Local crime fiction publishers put stories before profit
Crime may not pay, but these publishers favour intriguing stories over profit
It's always too late for someone." That's the enigmatic tagline of Hong Kong-based Crime Wave Press, a two-and-a-half-year-old publishing company with a wicked hunger for crime fiction. Founded in 2012 by publisher and photographer Hans Kemp and writer Tom Vater, the press churns out all manner of grisly, quirky and full-throttle murder mysteries, from hard-boiled to noir and "cozies" - community-set stories in which violence and sex is downplayed.
Although the two nomads met while travelling in Pakistan, it was many years and a collaborated illustrated book - - later that they began to consider launching their own press focusing on crime fiction. Both permanently based in Thailand, they found Hong Kong - a frequent pit stop in their freelance lives - the perfect nexus between business and culture, the West and the East. And so Crime Wave Press was born in the city.
"We were just sitting together one day, talking about [Tom's] first crime story set in London and Cambodia, . It's about a drug deal that went bad. He said he hadn't found a publisher yet and I said: 'Well, I don't know fiction publishing very well, but I do know publishing'," says Kemp.
Before starting Crime Wave Press, the Dutch-born photographer had self-published several illustrated and photography books. His 2003 book features motorbike drivers in Vietnam, some almost toppling over with strapped boxes and bags.
Nowadays it’s possible to publish without impressing a huge amount of overhead costs
The press started small, first with Vater's crime story, then later with manuscripts chosen from unsolicited submissions. They now have 16 titles under their belt and take about one out of every 10 manuscripts that are submitted by writers across the globe. Although the duo initially were looking for crime stories set in Asia, they soon had to widen their pool because of the dearth of such stories.
"We thought stories set in Asia was more niche, but there just wasn't enough material coming in," says Kemp. "And it has to be written in English as we can't translate yet. But half our titles are still set in Asia and we have authors across the world."
