Earlier this summer, we looked at BookCrossing, a website that allows users to “catch” and “release” books around the world and track where their books have gone. Now author Laura Harrington is using BookCrossing in an unusual promotion for her novel, Alice Bliss. Writes Harrington:
Where’s Alice Bliss? is a campaign to send copies of the novel Alice Bliss to as many countries and U.S. states as possible. Through bookcrossing.com, copies of Alice Bliss will be registered and tracked as they travel around the world, passing from one reader to the next. […] We want to send Alice to four continents and all 50 U.S. states.
As of late September, Harrington’s novel had reached 30 states and five continents. Not bad!
This particular project strikes me as an interesting mix of new technology (the magic of the internet! hi-tech book tracking!) and old technology (after all, we’re tracking physical copies of print books here). Have you seen other ways for authors to use new technologies for old-school book promotions?
Further reading:
- Learn more about Book Crossing in our blog archive
- As publishers cut publicity, writers have to find new ways to promote themselves. Here’s how some have done it.
- Is faking a kidnapping taking book promotion too far?
