Viral Marketing - On Meeting An Agent

Last week reading Ted Hope’s blog I came across a clever, funny, short animation, which included a web address. Clicking through to the webpage, I learned that the animation was promotion for a self published novel. I was impressed enough with what I saw on that website to purchase two copies (yes, 2!) as birthday gifts (am hoping I’ll be able to borrow at least one to read myself!).

So, today I’m doing something a little different: blogging about an author who used viral animation to promote his work.

Roland Denning is the creator of “On Meeting An Agent”, an eight part animation series promoting his self published novel “The Beach Beneath The Pavement.”

Most of my working life I've been involved with film - initially programming art cinemas, then working as a freelance cameraman/director/ filmmaker.

A few years ago I decided to cut through all the hassles involved with filmmaking and write a novel. The idea came to me when I woke up one New Years Day in Barcelona having got very stoned the night before (I mean, I did know I was in Barcelona - I hadn't got that stoned). It seemed to me writing a novel would be much simpler than getting a film made - there'd be no one else to hassle or blame, I would be in control. It seemed so simple... yeah, right.

Years and many drafts later I finished the novel, now called The Beach Beneath The Pavement. But if that was hard, trying to get it published was worse.

During the ordeal, still trying to get an agent, I decided to publish the book under my own imprint using print-on-demand.

At around the same time someone sent me an animation using xtranormal.com on line software: This is as close as you can get to instant animation - you get ready built characters and sets, and voices and lip movements are created from the text you write. It is very limited - characters can't walk or sit down (although some can dance), you can only have two characters at a time and so forth.

I decided to fictionalise my experiences with a series of eight short animations called On Meeting An Agent, featuring a robot character called Roland, who had also written a book called The Beach Beneath The Pavement.

I hasten to point out that although Roland the Robot was very bitter and angry about his experiences, I was only mildly disappointed, and the agent I met was extremely nice and reasonable. However, mild disappointment isn't funny, whereas violently bitter often is, so I had to twist the facts for the sake of art.

These films seemed to strike a chord with many people (particularly other struggling authors) and, after I sent the links to some trade publications, they began to be Twittered and blogged all over the place. In fact, they became much more successful than the book they were intended to promote, although they do seem to have encouraged one or two people to buy the books.

So for very little effort (most of the animations were completed in half a day except the final one which incorporated live action and took two days), On Meeting An Agent seemed to be quite a success.

However, one thing I have learnt is that sometimes the internet can be a very small place; you may think you are reaching out to the world when really you are addressing a very particular and quite small community - in my case, other struggling writers (and I think it is often a similar case with independent film makers).

Roland Denning

(Still looking for an agent)

Roland has not so far had great sales response. [However, it should be noted, it has only been four months since he uploaded the animations to Youtube - there is still time!]. 

Why did I choose to buy his book? If you watch his animations, the trailer, visit his website, or download the first three chapters of his book – it is clear he is a smart, funny and indeed a ‘good’ writer. His personality, or ‘brand’, is evident in all these areas. The question isn’t why I bought his book, but rather – why are more people not?

If you watch the series, you’ll see the Robot answers this question himself – to a degree. The ease with which we can self publish (or self produce) means we are awash with amateur content, and potential buyers are suspicious about the lack of quality control. They don’t want to waste their money.

It also seems to me that perhaps Roland has marketed his book to the wrong audience: struggling writers have no money (believe me, I know!), and often have a book of their own to hoc. They are the hardest audience to convert to purchase.

I bought this book for two people who will have no idea that it is self published. I bought it for them because I think they’ll like it. Simple as that.

The book sells through Amazon and the Book Depository (free international postage by the way), so there’s no reason why a normal online shopper would label it as ‘self-published’ if they happened upon it.

Who is Roland’s best target market? It should be the fans of authors who write similar books. He should get involved in fan forums and dazzle them with his witty comments; send copies of the book (and animation) to his favourite authors, see if they will read it and give him a quote he can use; once he’s got that quote, he can send out “newsworthy” press releases.

With self published work, getting good reviews from credible people is important. It’s also hard to get, because critics are bombarded with marketing material from big publishing companies. However, targeting niche bloggers is one avenue, emailing the animation to relevant critics and columnists as an intro is another. After watching that animation, who would turn down reading the book? And if the book is good, the reviews will come.

I'm not trying to be glib, or pretend this will result in a tidal wave of promotion and sales - but these techniques should at least ensure that the people most likely to want to read it will find out about it.

I suspect this book is one that will activate a small but strong cult following. The importance then is to give those fans tools to show their love:

1) Merchandise. There are so many funny insightful lines on the website and trailer alone that deserve recognition on a coffee cup or t-shirt. And why not sell a premium bundle direct from the author’s website that includes the author’s signature on the book and the animation series on dvd? This will increase revenue per purchaser, and also help fans show their affiliation publicly.

2) Social media – create ways for fans to connect! Links to Facebook and Twitter are much needed, keep people updated on how things are going, don’t be afraid to ask them for help. They can spread the word, or be your test market.

3) Why not make a statement like : “I need X many votes before a mainstream publisher will take it on” or “I need X many sales for me to know it’s worth writing another book,” and ask customers to help by spreading the word, writing reviews, requesting the book at their local bookshop, etc. Put a counter on your website towards the goal so people can see progress. This gives fans a clear goal, motivation, and permission to be active.

4) Blog or video blog regularly, building a following who read and link to you. Consider this a “behind-the-scenes” extra, but one that is released now as part of the marketing. This will help sell future books as well.

Yeah, it’s a lot of work for one guy, who no doubt also has to do other work to pay his bills. However, this is one area that consistent effort does yield results. If you don’t have money for a marketing budget, you can still use social media to build a presence and residual word of mouth.

So – calling all fans – if you like the animations, or the book: tweet it, blog it, digg it, spread it.

And if you want to know more the author, here's an interview with Roland Denning