybe one has to take the risk…
Maggie
I’m thinking ‘Sheila Rogers’ is the kind of name your eye moves over without noticing, and ‘Sheila’ is a name with a certain time-stamp (although she looks much younger than that on her website). I guess you’re just lucky if your natural name is Donna Tartt or Harper Lee.
Christine (thinking of changing name by deed poll to Sherbet Lemon)