Adult literary coming-of-age fiction · Bulgaria before smartphones

THE OFFLINE YEARS

Before every mistake had a camera, every legend needed witnesses.

BOOK ONE · PUBLISHING AUTUMN/WINTER 2026

Balchik, around 2000. Niko grows up inside his parents' computer club, where time is sold by the hour and every boy knows what ten extra minutes is worth. He can read prices, routes, habits, and games. What he cannot read is the cost of arranging other people.

Join the launch list

Book One
THE CIRCUS MONEY
On the Bulgarian Black Sea, time is sold by the hour, and every clever solution costs someone.

A lost archive. A family computer club. A circus with a tiger nobody ever saw. Shared passwords, one-ring phone calls, first love, and a town that turns bad decisions into legend.

Read about The Circus Money →

The story continues

Book Two is Before the Cameras Were Good.

The world

Every place in the book exists. A map of Niko's Balchik: the dvor, the club, and the July road to the fires. Click the pins. See The Routes →

About the author

Martin Kostov grew up on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and has spent his working life on the other side of the machines this book remembers. He now lives in Sofia. The Circus Money is his first novel.

Join the launch list

The list reads the opening chapters before anyone else, ahead of the autumn/winter 2026 launch. Otherwise just occasional release news. No spam and no personal tracking.

We store your email only to send occasional updates about the books. No sharing, no personal tracking. Unsubscribe or ask us to delete it anytime at books [at] theofflineyears.com.

Home · The Circus Money · Press · Privacy

Reader updates: books [at] theofflineyears.com
Press and publishing: press [at] theofflineyears.com

MARTIN KOSTOV · OFFLINE YEARS PRESS · FICTION ROOTED IN THE BULGARIAN BLACK SEA COAST