Hats off to Fahrenheit Press
I like this: anarchic crime fiction publisher Fahrenheit Press has launched an open – and I mean truly open – short story competition.
The ‘hot punk’ (its own words) publishing house launched with a swagger in 2015 and is doing a mighty fine job of releasing fresh, invigorating titles with a dashing verve to its marketing – just when an attitude like that is so badly needed in global publishing.
As well as taking a punt and giving brand new authors a spotlight, Fahrenheit is also doing its bit for the crime genre business in general – rescuing some of the books left for dead by the now defunct 280 Steps, giving them a new lease of life.
Founded by international publishing veteran Chris McVeigh, the company’s approach is nicely summed up in the final bullet point of its submission guidelines: If you want to be treated like a delicate little snowflake we’re definitely NOT the publisher for you – try Faber & Faber, they’re lovely.
And now Fahrenheit is running a competition open to anyone – yes, anyone – with the top 12 short stories to be published in a collection titled Noirville. The five-strong judging panel is made up of four independent bloggers and Fahrenheit author Jo Perry.
This is the kind of thing that could easily have been set up on the inside – Fahrenheit has published and established some mega-talented authors and would be well within its rights to circulate this concept to them and get the anthology done more swiftly through an invitation-only process with known and trusted contributors.
But true to its innovative ideals, the gig is open to any writers who fancy taking a chance and submitting a story. Interested? Full details and submission guidelines can be found here.