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A Brilliant Novel Marketing Idea |
I found the following story in Roland Hachmann's Web Jungle: A blog on advertising, digital marketing, and web culture. It's a wonderful example of an entrepreneurial author:
Back in 1897, novelist W. Somerset Maugham, now known as author of Of Human Bondage, was having trouble selling his first novel Liza of Lambeth because his publisher wasn't interested in advertising the book. So he took matters into his own hands.
He took out some classified ads in a few daily newspapers in London. The copy read: “Young millionaire, lover of sports, cultivated, with good taste of music and a patient and empathetic character wishes to marry any young and beautiful girl that resembles the heroine of W.S. Maugham’,s new novel.”
By the end of the week, the first edition had sold out. The novel went on to get critical praise and popular sales.
For more such success stories of debut novelists, see http://www.bookmarket.com/debutnovels.htm.Labels: author marketing, classified ads, debut novels, newspapers, novel marketing, novels, W. Somerset Maugham |
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Novels Via Cellphones |
A New York Times article recently covered the phenomenon of Japanese novels being written and delivered via cellphones. While many thought it a novelty, the phenomenon has turned out to be the genesis of some of the bestselling novels in Japan for last year.
Indeed, of last year's ten bestselling novels, five got their start as cellphone novels self-published by their authors and later picked up by a publisher and bought out as a printed book.
A debut novel Love Sky by Mika was read by 20 million people on their cellphones or on websites where the novels were hosted as well. When the novel was published in book form, it became the #1 selling novel in Japan for all of last year. In addition, the novel was made into a movie. Not bad for what was essentially a self-published novel.Labels: bestsellers, cellphone, Japan, Love Sky, mobile phones, novel marketing, novels, self-publishing |
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Teen Vampires Blog About Their Lives |
When Heather Brewer found out that her first novel Eighth Grade Bites would be published on the same day as Adele Griffin's Vampire Island, she sent Adele a message via MySpace.com. They soon met in New York City where they exchanged galleys. As they talked, they decided it would be fun to write a blog from the viewpoints of their vampire characters.
Brewer's Vladimir Tod suffers the typical junior high troubles (girls and bullies) while Griffin's Lexie Livingstone, a human-fruit bat hybrid, tries to keep her superhuman abilities secret while attending school. It wasn't hard for the two authors to imagine their two characters meeting at a summer debate trip to DC.
Their two characters now share a MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/vladandlexie) as well as a blog called Bite Me (http://bite-me-blog.blogspot.com).
Their shared blogging allows the authors to introduce their books to a larger audience. In addition, it could lead to a few new books featuring both characters. Now that's creative blogging!Labels: Adele Griffin, blogging, book marketing, Eighth Grade Bites, Heather Brewer, MySpace, novel marketing, Vampire Island |
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