We Tell Stories

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We Tell Stories is an alternate reality game launched in March 2008 by Six To Start in conjunction with Penguin publishers. Six authors have contributed stories to the project, one each week, which are displayed on the site using interactive internet media. Penguin are offering a prize of 1300 books to readers who can answer a series of questions based on the stories.

The site's innovative approach has attracted much media attention, and the site received nearly 50,000 unique visitors in its first week. ^[1]

[edit] The six stories

Each of the six stories is inspired by a Penguin classic novel.

1. Charles Cumming, The 21 Steps; based on The 39 Steps by John Buchan

   In this fast-paced thriller readers follow the protagonist, Rick, on his journeys by the medium of Google Earth.

2. Toby Litt, Slice; based on The Haunted Dolls’ House by M R James

   A troubled American girl is brought to London by her parents to make a fresh start. The story unfolds through Livejournal and Twitter accounts.

3. Kevin Brooks, Fairy Tales; based on Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson

   This interactive story allows readers to input information and make "choose your own adventure" selections to create their own personalised fairy tale.

4. Nicci French, Your Place and Mine; based on Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola

   Readers can watch the story being typed in real-time, from 7th to 11th April 2008.

5. A story by Matt Mason; based on Hard Times by Charles Dickens
6. A story by Mohsin Hamid; based on Tales from the Thousand and One Nights

[edit] External Links

• The We Tell Stories website
• Interview with creators, Penguin digital publisher Jeremy Ettinghausen and Six to Start cofounder Adrian Hon

[edit] References