Sandstone launches crowdfunding campaign

Sandstone Press has launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring the grit and glamour of Lunapark, Volker Kutscher’s hotly anticipated sixth Gereon Rath mystery, to English language readers.

Kutscher’s historical noir novels are international bestsellers and inspired the hit TV series Babylon Berlin. However, following two years of sales disrupted by the pandemic, with costs rising across the industry, publishing long books in translation is becoming increasingly difficult.

Sandstone aims to crowdfund £10,000 in 30 days on Kickstarter to ensure they can publish Lunapark. Due to Kickstarter’s ‘all or nothing’ approach, that target must be met by the end of the crowdfunding window in order to move ahead.

Sandstone’s Managing Director Robert Davidson says, ‘This series just keeps getting better, a feeling I am delighted to share with Kutscher’s vast international fanbase. Though the cost of production is prohibitive, we are excited about Kickstarter as an opportunity to continue publishing these gripping, politically astute novels.’

Author Volker Kutscher adds, ‘I am glad to hear the Rath-series has this chance to continue with Lunapark in the English speaking world. For me, the Gereon-Rath-series is more than the individual crime stories; it is one big novel, told over ten volumes, extending from 1929 to 1938 and reflecting the political, social and moral changes in Germany.’

Niall Sellar, the series translator, says ‘It has been the highlight of my professional career to work on Volker’s books. Though his primary focus is the past, somehow his work seems more prescient with each year.‘

The Kickstarter campaign launched on October 11^th, ahead of season four of Babylon Berlin beginning in the UK on October 14^th on Sky Atlantic.

Find the Kickstarter campaign for Lunapark here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sandstonepress/lunapark

About Lunapark

1934: Tensions are rising in Berlin. The Nazis have made uneasy peace with the police and rule the streets through fear. When a brownshirt is found beaten to death, Inspector Gereon Rath is called in – but so is his estranged friend, Reinhold Graf, now a Gestapo officer. As their rivalry turns into a feud, Rath’s new wife, Charly Ritter, chafing at the ties of domesticity, goes in search of her brother, a communist in hiding. Politics collide with the criminal underworld and danger rises with every move Rath makes.

About the Gereon Rath Mysteries

1930s Berlin is a hotbed of vice and organised crime. When Inspector Gereon Rath leaves Cologne to join Berlin’s murder squad, he cannot begin to imagine the brutality and complexity of the world he is stepping into as communists and Nazis struggle for power.

About Kickstarter

‘Kickstarter is the most trusted platform for crowdfunding creative projects—everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.’ Further information is available from Kickstarter.com: https://www.kickstarter.com/press