7 remarkably inventive ways authors have promoted their books
The book market is difficult. Supermarkets and online retailers drive down prices. Publishing houses look to marketing teams rather than editors for acquisition advice. It is getting harder for writers to sell fiction to publishers and for publishers to shift books to the public.
Writers, publicists and bookstores are becoming more inventive. These seven real-life tricks caught the attention of customers. Some are intellectually innovative. Others are simply audacious.
Self-destructing thrillers
James Patterson is the world’s biggest-selling author. He delegates most of the writing to others and has released three books already this year. For the launch of Private Vegas, the book was made available to download for 1000 readers only. It self-destructed 24 hours later.
One print copy was sold for $300,000. This price included the book, a weekend in a luxury hotel, dinner with Patterson and the chance to watch the physical book explode in an undisclosed location. A SWAT team accompanied the event.
Interactive literary art
Haruki Murakami is Japan’s biggest international literary export. His hardback, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, came with a set of stickers for readers to decorate their copy. The name Tsukuru translates as to make or to build. The gimmick fits the theme.
Dual narrative shuffles
Ali Smith’s How To Be Both was released in two different versions. The book is split into two segments. Both are labeled One. Each is narrated by a different character. Depending on which version a reader buys, either segment could come first. This creates a different reading experience for different buyers.
The strategic recall
When Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom was released in 2010, the UK version was the wrong file. It contained numerous typos and errors. Harper Collins set up a Freedom Recall Hotline and encouraged readers to exchange their copies at the shop. This generated significant press coverage for a literary novel. During the same tour, a fan stole the author’s glasses, which also made headlines.
Hired laughter
Novelist Jennifer Belle was disappointed by the lack of publicity for her novel The Seven-Year Bitch. She promoted the book herself by hiring actresses for $8 per hour. Their job was to laugh publicly while reading her book on the NYC subway. Over 600 actresses applied. The stunt resulted in national coverage.
Literary toys
Douglas Coupland gave away free toys with the initial run of his 2006 book JPod. There were six toys in total to match the six main characters. The promotion resembled collectible trends like Pokémon.
Bacons sandwiches is inspired! But James Patterson’s is just dumb. Not that i’m surprised he’s a dumb “writer”
Agree with you on both points. In fact can’t think of anything more likely to get me interested in a book than a bcaon sarnie :)
You sorta understand it if you’re a nobody but these guys are some big name authors.
Shows how times have changed. Can you imagine Hemingway or Orwell doing stunts like this? Makes you kinda of sad they have to go through such a circus but if it sells more books so be it.
They dont have to do this. This apears to be money/ego motivated. I dont know the guy but thats what it looks like. He’s already selling books and has a staff doing his writing. And I gsuantee after time it will be released again to the public again for round two of profits. I’m not saying this as a bad thing. Its capitalism and I support it. All im saying is that you don’t need to white night this guy.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippa_%28A_Book_of_the_Dead%29
Not exactly marketing, but in keeping with the theme of the book, the author of Ready Player One hid a link to a newly commissioned old school style arcade game in the book. The first person to beat it and follow the other clues would win a fully tricked out De Lorean.
I’m half convinced that “James Patterson” is just a pseudonym used by his publishing company to promote books that would otherwise be lost in the noise of the commercial bookselling world. He publishes a staggering amount of books under his name, targeted to almost every possible demographic. There’s no way he’s actually personally writing over a dozen books every year.
Forget the digital version, I want the ACTUAL, REAL LIFE BOOK that self destructs in 24 hours with a bomb!
Very interesting article. I can’t say I’d go along with any of those ideas myself. My editor has suggested that as my novel, The Internet Party is about internet democracy and the impact of political ambition on family life, I should send a free PDF copy to Members of Parliament. My first reaction was ‘How could I give my book away free?’ However, upon reflection, I’ve decided that I’d rather people read it than not, even if I don’t get paid. Wish me luck!
I think the great thing about each of these ideas is that they showcase the themes of each of the books so well. I’m a especially a fan of the bacon sarnie angle, but then I’m a big fan of bacon sarnies. As for your Editors idea, I say why not. Although, I’d be interested to hear how your Editor thinks that will help your novel gain more publicity in the real world.
Nikesh Shukla, an author in the U.K., who uses a lot of humour in his writing, launched a piece of steak into the sky during (yes, you guessed it) the launch of his book, Meatspace. Gimmicky, I guess, but it got him coverage in the Daily Mail. I don’t know about marketing stunts, but I do think it is harder and harder for writers to compete with television and other entertainment mediums, such as video gaming, apps etc. At the risk of having popcorn thrown at me, I would contend that it is no longer enough for writers to go along to his/her book reading and simply stand there and read an excerpt of his/her book in a boring, deadpan voice. Just think, in the future, there might be an app that can actually do this in far more interesting ways, maybe even spoof the writer’s own voice. So if we were going to stand in front of the public and do something, should we not step up?