Sometimes, when you’ve read a great book you just don’t want the experience to end. We know that many of you are talented creators in your own right – artists, writers, musicians, puppeteers, and so many other things. This is why we designed WorldBuilder.

WorldBuilder is our way of reaching out to the fan creator communities, to invite you to come play in our yard.

We’re not new to the concept, of course. We once ran a short story competition based in the world of Moxyland by Lauren Beukes, and the best three stories were featured at the back of Lauren’s award-winning Zoo City.

WorldBuilder takes that idea and moves it forward a billion or so steps (note: might not be a billion).

In January, when we publish Adam Christopher’s uber-cool prohibition-superhero-noir novel, Empire State, we’ll be inviting fan creators everywhere to visit the world of Empire State and create their own works of art based in the Empire State universe. These creations can then be uploaded to a dedicated website, and distributed under a Creative Commons license.

The best of these will be featured in a number of “Best of” anthologies (with most of the proceeds going to the creators).

Additionally, we’re commissioning some short stories from some rather well-known writers, as well as other cool things from creators in other fields. WorldBuilder will be managed for us by the mighty Mur Lafferty.

Empire State is the perfect novel to kick off the WorldBuilder project; there are an infinite number of stories to be told within that world – private eye, superhero, gangster, fringe science, alternate realities – and an infinite number of ways these stories can be told.

The website addresses you’ll need:

EmpireState.cc (launches in January,a longside the novel) and WorldBuilderOnline.com (launches in the autumn).