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Penguin Random House’s crime community Dead Good Books and Specsavers have teamed up for #ChooseThePlot, a "mass participation crime writing event".
Authors James Oswald, Jane Casey and Christopher Fowler will each write one chapter of a novella, the direction of which will be steered by decisions made by readers on Facebook and a dedicated #ChooseThePlot website.
The story follows Ian, who is dumped by his wife for a Glaswegian named Jake with a shady past. Ian becomes the prime suspect in his wife’s murder after an odd-looking credit card with a £250,000 limit arrives in his name, but he soon realises he is being framed.
#ChooseThePlot begins tomorrow (23rd September), and a digital only e-book of the novella will be given away free from 24th October. It will include all the chapters and their hidden alternatives.
Lynsey Dalladay, Penguin Random House’s digital marketing manager for crime, said: “We’re delighted that Dead Good can work with Specsavers on creating an innovative and exciting novella. The three authors are extremely talented and looking forward to the challenge of shaping a book with the readers in the driving seat.”
Dame Mary Perkins, founder of Specsavers, said it was “exciting… to see that crime writing enthusiasts and future crime writers could create a new crime thriller story with the help of some of the best crime thriller writers.”
In 2013 Penguin ran #youdunnit, with readers asked to submit ideas for character names, settings and other details, which writers Nicci French, Tim Weaver and Alistair Gunn turned into new works of fiction.