| Headline Publishing Group is proud to announce a bold move into online publishing. From 24th May in six weekly instalments, Headline will publish CONTRACT, the debut novel by 25 year old Simon Spurrier online, for free on a dedicated site www.itsallaboutthemoney.co.uk. Whilst Science Fiction imprints such as Orbit have published novels online in the past few years, Headline is the first mainstream commercial UK publisher to enter this field.
Piers Blofeld, editor of Headline's new generation fiction list bought the partial manuscript in a pre-emptive two book deal from Rachel Calder of the Sayle Literary Agency. 'CONTRACT' he says, 'was one of those very rare submissions that had me literally jumping out of my chair with excitement. Simon has an incredibly confident voice, is technically fantastically assured and is unafraid to take the reader to some pretty extraordinary places. CONTRACTis hugely exciting, unflinchingly candid and blackly comic and promises to be one of the notable debuts of 2007.'
Simon Spurrier already has an established cult following. Spurrier has written stories for 2000AD comics since he was 17 and was voted top new writer in the 2004 UK Comic Industry Awards. Inspired by Neil Gaiman and Chuck Palahniuk CONTRACT, his first full-length work of fiction is a brilliant portrayal of a character who is both morally repugnant and extraordinarily engaging and in the throws of total meltdown.
For Headline, this unique, urban novel , called for an unconventional form of publishing. As the timer on the novel's homepage counts down to launch date, Blofeld reflects "the publishing industry has been tiptoeing around publishing books online. While there are obvious issues for publishers, the main point for me is that what writers need above all else is readers. With his comics background and established online presence, the fact that Simon has the perfect profile for this kind of venture, is a bonus; as is the fact the book will resonate with a particularly large market demographic of internet users'.
And over a month before publication, the online buzz has started. As well as a blog, Spurrier's hitman Michael Point has his own myspace, with top tips on 'disposal of Corpus Delicti' and hopes he would like to meet 'a client who'll stay dead'. In less than a week Michael Point has gained over 235 friends.
Some publishers might argue that publishing a book online for free is commercially naïve. But Blofeld is confident that it isn't. 'Not only do I believe that if Headline (and Simon) are prepared to show trust, then the reading public will be prepared to repay that trust - but I think people will be excited to have the opportunity to become involved in helping a young writers career right from the start. That's part of what's so exciting about this project, it's all about getting rid of the ivory tower and bringing writers and readers closer together'.
Backed by an inventive and energetic publicity and marketing campaign, www.itsallaboutthemoney.co.uk will be live from 24th May- in the meantime Michael Point can be contacted on http://www.myspace.com/michaelpoint. Watch out for exclusive 'hitman for hire' postcards distributed across London and an exclusive video from Mr Point himself. As the book will be left online for a limited period, a limited edition library hardback will be available to buy from www.itsallaboutthemoney.co.uk from 04 June for those who want a piece of Spurrier's talent to keep.
For more information please contact Becky Fincham on 0207 873 6105 or becky.fincham at headline.co.uk |
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