Commissioning editor Victoria Oundjian will lead Dash, a new digital-first commercial fiction imprint from Hachette-owned UK publisher Orion, with the aim to,
connect readers with stories, fast.
All fiction genres are up for submissions (dashdigital@orionbooks.co.uk) and authors are being sought across the English-speaking world.
The Bookseller reports that the first title for the new imprint, hitting ebook stores in September, will be New Beginnings at the Birdie and Bramble by debut author Alison Craig, followed in October by Michelle Vernal’s When We say Goodbye and Nina Kaye’s debut The Gin Lovers Guide to Dating.
In June HarperCollins announced new digital-first division called One More Chapter.
Like Dash, One More Chapter actively encourages authors to query direct (onemorechapter@harpercollins.co.uk), although both also welcome agented submissions, and the three launch titles for Dash mentioned above are all via literary agents.
Although neither Dash nor One More Chapter appear yet to be fully exploiting the global reach digital-first offers, they are clearly appreciative of the digital advantage, where books can be produced and brought to market quickly with lower production costs than a paper & ink edition, can be sold at a lower price without fear of cannibalising sales of the print version, and potentially reach a much wider audience for a higher margin.
