Author Races to Find New Ways to Market New Thriller
As part of an unprecedented promotional blitz, book advertising unlike any other was rolled out at the Richmond International Raceway last weekend.
An advertisement for his new thriller “The Book of Fate”-- Meltzer’s sixth novel, released Sept. 5 -- appeared on Fitz-Bradshaw’s No.12 car during the Busch Series NASCAR race in Richmond, Va., on Sept. 8. The logo of the book and Meltzer’s name appeared on a circular sticker placed on the hood of the car.
The New York Times best-selling author earned recognition as a writer of the acclaimed 2004 “Identity Crisis” superhero miniseries for Warner Brother’s DC Comics. In another groundbreaking attempt at marketing his novel, the first issue of DC Comics’ newly relaunched “Justice League of America,” a comic Meltzer currently writes, featured the first chapter of “The Book of Fate.”
The novel’s first chapter begins with a presidential-assassination attempt at a NASCAR event in Florida.
In addition to a standard book-signing tour, the promotional push for the novel also has featured celebrity interviews with Meltzer. Former First Lady Barbara Bush (whose husband former President George Bush helped with Meltzer’s research for the book), NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw (who is part of the ownership team of the race car the book’s ad appeared on) and Nextel Cup Series driver David Stremme have all chatted with the author in recent weeks as part of the novel’s marketing effort.
- Companies:
- The New York Times
- Places:
- Florida
- Richmond, Va.