Author: nicelystrongoak

FROM: The Bookseller

HarperVoyager has signed 15 full-length novels from mostly unagented writers, gathered in a two-week open submissions process.

The books were chosen from more than 5,000 entries submitted back in October 2012, when the imprint, HarperCollins’ sci-fi and fantasy list, put out its call.

Now, the 15 titles will be released digitally, beginning this winter and continuing throughout 2015. The imprint also has plans to follow the e-book releases with short-run paperback editions.

Natasha Bardon, the newly appointed editorial director of HarperVoyager UK said: “Being able to launch this much new talent is fantastic, especially in a genre which is so difficult to break into. It was great experience doing the open submissions, seeing the amount of voices out there was brilliant. Everyone here came into publishing because we were looking for good stories, so it was heartening to find so many. It was a lot of hard work, but we’re not afraid of that.”

Bardon added: “We’ll be releasing one or two a month, trying to give them their own space and seeing how the market responds to them. They cover a wide range of genres, so it will fascinating to see how the audience reacts.”

She said Voyager would “certainly” consider another open submissions process in future.

The Borough Press, another HarperFiction imprint, held its own open submissions earlier in the year.

Among the 15 books are a YA novel about a meteor heading to earth (The Ark by Laura Liddell Nolan), a historical fantasy set in a Viking-esque world (The Rule by Jack Colman) and a large-scale epic fantasy (Among Wolves by Nancy Wallace).

Prices for the 15 titles will vary.

The full list of books is:

Supervision by Alison Stine
Darkhaven by A.F.E Smith
Grey by Christi Whitney
The Machinery by Gerrard Cowan
Ignite the Shadows by Ingrid Seymour
Hero Born by Andy Livingstone
Among Wolves by Nancy Wallace
Exile and Pilgrim by Graeme Talboys
The Rule by Jack Colman
Unexpected Rain by Jason LaPier
Belt Three by John Ayliff
The Ark by Laura Liddell Nolen
The Karma Booth by Jeff Pearce
Graynelore by Stephen Moore

and of course Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf  by Terry Newman