BritCrime 2015

A free online crime festival will run for the first time in July 2015, as a result of a grassroots initiative instigated by author Helen Smith. The festival boasts more than forty crime authors, including Eva Dolan, Mark Edwards, C L Taylor, Sarah Hilary and Mason Cross.

‘We became friends after meeting at various literary events,’ Helen explains, ‘and although we love attending festivals and enjoy meeting readers, it’s important to balance time spent at events with time spent writing. Festivals can also be expensive for readers, especially when travel and accommodation is factored in, so we founded BritCrime to provide free, accessible events that every reader can attend, wherever they live.’
BritCrime 2015 will take place 11 to 13 July 2015 and will feature live Q&A panel discussions hosted on Facebook, as well as informal ‘Meet us in the bar’ sessions for late night chat. The festival will provide updates from BritCrime authors attending New York’s ThrillerFest, as well as a look ahead to Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate the following week, where many BritCrime authors will be in attendance.
In the run up to the festival exclusive content will be available on the BritCrime website and social media platforms, including giveaways, video sessions and interactive Google Hangouts. More than 500 people have already signed up to receive the festival mailing list, which offers the incentive of a Kindle Paperwhite giveaway for one lucky subscriber.
Edgar-winning author Alex Marwood was the first to sign up for BritCrime. ‘BritCrime is organised by authors, and it feels great to be in control of how the event goes. We’ve already reached more than 70,000 people via our online channels, and this is just the start of what we hope to achieve.’

Notes to editors
BritCrime is a free online crime writing festival which takes place 11 to 13 July 2015.
For more information visit http://britcrime.com or email info@BritCrime.com
For images, for interviews with the BritCrime founder and participating author, Helen Smith, or to arrange an interview with one of the participating authors below, email info@BritCrime.com.

PARTICIPATING AUTHORS
Quentin Bates, Jenny Blackhurst, Rebecca Bradley, Graeme Cameron, Steve Cavanagh, Tammy Cohen, Mason Cross, Julia Crouch, Eva Dolan, Steven Dunne, Mark Edwards, Chris Ewan, Paul Finch, Helen Giltrow, Sarah Hilary, Susi Holliday, Jane Isaac, Amanda Jennings, Emma Kavanagh, Anya Lipska, Colette McBeth, M J McGrath, Fergus McNeill, Clare Mackintosh, Michael J Malone, Ava Marsh, Alex Marwood, K T Medina, Daniel Pembrey, J F Penn, Nick Quantrill, Marnie Riches, Craig Robertson, Mel Sherratt, Alexandra Sokoloff, Helen Smith, C L Taylor, Simon Toyne, Luca Veste, Louise Voss, Sarah Ward.