Our vision is simple:
We want to introduce new writers to a range of readers across the UK.
Think of us like a dating service for writers and readers – but without the awkward moments. For the reader we are filtering through our competition entries to find the best new writers and providing them with bite-sized stories that they can fit into their everyday lives. For the writer we are providing them with introductions to a ready and waiting body of readers who are keen to discover new authors.
Ruth Heald set up Five Stop Story in mid-2010. The idea for the website came to her when she was reviewing short fiction for the London writing group Writeopia, as she travelled to the meeting on the tube. She realised how well short stories would fit into people’s everyday lives and commutes, and also saw the short story as an opportunity for new writers to raise their profiles.
Ruth worked for the BBC for two years, primarily in a strategic role. She has written two novels and several short stories and is currently working on her third book. She hopes to publish her novel, "27," in 2012.
Ruth is one of the BT Storytellers for London 2012 and her creative writing will help tell the story of the Olympic Games. She recently spoke at the Bangkok Literary Festival about the state of the publishing industry and the challenges facing new writers today.
Sangeetha Shinde Tee is Five Stop Story’s judge and the author of "A Moral Murder and Other Tales from the Blue Hills," a book of short stories based in Coonoor, India. Sangeetha has been the editor of several magazines and has been published by Reader’s Digest and Savvy Magazine. She is currently working on her third book, a semi-biography of a slum dweller in Mylapore in Chennai.
