Lessons from Lost
The Chicago Tribune ran an article on January 5 about the various marketing strategies used by the TV show Lost.
Interesting to note that the writers for Lost blog as the characters they created.
What if an author wrote a novel and then as a part of the author's promotional campaign, she blogged as one or more of her characters?
Let's look at the benefits:
- The material already exists. Think of all the pages that were edited out. The ones the author loved but didn't flow with the primary story. Now they can be used.
- Remember that back story that sits on the writer's laptop? The one referenced whenever the question was asked, "Would he really do that?" That back story can be leveraged as a part of a book's launch.
- If this book is a part of a series and a secondary character will have a more prominent role in the future, then why not blog in that character's voice? Give readers a taste of what they will experience with the follow up book.
Why would this work?
1. Most people are naturally nosey, so a blog that gives more background for a character could be fab.
2. The author can mention the fact that the blog exists in promotional materials, including when the entries will be posted.
3. The author can get a better sense of what readers really think of the character. I'm not saying that readers are shy but that in this venue, it's almost like the reader can interact with the character. Not the author. The CHARACTER. Not only can the reader learn a lot about the character but maybe there are aspects of the person on the page that suddenly emerges as the author types away as the character? Frighteningly close to a writing exercise I'm sure we've all used.
4. The blog could be changed to reflect different viewpoints. So week 1 is the antagonist blogging. Week 2 is the protagonist. Week 3 is the antagonist's mother and so on.
5. Additional promotion can be leveraged on the blog. Is the author available for speaking engagements?
6. What about those lovely hit/statistic counters we bloggers love so much? The ones that can provide additional demographic information to flesh out additional promotions/speaking engagements/lectures/etc.
I could go on and on but I just see many opportunities with this tactic being used as a part of a greater campaign.
What do you think?
Interesting to note that the writers for Lost blog as the characters they created.
What if an author wrote a novel and then as a part of the author's promotional campaign, she blogged as one or more of her characters?
Let's look at the benefits:
- The material already exists. Think of all the pages that were edited out. The ones the author loved but didn't flow with the primary story. Now they can be used.
- Remember that back story that sits on the writer's laptop? The one referenced whenever the question was asked, "Would he really do that?" That back story can be leveraged as a part of a book's launch.
- If this book is a part of a series and a secondary character will have a more prominent role in the future, then why not blog in that character's voice? Give readers a taste of what they will experience with the follow up book.
Why would this work?
1. Most people are naturally nosey, so a blog that gives more background for a character could be fab.
2. The author can mention the fact that the blog exists in promotional materials, including when the entries will be posted.
3. The author can get a better sense of what readers really think of the character. I'm not saying that readers are shy but that in this venue, it's almost like the reader can interact with the character. Not the author. The CHARACTER. Not only can the reader learn a lot about the character but maybe there are aspects of the person on the page that suddenly emerges as the author types away as the character? Frighteningly close to a writing exercise I'm sure we've all used.
4. The blog could be changed to reflect different viewpoints. So week 1 is the antagonist blogging. Week 2 is the protagonist. Week 3 is the antagonist's mother and so on.
5. Additional promotion can be leveraged on the blog. Is the author available for speaking engagements?
6. What about those lovely hit/statistic counters we bloggers love so much? The ones that can provide additional demographic information to flesh out additional promotions/speaking engagements/lectures/etc.
I could go on and on but I just see many opportunities with this tactic being used as a part of a greater campaign.
What do you think?
posted by Lisa Diane Kastner at
Saturday, January 07, 2006
11 Comments:
The material already exists. Think of all the pages that were edited out. The ones the author loved but didn't flow with the primary story. Now they can be used.
That's the premise of fanfiction. There are already lots of RP communities out there where fans take on the personas of the characters. I've heard about authors who do it, published and unpublished. Personally, it seems almost too identifying. I can see it attracting fans of the very serious type. But would it work for something that doesn't already have an established fandom? I know that when I see it for authors who don't have a big fanbase, or who aren't yet published, it bothers me, almost like they can't tell the reality from the fake persona, or they can't get far enough away from their own work to be objective about it.
By
M. G. Tarquini, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
Good points.
I was actually thinking that for either a writer who is already signed and knows when her book will go out or an established writer can keep her series in the public's mind while waiting for the next book to come out.
Using blogs in this format is just a more elaborate teaser. The key to using any media (other than dang good writing and understanding the original intent/purpose of the piece) is ensuring that the public knows about them. The way to do that is to ensure that whenever and whereever it is logical to mention that medium, the author should do so. Hence why we see author's URLs mentioned in the backs of books now.
My challenge with fans writing as the character is that the fans don't necessarily have the backstory and they may not know the authors intent. The intent of the blog would mandate who would be the proper person to write the entries.
L
By
Lisa Coutant, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
Saw this on Metaxucafe & had to comment. YA Author Lara Zeises has a blog for one of her characters from a book she published a couple years ago. The character's name is Lucy Doyle and "her" blog is at http://www.livejournal.com/users/biscuit_grrrl/
Lara's is at http://www.livejournal.com/users/zeisgeist/
By
Liz B, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
Wonderful. Do you know how this has benefited her writing and her readership?
Just curious.
Lisa
By
Lisa Coutant, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
There are several authors already doing that. I started my character blogs a year or so ago, as did another author (whose name I can't recall). I know there are quite a few others, too.
In addition to promotions after the book is contracted, it's a great way to learn who your character(s) are before the fact and to tie their "real lives" to their stories in the book. Plus, it's kind of fun.
I have to admit that mine have fallen by the wayside at the moment, but I'll get them going again when I get back to work on the book.
By
ZaZa, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
ZaZa - How has this benefited you and your readership? Do you think that your readers have gained from you blogging from the POV of your characters?
By
Lisa Coutant, at Saturday, January 07, 2006
I really can't answer that, because I'm working on other projects now, and those are incomplete. The original idea was to give the characters a three-dimensional identity while I worked on their books. Then, I would use the blog as a marketing tool as I submitted the completed books.
Best laid plans. I have to say the one for the YA was really fun - being a kid again, and fleshing out the character and her life. And, of course, as someone said here (I think), there's the chance to get in a ton of back story, too.
My character blogging has pretty much been in stealth mode, but the Vanessa Virtue blog which belongs to Marly Gibson, has won blog awards and been written up in the Boston newspapers, so it's given the character a pretty high profile.
You just have to be careful not to tell the whole story, say things that will come back to bite you if seen by an agent/editor/reader, and, above all, keep it interesting - good way to get your voice before readers, too.
By
b'gina, at Sunday, January 08, 2006
Well, I logged in as my food blogging identity. The B'gina post should have been ZaZa.
By
ZaZa, at Sunday, January 08, 2006
I think it's a great way to reach out to a new audience. Plus I'm a fan of anything that encourages reading.
Can I get the addy for the Lost blog? Now I'm curious...
By
Dy, at Thursday, January 12, 2006
I'm not sure that this is it but it's interesting - http://www.filmfodder.com/tv/lost/
By
Lisa Coutant, at Thursday, January 12, 2006
1.inside the hatch is a computer with a man called desmond in. he has been there for 3 years! and has to press this button every 108 minutes so the world dont end or summin he runs off and the castaways have to type in the code i dunno it should be good when it comes on
2.SHANNON DIES! accidently gets shot by ANA LUCIA
3.new characters ahoy! mr eko is giant and black / ana lucia is latino and shoots things/libby i have only seen a pic of her she is blonde(theyre from the tail section)
4.do u remember rose?the black woman who still thought her husband was alive?well he is and his names BERNARD
5.michael is in the hatch on the comp :
MICHAEL:HELLO
UNKNOWN:HELLO
MICHAEL:WHO IS THIS?
WALT ON SOME COMPUTER :DAD?
crazy stuff going on there
6.ANA LUCIA kills goodwin one of the others who kills some of the children
thats all i know so far
By
jamesball, at Saturday, January 14, 2006
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