Short description of the company/person, whose idea is submitted

Julian Tangermann the editor in chief and initiator of the International Short Story Project wanted to bring two of his friends together in a project after both of them had published work during crises in their home countries Brazil and Egypt in 2013. The idea quickly developed into a project of a much lager scale with the theme “the crisis inside” as base for an anthology, which unites 18 authors from 18 different countries. However, the International Short Story Project is not an anthology in the classic sense, which collects already existing texts about a specific topic, but it is an innovative version, which allows young authors the possibility to put their creative ideas and thoughts about an issue directly concerning them on paper. Each of the authors writes a short story about the overarching topic and thus interprets the term crisis in their own individual way depending on their country, culture and personality. Thus, a literary portrait about the “generation crisis”, our world and society is created on an international level and shows which kind of crisis occupies which culture and country and how different or similar they are.

In collaboration with the kladde|buchverlag, a young publishing house from Freiburg, the project is now being realized as crowdpublishing campaign.

Description of the idea and the intended aims

The Idea for the International Short Story Project is a combination of crowdpublishing and the international network that is created through the authors to infect as many people as possible with the project.

The anthology will be financed through crowdpublishing, which means the crowd, or potential readers who like or are interested in the project, can support it financially. If the amount of the funding is reached after a certain amount of time, the book will be printed and the supporters get a reward depending on the amount they contributed, like the inscription of their name in the actual book. The special feature, though, is that the international character and the international teamwork of the International Short Story Project is mirrored in the idea of crowdpublishing at the same time. Just as an idea is realized through many individuals with crowdpublishing, the International Short Story Project is only made possible through the team consisting of over 60 people from 30 different countries. Thus crowdpublishing is the perfect finance and marketing solution for the project, as the 18 authors from 18 different countries create a wide international network, which is used for marketing. The authors and their individual networks serve as multipliers and so, primarily through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the idea can be spread and readers can be enthused, thus creating a wide transnational range for the project. At the same time, the globalism of such platforms also unites and connects all the individual networks. Additionally, the combination also opens up different opportunities such as other types of media and events on an international or country specific level to promote the project and reach a larger audience.

The short stories included in the anthology will be published in their original language alongside an English and German translation, which supports the international idea, the collaboration of the different countries and also the circulation even more.

In what way is/was the idea new or innovative?

Crowdpublishing by itself is a new and innovative business concept, which opens many possibilities. The combination with the internationality and innovative literary idea behind the International Short Story Project makes it even more intriguing: the reach of the crowdpublishing campaign and the project itself is increased, more people can be enthralled and in the interest of the project move closer together.

Is/was the idea infective or perhaps even style-defining?

The idea is highly infective as the international network and the scope through social media as well as other media allow spreading the project even further and to reach readers on an international level.

Future prospects: What’s next?

The funding page for the International Short Story Project will be launched on 15.09.2014 and after 55 days we will see if the combination of crowdpublishing and international networking reached and enthused enough readers to turn the project into a book.

Who submits the nomination?

Mareike Kirnich
kladde|buchverlag

Bild von Julian Tangermann: copyright Lina María Parra Ochoa
Bild „The Crisis“: copyright kladde|buchverlag