Monday, September 06, 2010

Extend Your Reach

Authors are always looking for ways to reach beyond their loyal readers or readers of the genre they write. And in this changing world, it’s more and more on the backs of the writers to do the bulk of promoting their books. Authors have turned en masse to the Internet and to alternatives to brick and mortar bookstores.

  The Dallas News had a story about an author who’s working to promote his book in a new way. A techno-thriller author who burst on the scene with a Times best-selling book that landed him an $850,000 paperback deal, then went on to write three more, then disappeared from the literary world has returned. Payne Harrison, whose first book came out in 1989 and was called Storming Intrepid, is back with a new book called Eurostorm.

It’s already out in the stores. What has he done to extend his reach? He’s hooked up with a mobile app company that has created a game based on his book.
Kadamedia Inc., a fledgling mobile app game company outside Washington, D.C., thought Harrison's latest plot – replete with commandos and helicopter assaults on the bullet train – had the makings for an action-adventure game that could be used to market the e-book, which is also downloadable.

Buy the game for 99 cents, and you'll get a link to buy the book. Then you'll be able to toggle back and forth on the same mobile platform.
The President of Kadamedia said:
Games are being used to promote upcoming movies, so there should be a synergy here with books, too.
What about you? Could a game be created to go with your book?

25 comments:

  1. Well that is a clever marketing idea! Very impressive.

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  2. Clever. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing in the future.

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  3. Very clever! But that wouldn't be my market base...I have, generally, an older female readership. :)

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  4. You have other opportunities, Elizabeth, like a cook book or even cooking utensils. Years ago, I received my absolute favorite giveaway with a book. I kept it and used it for years until it fell apart. It was a square piece of rubber you use to open jars. It had the book's title and info on it. Of course, every time I used it, I thought of that author.

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  5. Just goes to show there are lots of way to promote a book that doesn't have to be book-related.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  6. Wow! What a trackback! Wonder what kind of product I might create? The Rosie bandana has already been done by a couple of neat women--and I've ordered mine! Let's see--maybe Percy Diapers!

    Or the brooch....hmmm. Of course I guess I could design a rivet gun and brand it Rosie! Come on Helen, throw out your creative thoughts!
    Maybe a new rat tail for the pompadour hair, which I hear is coming back in style!
    Sylvia Dickey Smith

    A War of Her Own

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  7. That's a fantastic idea!

    Since my book is based on a reality show, it definitely could make an interesting app. I'd just need to find a developer, but it's a great idea! Hmm...

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  8. Ingenious! A game ... hmmm ... gotta give that some thought, considering my latest is just released...

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  9. I never thought of that, but I don't play those games. The book I'm currently writing might do well as a game...

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  10. Sure! I can see Cosbolt fighters shooting down enemy ships in a game.

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  11. The only game that could be creatd based on my book is a code breaking game.

    CD

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  12. I think my so-called novel could be turned into a dentist-torturing-the-patient computer game >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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  13. Sylvia, I don't know if this is something you could make or have made, but one thing I treasure is a memento from my parents. When my dad went off to war in WWII, my mother gave him a small bible (she wrote a note to him on the inside). The bible had a metal cover. It was made to go in the shirt pocket over his heart. I doubt the bible would have stopped a bullet, but it was a very sentimental gift, I think.

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  14. Laura, your book is ideal for a game! While reading it, I told my son, who is studying game design, that it would make an excellent quest game.

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  15. If you're thinking games, you don't have to think a huge game like Link or Warcraft. You could think small like an app on the iPhone. Or go in some other direction. This guy did a game. There might be other tie-ins for your book.

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  16. That is a clever marketing idea. Not sure if I could come up with a game for my police procedural that is coming out in December. A writer friend and I were talking the other day about the onus that is on us to be marketers as well as writers and how some writers adapt to that better than others. We decided they were closet marketers. Some people are gifted with an ability to market and discover that talent when they are asked to start promoting. Not everyone has that gift.

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  17. Great marketing idea! Theses days authors are going to have to come up with creative ideas, and this sure makes the grade! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. If you can't come up with a game idea to go with your book, think of other angles that you could "exploit" to promote it.

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  19. I've heard about some things similar to this before. I think it will work really well with some genres more than others but more power to any author who finds a way to promote.

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  20. I’m not a game type person, so I can’t imagine trying to come up with a game version of the books I have in my head. I guess that simply shows my age…

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  21. It's a creative idea that I bet will work.

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  22. It's a creative idea that I bet will work.

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  23. Payne sounds like a smart guy! hope it works well.

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  24. If his book will appeal to the age group that plays games constantly, it just might!

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