Crime novelist John Connolly takes his thrills online
The best-selling thriller writer John Connolly this week becomes the first author to make full use of online social media as a promotional tool for a new novel.
The Whisperers is the latest of Mr Connolly’s novels to feature his hero Charlie Parker, a private investigator whose closest acquaintance is death. Online, all of the book’s characters have been given identities across a number of social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the blogosphere, with online media partners also hosting clues and content as part of a game called The Twisperers. At the game’s climax, a final set of clues will be placed in museums across the UK, including London’s Horniman Museum, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Warwick Castle.
John Connolly writes 'Here’s the thing: I’m not sure that I fully understand the Internet campaign that my publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, and my creative agency are currently running to publicise my new book, The Whisperers. I know that it involves social media, and a game element, and I know that it involves characters from the novel interacting with readers through email, Twitter, Facebook and blogs, mainly because I’ve written the blogs myself, so I obviously have some basic grasp of what’s going on. But the larger picture has probably sailed over my head somewhat, if you’ll excuse a visual image which may not be entirely appropriate. But here’s the other thing: I’m not sure that it matters whether or not I fully understand it. What matters is that, on some level, I’m attempting to engage with the Internet in a way that I haven’t engaged before, and I trust that those with more knowledge of such matters will guide me in the right direction.'
Read the full article at: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7124299.ece
The Whisperers is the latest of Mr Connolly’s novels to feature his hero Charlie Parker, a private investigator whose closest acquaintance is death. Online, all of the book’s characters have been given identities across a number of social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the blogosphere, with online media partners also hosting clues and content as part of a game called The Twisperers. At the game’s climax, a final set of clues will be placed in museums across the UK, including London’s Horniman Museum, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Warwick Castle.
John Connolly writes 'Here’s the thing: I’m not sure that I fully understand the Internet campaign that my publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, and my creative agency are currently running to publicise my new book, The Whisperers. I know that it involves social media, and a game element, and I know that it involves characters from the novel interacting with readers through email, Twitter, Facebook and blogs, mainly because I’ve written the blogs myself, so I obviously have some basic grasp of what’s going on. But the larger picture has probably sailed over my head somewhat, if you’ll excuse a visual image which may not be entirely appropriate. But here’s the other thing: I’m not sure that it matters whether or not I fully understand it. What matters is that, on some level, I’m attempting to engage with the Internet in a way that I haven’t engaged before, and I trust that those with more knowledge of such matters will guide me in the right direction.'
Read the full article at: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7124299.ece
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