TERRA INCOGNITA:  ANATOMY OF A BOOK RELEASE

 This is the third of a four-part series about the release of Terra Incognita: THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (novel. Orbit Books) and Terra Incognita: BEYOND THE HORIZON (rock CD, ProgRock Records) on June 2.

Part 3.  Paying Attention to the Readers and Fans

 As we built toward the release of the novel and its accompanying rock CD, the buzz began to increase, week after week, as the word spread.

 Since Orbit had developed such an ambitious and beautiful widget containing sample chapters, sample songs, an author video, and animated cover art, we looked for ways to encourage my fan base to distribute it in a viral marketing effort.  To this end, we set up several contests.  Everyone who shared the widget received one of our EDGE OF THE WORLD sticky notepads.  We collected all the addresses of those who had passed along the widget and drew one name each month: At the end of March, a winner received an autographed hardcover copy of my novel THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON.  We drew two names at the end of April, for another KRYPTON hardcover and for a signed copy of my new Batman/Superman book ENEMIES & ALLIES.  At the end of May, just before the release of the Terra Incognita novel and CD, I drew three names and added a signed hardcover of PAUL OF DUNE.  Orbit ran a contest of their own, offering as a prize a very limited imprinted spyglass and treasure chest for THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.

 In addition to posting several more blogs about the ongoing project and the progress of the CD, we also prepared and mailed an issue of the newsletter to all members of my international fan club; I also handed the newsletters out at book signings and convention appearances.

For Roswell Six, we printed up posters for the band to be distributed at music venues and radio stations, emphasizing both the book and the CD.  “Read the novel.  Hear the Music.”  The individual members of Roswell Six also have their own fan clubs and websites, and many of them went out of their way to help promote the book and CD to their numerous followers. 

In the last week of May, we also mailed out a targeted postcard for the novel and CD to more than 5000 people who had written fan letters or signed up for the mailing list, particularly the readers of my epic “Saga of Seven Suns,” who would very much be the audience for “Terra Incognita.”  I also set up an account on Twitter and began to build a following, as well as a Facebook page.  On MySpace, we expanded our efforts and gathered over 35,000 friends on my page, the Roswell Six page, and the Terra Incognita page.  Sample tracks from the Roswell Six CD went up, and people began to choose them for their profile songs.  We had over 40,000 plays in the first two months.

Well before I finished writing even the first draft of Book 2, THE MAP OF ALL THINGS, I took the time to polish one of the opening chapters, so it could be included as a teaser at the end of Book 1.  I also completed a print interview to be appended to the volume, as well as an Author’s Note in the novel to describe the crossover CD project.

 We were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  And it was coming fast.

 —Kevin J. Anderson