Killer Concept?

Here’s an interesting crowd-funding project: Noir, a crime-fiction-oriented periodical designed for tablet computers, co-founded by magazine veterans Nancie Clare and Rip Georges.

According to a video introduction here, Noir intends to “combine coverage of the mystery, thriller, and true-crime genre with spectacular photography, illustrations, animation, video, and audio.” Author (and sometime Rap Sheet contributor) Megan Abbott has already been recruited as Noir’s editor at large, and other genre notables are lending their expertise, including Michael Connelly, Denise Hamilton, Robert Crais, John Harvey, Ian Rankin, and April Smith.

The plan is to release 10 new issues of Noir each year, beginning next month, October. But as I said at the top, this is a crowd-funding project. Pledges are still being solicited through Kickstarter to make this publication a reality. The goal is to raise $35,000, of which $13,792 has already been promised. If you would like to pitch in--and receive one of several levels of rewards--click here.