From Insurance Salesman to Bestselling Ebook Author

John Locke set out to write novels two years ago feeling certain that no one would publish them. The former door-to-door insurance salesman knew nothing about agents or drafting query letters or how to write a good book. In fact, he had no literary credentials at all.

"I couldn't think of a single reason a publisher would want to put money into an unknown author without a writing background," says Locke, 60, who saw freedom in being such an outsider. He could write whatever he wanted without fear of corporate censors. He could be wild, racy, ungrammatical -- whatever he thought might make his stories entertaining.

"I didn't care if I broke the rules," Locke says with a laugh. "I didn't care if I made real authors or publishers or editors angry. It gave me a lot of confidence."

He can afford to laugh now, because Locke, who resorted to self-publishing, has become a literary phenomenon. By cranking out fast-paced, action-packed novels -- most starring a roguish former CIA assassin named Donovan Creed -- and shrewdly marketing himself through social media, Locke has racked up nearly 1.5 million ebook sales with plenty of new titles in the pipeline. Amazon.com, which tracks downloads for its Kindle electronic reader, ranks Locke with such big-time authors as Michael Connelly, Stieg Larsson, James Patterson and Nora Roberts.

Earlier this year, Locke held the top two spots on Amazon's Kindle sales list and four of the top 10 positions. "Every 7 seconds, 24 hours a day, a John Locke novel is downloaded somewhere in the world," he boasted in a newly released nonfiction book, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months. "All this was achieved part time, without an agent [or] publicist, and at virtually no marketing expense."

His success proved him wrong. Major publishers began clamoring for his work, and Simon & Schuster announced in August that it will pick up the entire Donovan Creed line. The deal means that readers will be able to find hard-copy versions of Locke's books in stores beginning in February 2012. Neither Locke nor the publishing house will release terms of the deal except to say it will be a highly unusual arrangement: Locke will retain all of the editorial rights, maintaining his control over design, content and pricing of his books, while Simon & Schuster will weigh in with its vast distribution system and sales force.

"We saw an opportunity with a guy who was selling a lot of books and ebooks," says Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg, who considers Locke part of a vanguard of savvy authors becoming stars because of social media and the trend toward electronic books. "He shows an ability to understand his audience and to reach them. We're seeing a bit more of it these days with entrepreneurial types like Locke and Amanda Hocking."

Hocking, a 27-year-old writer from Austin, Minn., rocked the publishing world this year by topping 1 million sales with her self-published, paranormal romance novels and signing a $2 million contract with St. Martin's Press. Not long afterward, another top-selling, self-published paranormal novelist, H.P. Mallory, signed with Random House.

Locke, who self-publishes his books through a small printing company called Telemachus Press, which helps authors with cover designs and digital formatting, published an eleventh title earlier this month. Most of the novels feature his hit-man protagonist, Creed, while three, including his most recent, are westerns. All exhibit Locke's quirky, free-wheeling writing style, heavy on humor, repartee and plot twists. Fans call them a thrill ride; critics complain they are chaotic and nonsensical.

"A very intriguing, lively page-turner," a reader named W. Jo VonBargen writes in an Amazon.com review of Locke's breakthrough novel, Saving Rachel. "I read most of it at one sitting, not wanting to put it down. . . ." Another reviewer, Jenny L. Cuykendall, dismisses the same book as "poorly written, highly predictable and ludicrous."

Locke concedes he is no great stylist and takes a pragmatic view of the critics. He says he prefers being a love-him-or-hate-him author because it clearly defines his target audience. After "wasting" $25,000 on publicity for his early books, Locke hit upon a system of cultivating his core followers through carefully crafted blog posts and Twitter tweets.

Like Hocking and Mallory, Locke undercuts the publishing houses by selling downloads for 99 cents apiece.

"Because I can publish an ebook for very little money, I can afford to sell it for 99 cents and still receive a 35-cent profit!" Locke writes in his how-to guide. If you are one of the thousands of people shopping for content for an electronic reader, Locke says, you can afford all of his titles for the price of a more famous author's work.

Locke, who is not to be confused with the fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and grew up near Boston and in Shreveport, La., before enrolling as an English major at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. In college, he was inspired by William Goldman's first novel, Temple of Gold, but Locke deferred his aspirations to write. He never graduated, opting instead to accept a job selling insurance door to door.

The decision worked out. By 35, he says, his net worth topped $25 million, and he bought his own life insurance company. In 1995, he sold the company for a profit and invested in real estate. At last the father of five, who now lives in Louisville, Ky., is getting to see what he can accomplish as an author, but he regards his second act as something of a sideshow. His wife, Annie, a popular aerobics instructor, is better known around town than he is. Writing accounts for a small percentage of their income, and Locke fits it in around the demands of managing the couple's 13 shopping centers.

Fortunately, he says, he has energy -- "I've operated on four to five hours' sleep for more than 40 years" -- and he writes fast, up to 10,000 words in a day when he's rolling. He conceptualizes scenes and dashes them off whenever he finds free time.

"I try to publish a book every eight weeks," Locke says. "My goal is three new books before end of the year."

"I write for the stressed-out reader. They like to get caught up in a simple story that makes them smile. If I can get them to laugh out loud, I've done my job."

SecondAct contributor David Ferrell is the author of Screwball, a comic baseball novel. He lives in Southern California.