Wife in the Fast Lane Author Karen Quinn's Online Contest Spearheads Trend of Authors Taking Marketing Into Their Own Hands
Think your great American novel can rocket to fame just because it's great? Think again. After her first book tour yielded audiences of 200 (in her home town) to two (in Chicago where she only knew her mom's best friend and a writer who wanted a blurb), Karen Quinn joined a growing number of authors who are spending their own money on online marketing campaigns to create and sell a community of devoted fans.
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 22, 2007 -- Think your great American novel can rocket to fame just because it's great? Think again. After her first book tour yielded audiences of 200 (in her home town) to two (in Chicago where she only knew her mom's best friend and a writer who wanted a blurb), Karen Quinn joined a growing number of authors who are spending their own money on online marketing campaigns to create and sell a community of devoted fans.
WHO: Karen Quinn, http://www.karenquinn.net author of and Wife in the Fast Lane http://tinyurl.com/35rfzc (Simon & Schuster, March 2007). Her well-reviewed first novel was The Ivy Chronicles http://tinyurl.com/2q7mh6
WHAT: Karen Quinn's Wife in the Fast Lane Contest http://karenquinn.net/wife-in-the-fast-lane-contest/ where people can use video, an essay or a one-liner to describe a scene from their fast lane life. Prizes include a $2000 gift certificate to Canyon Ranch and a custom-made gold charm bracelet, among many others.
Quinn convinced her publisher to kick in a portion of the money she spent to create the blog-based contest, and then cajoled more than a dozen companies to provide prizes to winners selected by visitors to the site.
A blog advertising campaign and a newsletter from Quinn help spread the word about the contest created with the help of veteran social media marketer B.L. Ochman.
Other authors promoting books through their own online efforts include Karen Rose; Janet Evonovich , Emily Giffin , and Larissa Long, who also lists other authors giving away gifts and books of theirs and other authors to those who join their lists.
These author contests are very basic, and don't come close to the sophistication of Quinn's contest, which has begun to generate considerable buzz in the blogosphere.
WHERE: Online at http://karenquinn.net/wife-in-the-fast-lane-contest/, blog advertising on blogs including Crazy Aunt Purl and Book Slut blog.
WHEN: Entries accepted until February 16. Winners announced March 3.
QUOTES: "After going on a traditional tour with my first book, where in one city, only one or two people showed up, and one was my mother's friend, I knew there had to be a more effective way to spend the money. When I went to my publisher with this idea, they were open to the leading edge approach and contributed the money they'd have spent on a tour. But I added a lot of my own money to make this happen.
The contest has been remarkably well-received and is spreading via the most powerful medium of all - word of mouth. The entries are delightful and so clever. I'm having so much fun, but the time, money, details and sheer persistence involved in putting something like this together is simply staggering."
Links:
Wife in the Fast Lane Contest http://karenquinn.net/wife-in-the-fast-lane-contest/
Adrants contest review: http://www.adrants.com/2007/01/live-on-the-fast-lane-win-immortality-in-.php
CONTACT: Karen Quinn
212-608-8690
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