Ann O’Loughlin’s The Ballroom Cafe is surprise Irish hit on Amazon 2015 top 20

A relatively unknown first-time Irish novelist is among the big names on a list just released by Amazon.co.uk of the top 20 bestselling ebooks of 2015 so far.

Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train is in first place and E L James’ Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian second in a list dominated by female authors and household names such as EL James, Gillian Flynn, Lee Child and David Nicholls. Nadine Dorries’ Hide Her Name, in which the Tory MP continues her story about an Irish community in the 1950s and ’60s begun in The Four Streets, is in ninth place.

So far, so predictable. But the bestselling Irish author on the list, in 15th place, is not Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahern or Maeve Binchy, but Ann O’Loughlin, whose first novel, The Ballroom Cafe, was published just over three months ago.

O’Loughlin, a journalist for over 30 years who works for the Irish Examiner and lives in Co Wicklow, is understandably delighted. “I am absolutely thrilled,” she said. “The path to publication is so long for a first-time writer that you think you will never get there. I am going to savour every minute of this. To be up there beside such big names for my debut novel is frankly overwhelming. It vindicates the huge belief my agent Jenny Brown and my publishers Black and White Publishing have had in me. I am incredibly lucky to have a great team behind me. To think so many people have enjoyed reading The Ballroom Café is a great feeling and makes all the 5am early starts to write before going to work worthwhile.”

Laura Nicol, press officer for the publishers, said that ebook sales had taken off soon after publication with more than 150,000 copies sold. “Print sales have only recently got going but are now 5,000-plus copies. More than 90 per cent of sales to date are UK sales, with Ireland just under 5 per cent and Australia the third biggest market.”

The Kindle version of The Ballroom Cafe retails for 49p, compared with £7.99 for the paperback, which is clearly a factor in the overwhelming success of the ebook. “Ebook pricing is something we look at on a title by title basis,” said Nicol. “We often offer new titles in e-book format at an introductory price for a fixed period of time and sometimes extend this, depending on the reaction. Occasionally we extend this for longer, particularly if ebook sales start off strongly and we then review it from time to time. For a debut author, this can be a good way to start building a readership and getting the author more widely known so that there’s an audience there for future work.”

Why does O’Loughlin think her debut has done so well? “Readers tell me it a good read and one they have to read in one or two sittings. I think The Ballroom Cafe strikes a chord with people. Not only is there the theme running through the novel of forced illegal adoption from Ireland to the US, but there are the elderly sisters who only communicate though notes. A story of heartbreak, tragedy and lives lived, The Ballroom Cafe is a story filtered through life in Rathsorney village, Ireland and the café, where people gossip and sip tea from china cups, but it reflects the tragedies of those ordinary lives lived under the shadow of a shameful secret.

“It is a reflection on the forced illegal adoption of the children of unmarried mothers to the US and I think readers identify with all the characters. What they like is that the story is examined from all sides. That is not to say it is a tough read; the one thing about The Ballroom Cafe is that along with the main story of heartbreak and tragedy and ultimately hope; there is humour, gossip and village life with all its ups and downs. They say fiction can often sheds a light of understanding and I hope this is the case with my novel.

“Book clubs all over the UK and Ireland have taken on the novel and it has also been featured on blogs all over the UK and Ireland which helped raise the awareness of the novel and garner such a following. It has got over 800 reviews on Amazon alone and on the strength of that the German rights have already sold.”

Nicol added: “When we first read the manuscript for Ballroom Cafe, the quality of the writing and the story really stood out. It’s exciting to find work that you just don’t want to stop reading, particularly when it’s a debut novel. As the sales figures show, the book has an incredibly broad appeal, especially in the UK and Ireland, and the reader reviews and feedback from the trade have been outstanding. We’re also now getting strong interest from overseas publishers, with a translation rights sale to Germany already secured with more to follow soon. It’s been a real pleasure for everyone at Black & White working with Ann O’Loughlin on The Ballroom Café and seeing the book find such an enthusiastic audience and Ann is not only a very talented writer but also a great person to work with. Seeing all her hard work come to fruition like this and being able to help make that happen is very special and everyone at Black & White is incredibly proud of the success of The Ballroom Cafe.”

The 20 bestselling ebooks on Amazon.co.uk so far in 2015

1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Transworld)

2. Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian by E L James (Cornerstone)

3. Silent Scream by Angela Marsons (Bookouture)

4. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (Penguin)

5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

6. The Lie by C.L. Taylor (Avon)

7. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (Picador)

8. The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams by Fiona Harper (Mills & Boon)

9. Hide Her Name by Nadine Dorries (Head of Zeus)

10. Personal by Lee Child (Transworld)

11. Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott (Black Dot Publishing)

12. Us by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)

13. The Throwaway Children by Diney Costeloe (Head of Zeus)

14. The Year of Taking Chances by Lucy Diamond (Pan)

15. The Ballroom Café by Ann O’Loughlin (Black & White Publishing)

16. The Good Girl by Fiona Neill (Penguin)

17. Closer Than You Think by Karen Rose (Headline)

18. The Letter by Kathryn Hughes (Review)

19. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)

20. Evil Games by Angela Marsons (Bookouture