To Vote for a brand new free Irish fiction writers magazine & website, Story.ie, just hit the link!

Story.ie is a free magazine and website that will be a showcase for the best in new Irish writing talent monthly. Each month will be themed, with stories in a certain genre. For example The Love Issue, The Sci-Fi Issue, The Mystery Issue. We will find and develop new writers to bring a modern Irish take on popular genres and increase the volume of popular Irish writing available for free to the public. We would ask for those interested in fiction writing to support Story.ie by voting for the project on Guinness Projects voting stays open till Aug 23rd: https://www.arthurguinnessprojects.com/arts/storyie-magazine-website

We all love fiction stories however it is difficult for new writers to reach their audiences, with Story.ie we want to create a platform where entertaining and undiscovered new writers can engage and find audiences, fans and feedback. And yes we do hope that we’ll help uncover the next Roddy Doyle, Maeve Binchy, Colm Tóibín, John Banville, Edna O’Brien, Cecelia Ahern or even Bram Stoker.

We take a very populist approach with writing that is accessible and engaging, so you will notice that didn’t mention Beckett, Joyce, Yeats, Wilde and Shaw on our list, as we feel this style of literary writing is gets ample coverage elsewhere.

Many existing websites, publications and writing courses in Ireland are quite “literary”, and while we have nothing against our fabled literary heritage, it is, by definition, not for everyone.

We want to be able to find great writing so that there is something for everyone on Story.ie. We are interested in great new tales in modern genres such as Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Comedy and so on. The kind of stories you will find at your local bookshop. We want to champion great stories and great storytellers wherever we find them.

Each month will be themed, asking for stories to be submitted in a certain genre. For example “The Love Issue”, “The Sci-Fi Issue”, “The Mystery Issue”, so our publishing editorial schedule will be in the magazine and on the website, it will be a year in advance and will be designed to encourage new writers to submit their work.

The format of the magazine and website has a novel twist. Rather than printing each story in its entirety – we will print the first page of each story in the magazine. Each page will then link with a QR code to the Story.ie Website and App to read the rest of the story online. So when readers want to continue reading a story, they can finish off the rest of the story online – via desktop, iPad or smart phone. The website will contain the material from each edition of the magazine but it will also serve as an online community of writers to discuss all aspects of story and storytelling.

With the Story.ie community we be starting up series of workshops and writing groups with guest speakers and tutors who are working writers within their genres. We want to help new writers develop unique voice, with a modern Irish take on established, popular genres and increase the volume and quantity of popular Irish writing hitting the real or virtual shelves.

The magazine will be distributed free, first at national third-levels, then via wider distribution to coffee shops, libraries, bookshops, cultural locations, commuter and public waiting areas. We want to provide instant, engaging content that the reader can pick up in written form and finish on a digital platform. Everyone loves a good story – and that is what we are aiming to provide in spades. For more information on the launch contact [email protected]

Will the writers get paid? Yes indeed they will as we want to help and encourage new writers working in commercial genres, we feel strongly that each writer that gets a story published should get paid for their work. It may not be much to begin with, but we feel it is important that there be a writers fee on publication.

We have designed layouts and the masthead and cover, have a rough design for the website, placed editors and potential collaborators – and we are getting excited to start working with new writing talent. So please help us with your support by voting on the Guinness Projects website everyday till Aug 23^rd every vote counts.

Who we are: Tom Hopkins is a writer and director, writing for the past 25 years with some awards and publications to show for his time. Trevor Curran is a writer and filmmaker for the last 15 years, also with awards and publications who also teaches screenwriting at NUI Maynooth. Story.ie is part of One Productions a multi-media production company where writing is taken very seriously indeed.