Starting on 18th March 2009, Penguin UK launched an ambitious digital writing project called We Tell Stories. In collaboration with fêted alternate reality game designers Six to Start, Penguin challenged some of its top authors to create new forms of the story, designed especially for the internet.
Over a six-week period writers, including Man Booker-shortlisted Mohsin Hamid, popular teen fiction author Kevin Brooks, prize-winning Naomi Alderman and bestselling thriller authors Nicci French, created tales that took full advantage of the immediacy, connectivity and interactivity that is now possible.
Somewhere on the internet is a secret seventh story, a mysterious tale involving a vaguely familiar girl who has a habit of getting herself lost. Readers who followed this story discovered clues that shaped her journey and helped her on her way. These clues appeared online and in the real world and directed readers to the other six stories. The secret seventh story also offered readers the chance to win prizes, including The Penguin Complete Classics Library containing over 1300 titles.
The We Tell Stories project created new fiction and offered a unique, immersive and innovative experience to readers everywhere.