The Atavist is a platform for publishing and selling short nonfiction, what they call “cinematic journalism,” for mobile devices. The full pieces are $2.99/each for iOS devices (with Android coming soon) and stripped-down versions for the Kindle are $1.99. It’ll be interesting to see how this model plays out as a way to support longform feature writing on subjects that the writers are passionate about. Right now, there are around ten original stories available on The Atavist. The most recent is Chris Colin’s “Blindsight.” I just read an excerpt over at The Atlantic and I am hooked. Here’s how Chris describes it:
The story takes place in Hollywood, and it starts out simple and movie-like: A producer is driving to dinner with his wife, one evening in 1994. She mentions something about her boss, and these turn out to be her last words. Without giving anything away, the story involves horrific tragedy, a Rip Van Winkle-like hibernation, impossible turns of fate, a killer at large. Miraculous medical oddness. Otherworldly powers. Time itself rearranged.