James Rollins Launches New Book with Innovative Twitter Party

As the publishing industry evolves, marketing tactics are getting more and more creative.

Last fall, Jay-Z's PR team ran a Scavenger Hunt campaign for his book De-Coded. Scholastic also took an innovative approach with the middle-grade series 39 Clues. The folks over at Bitten By Books do blog release parties for a variety of authors, complete with Q&As, contests, or even live chats. People are always coming up with fun, new ideas to get the buzz going.

And there's another one circulating the industry right now--New York Times bestselling author James Rollins is promoting his new book, The Devil Colony with a themed worldwide Twitter party this coming Tuesday, June 21. What fun!

What: Dance with the Devil

When: Around the World--All Day & All Night
Where: Twitter hashtag #DevilColony

How: Join the Worldwide Celebration of James Rollins' Hottest Release The Devil Colony by using #DevilColony

The theme of the event is the Devil (naturally) and "attendees" just need to use the hashtag #DevilColony in their tweets. There will be a photo contest with a mystery prize even for the most creative photos, in addition to random prizes given away throughout. Anyone can upload pictures of themselves "having a party" or something "devil-themed" (I am going to try to dig up a Halloween pic of me from college when i went as a half-angel half-devil! Whee!)--anything to take part and share in the fun. Such a clever and entertaining way to bring readers together all around the globe!

There might even be some pretty big names taking part, in addition to Rollins himself, that is. Lee Child, Bob Mayer, Terry Brooks--who knows who might show up to chat and celebrate! Maybe even have a glass of e-bubbly--one of my planned contributions to the party!

Personally, I adore this concept--Twitter is taking on such new life, expanding and growing in a way that many people didn't expect, especially in publishing. People are coming together on a variety of levels, making friends, debating controversial topics, sharing recommendations, and so much more. Twitter chats are also becoming a bigger trend by the week (my project, Book Country, has started a bi-weekly chat too! Check out our schedule of events HERE), so why not a Twitter release party? It's fun and a great way to network yourself, to gain and add intriguing new followers to your contacts.

Social media expert, author, and friend Kristen Lamb filled me in via email on the inspiration behind this awesome event:

Think of parties. Do you go to a birthday party just to say hello to the birthday girl? Yes, and no. You also go to socialize, have fun and hang out and meet cool people. Same here. [The] goal is to get away for gimmick and just bring people together. [...] This is organic and dynamic...not canned traditional marketing. The objective is to come together as a community.

So, stop on by on Tuesday, 6/21 at any time! It's a great event to support a talented author, and you'll have fun and make new friends in the process. Sounds to me like only good things can happen as a result. :)