Local author gets published by Penguin Random House

Douglas Kruger, a local author, recently published a new novel through Penguin Random House and attributes his success to persistence and resilience.

The writer and speaker, who hails from Little Falls, has a myriad of books and talks behind his name, having published 12 non-fiction titles, which became South African bestsellers, and is well-known for his books on personal development and entrepreneurship.

In a press release to the media, Douglas concedes that this is quite a departure in publishing terms, but describes it as ‘his true dream,’ and ‘the way forward’. He continues by saying that he wanted to write novels since he was nine years old.

The fictional piece is described by Douglas as a combination ‘dark thriller’ and ‘fast-paced blockbuster,’ and features a young woman with an unusual talent – she can ‘read’ the hidden motives in others, with the story playing out in locations around the world, including Edinburgh, Texas, Washington DC, and the inside of an asylum.

“Nothing helps you to succeed quite like hours in the seat. Many aspiring writers like to talk about the day they get started. That’s a mistake. Get started! Put in the hours. The sooner you complete book number one, the sooner you can go on to your second one. Also, reviews, more than anything else. The strange thing is, they don’t even have to be good reviews. But every review on a platform like Amazon or Audible makes a very big difference to an author’s ultimate success. I’m grateful for everyone,” he noted when asked what advice he can give to aspiring/ local authors.

The book, CharacterScan will be available from June 19 in all bookstores in South Africa and will be published globally in eBook format, and paperback in some countries. He says that the book also caters to those who prefer their stories in audio format as he had recorded the tale in his own voice for platforms like Audible.