Eye Books unveils digital list Lightning Bolts

Independent publisher Eye Books has unveiled a digital-first fiction list, Lightning Bolts.

The new series, a part of Lightning Books, will be launched as e-books at a 99p introductory discount price with print editions following for titles selling well.

We Are Animals, “a heartwarming tale of lost love set in Goa” by stand up comic and writer Tim Ewins, will launch the series on 6th March.

Publisher Dan Hiscocks said: “We want to continue to bring exciting new voices to the market, but the changing conditions and levels of support by both media and retail mean it is not always possible to publish their work traditionally. Under this new imprint, we will launch some authors in digital form first, where the barriers to market are lower, to allow them to get a following. Once they do so, we hope that will persuade retailers to support the same novels in traditional print format. The initiative also allows us to be more agile and launch books much more quickly, which appeals to many of our authors.”

Following at two-week intervals throughout the spring are All the Beautiful Liars, a semi-autobiographical journey by Australian writer Sylvia Petter, iRemember, “a sci-fi noir with a psychedelic twist” by writer and filmmaker S V Bekvalac, “dark domestic drama” Landsliding by Mandy Jameson, originally self-published and now repackaged and edited by Lightning, and Marrow Jam, “a cosy crime caper” by Susan A King, shortlisted for the Write Here, Right Now novel competition at the Bradford Literature Festival.