DON’T LET HIM IN

Lisa Jewell

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE // CORNERSTONE PUBLISHING

Penguin Random House's campaign for Lisa Jewell's Don't Let Him In doubled its pre-sales target and gave the author her first all-title number-one in a 23-book career, through a character-led cinematic campaign with Gunpowder House Productions.

An older woman with gray hair sitting on a green couch in a dimly lit room, facing right, with a contemplative expression. A lamp with a beige shade and decorative beads is on a side table behind her, and wooden shelves with various items are on the wall.

THE CONTEXT

British author, Lisa Jewell has built a devoted readership, consistent bestseller list presence, and a reputation as one of the most revered names in the crime and thriller genre working today. Cornerstone’s ambition for Don’t Let Him In was to take her to new heights. Their goal was to reach the Sunday Times bestseller charts upon debut, and the plan to achieve this was by driving up pre-sales. 

Cornerstone came to Gunpowder House through an internal referral within Penguin Random House UK, a relationship established since 2023. Director Srishti Chhabria opened an active channel of communication with Cornerstone’s project lead, Ania Gordon to explore and mine specific audience behaviour. These insights informed Gunpowder House on what these audiences consumed, where they could be found and what content moved them to act. 

This campaign targeted audiences on TV Broadcast, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, promoting the hardback release. The content Gunpowder House had to create needed to communicate the quality of the writing in a way that made immediate purchase feel necessary, steering audiences away from waiting for the price to drop or the paperback release month later.

THE STRATEGY

After reading the book, director Srishti Chhabria identified that the standout commercial asset from the material was Jewell’s expertly crafted characters. Each character who is a narrator in the book, is compelling and psychologically distinct. All of them are operating without the full picture of what is happening.

The strategic decision Cornerstone and Gunpowder House made together was to build the campaign around this strength. The flagship trailer was bolstered by weekly releases of a new character telling their version of the story. 

Readers unfamiliar with Lisa Jewell’s work needed a hook into this specific story before they could develop their relationship with the author. Character trailers with genre-defining production elements gave them an entry into Jewell’s worlds. This format converted genre interest into story interest, which is the path leading to a first purchase

An elderly woman with short brown hair, wearing a light-colored blouse, sitting in a dimly lit room near a bed with a headboard and lamp in the background.

THE WORK

This testimonial style trailers were chosen to create the sense of somethings being confessed while somethings were withheld without disclosing spoilers. Audiences who engaged with the character trailers every week could begin piecing together the puzzle, but the answers they sought could only be found upon finishing the book. 

After the book was released, Cornerstone released the villain’s perspective character trailer. The suite of pre-release trailers were primarily targeted at Jewell’s existing and adjacent readership, the villain’s trailer was earmarked to broaden reach further. This trailer, voiced by Richard Armitage, broke the fourth wall and addressed the audience directly, acknowledging that they had been waiting to hear his side. This trailer’s timing was crucial as the book was already in many readers’ hands and word of mouth was building. 

Leading up to the paperback release, Cornerstone returned to Gunpowder House to repurpose the trailers. These new variations directly addressed the audiences waiting for the paperback release, acknowledging the format they had chosen, instead of recycling material built around the hardback release. 

Months after the paperback release, Ania Gordon identified an out of home advertising opportunity at the M25 Heathrow Gateway and her first call was to Gunpowder House. A static image drawn from the production materials was already in hand and was delivered within an hour. The site sits on route into one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, encouraging passengers to access airport retail where Don’t Let Him In could be found on bookshelves.

THE OUTCOME

Don’t Let Him In debuted as a Sunday Times Bestseller on publication day, the first hardback of Jewell's career to do so and the pre-sales target doubled. Following the paperback release, the campaign gave Jewell the first all-formats number-one slot of her 23-book career.

The broadcast placements on Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Lorraine, and ITVX Drama generated over 160,000 impressions. On paid digital distribution, the trailers drove over 400,000 YouTube impressions and 80,000 link clicks at an 8% click-through rate.

The campaign was Highly Commended at the Book Marketer's Society Awards in 2025, where the judging panel noted that it elevated creative standards and reached readers through non-traditional platforms. The campaign was nominated for Marketing Strategy of the Year at the British Book Awards (Nibbies) 2026, alongside campaigns for Suzanne Collins's Sunrise of the Reaping, Sarah Wynn-Williams's Careless People, and Virginia Giuffre's Nobody's Girl. The Bookseller called it "a masterclass in how to lift a long-established brand author to new heights."

"I loved working with Gunpowder House. They had such proactivity, creativity and brilliant ideas on how to bring the pages of the book to life into a visual medium. Srishti especially was an incredibly great collaborator, with very quick replies, clear timelines and feedback. She took our vision and made it even better than we could possibly have imagined!"

Ania Gordon, Head of Marketing at Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK

DELIVERABLES

Full Cinematic Trailer

  • TV Broadcast, Hardback & Paperback

  • YouTube, Hardback & Paperback

  • Instagram, Hardback & Paperback

Character Trailers Suite 

Poster for OOH Advertising Billboard

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Book Marketing Society Awards: Adult Fiction Campaign Q3 2025 Highly Commended

The British Book Awards: Nominated for Marketing Strategy of the Year

CREDITS

  • Commissioned by: Cornerstone Marketing, Century Publishing, Penguin Random House UK 

    Head of Marketing, Cornerstone: Ania Gordon 

    Client: Lisa Jewell

    Production Company: Gunpowder House Productions 

    Directed by: Srishti Chhabria 

    Produced by: Amie Page and Tripti Rai 

    Cinematography by: Isabel Morales-Detková 


    First Assistant Director: Harry Norton 

    First Assistant Camera: Vato Beridze 

    Gaffer: Eric Choi 

    Sound Recordist: Cael McNally 

    Hair and Makeup: Leandro Annunziato 

    Continuity Supervisor: Leeroy Boone 

    Production Assistant: Jolynn Tng 

    Behind the Scenes: Joe Thomas

    Post Production Producer & Typography: Srishti Chhabria

    Edited & Poster Design by: Laurie Jenkins 

    Cast: Emma Kinsey, Isabel Gray, Rachel Dobell, Suzanna Hughes, Maxwell Cavenham and Claire Jared

    Voice Artists: Richard Armitage (villain's perspective trailer), Joanne Froggatt (multiple characters)

BOOK A STRATEGY CALL

During our call, we’ll explore your objectives, uncover the barriers holding you back, and map out effective video strategies designed to help you achieve your goals and targets.

PUBLISHING CONTENT

srishti@gunpowderhouse.co.uk

PRODUCTION OPERATIONS

harry@gunpowderhouse.co.uk

CHARITY FILM CONTENT

max@gunpowderhouse.co.uk