Anna Jacobs has written 110 novels and textbooks since she became an author and at 83 is planning to write even more. Remarkably all titles are still in print.
Anna studied French at Leeds University then worked writing French textbooks which she found less interesting than writing stories. After a bout of illnesses – chronic fatigue followed by fibromyalgia – she gave up her public service job and took to fulltime fiction writing.
Since then, she has had more than 100 books published, writing three novels a year. Although she admits to slowing down to only two from this year.
“I write for business and pleasure,” she said. “I’ve written historical fiction and modern family and relationships novels alternately under my own name. I have also written fantasy novels under the pseudonym of Shannah Jay.
“The characters in my books are entirely from my head as are the stories. I’m addicted to storytelling.
“I start by writing three or four chapters, then stop to think about how the story will take shape. Then I often rewrite the earlier chapters.”
Anna and husband David Jacobs, a retired economist who acts as her business manager, are negotiating with one of their publishers in London for three more books, and they are expecting to arrange a similar deal with another publisher later in the year.
“She must live at least another three years to fulfil the contract,” he said.
“I also love reading other writers’ novels,” said Anna. “I’m so addicted to stories that I read three books a week, some of them for research but most just stories for my own pleasure. I have to have at least one book on the go all the time.”
“She reads very quickly, while I read one page, she has read three,” said David.
Her English publishers print stories of different genres. One publishes mainly historical novels; Anna alternates with novels in a modern setting for the other publisher.
Her books are available in both in hard and soft cover and are also available in Kindles and other eBook formats, as audiobooks and large print. The latter are mainly bought by libraries.
They have also been translated into several languages.
“We don’t organise the translation ourselves. We sell the rights to overseas publishers who then arrange translation. After an agreed number of sales, they pay us a royalty on every extra book sold,” explains David.
Their major markets are the UK, Australia, USA, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and the Czech republic.
Anna and David moved to Perth in 1973. They spent the northern hemisphere summers at their home in Wiltshire until Covid made travel impossible. Travel was useful to Anna both to keep in touch with friends and relatives and to research venues for her novels.
Anna rarely does author talks to promote her books any more, but she takes delight in contacts with readers by letter and increasingly email.
“People around the world write to me, making contact via my website. sometimes they say how my books have helped them deal with loneliness for example after the loss of their partner. Reading helps them to lose themselves in fiction.
Her novel Pride of Lancashire won a literary prize for the Best Australian Romantic Book of the Year (longer novels) in 2006.
The award was presented by the late Bryce Courtenay, AM, another of Australia’s best-selling authors, notable for his book The
Power of One.
Anna is proud to be the fifth most borrowed author of adult fiction in the UK library system, and the 11th most borrowed author of all fiction (adult and children’s combined).
There is no stopping this prolific writer.
“I have so many other stories nagging me to write them,” she said.