We Have Lift off (and a Dragon Tattoo Exclusive)
This morning, I’m thrilled to announce, the Dragon Tattoo Blog Hunt launched into the blogosphere.
Here’s the official hooha on the social media campaign:
In anticipation of the March 19th U.S. theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo, Music Box Films will launch a clue-based Blog Hunt around the web on March 10th. Top bloggers will publish articles about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with an embedded clue leading readers to the next site in the Hunt. Readers will follow these clues for prizes including film tickets, books and posters. The contest will focus on blog topics covered in the film including technology, writing, violence against women, and tattoos. The Blog Hunt will begin on the movie’s official website where the first clue will be published.
And because I love all of YOU so very much, I’m giving you an exclusive clue – or rather to the answer to one of the clues.
Yours truly wrote one of the blog posts for the Blog Hunt and it’s published on Copyblogger. So, if you’re playing along and you get to the clue that talks about ‘copy’ and ‘blogging’ you’ll know right where to go. And now on to the post:
Filed under How To | Tags: blog hunt, blog scavenger hunt, Blogging, Copyblogger, copyblogging, dragon tattoo, dragon tattoo blog hunt, dragon tattoo film, lisbeth salander, social media campaign, stieg larsson, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Writing | Comments (7)Blogging Lessons from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
A 40 year-old unsolved murder mystery. Strange cryptic codes in a bible. Sweden, sandwiches and many, many cigarettes. The badass-est female protagonist since…forever. And an author who has, posthumously, caused quite a ruckus in the book world and in the minds of conspiracy theorists everywhere.
Yes, I’m talking about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. If you haven’t heard of it, the rest of us are inviting you to come out from under your rock. Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is topping bestseller lists as we speak and the theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo hits the U.S. next week.
I had the good fortune of screening an advanced copy and, of course, my mind went blog, blog, blog. Because that’s what blog obsessed people like us do. It’s almost like we’re wearing blog colored glasses as we look out onto our worlds. Here are the blogging lessons I learned from this tattooed ‘girl’…
Gasoline feeds a fire, but first there has to be a spark
At one point in the movie, a man lays under a car. Having just flown off the side of the road, both he and the car are demolished, gasoline is spilling out everywhere…and he waits, watching, trapped. Finally there’s a spark…and then fire, total combustion.
So often we have all of the ingredients, right? The design is just right, the writing is perfection, the research says that there’s a need for the content….but then, nothing. No traffic, no comments, no buzz. Why? What’s missing?
There has to be a spark. Maybe it comes in the form of a new partnership, a referral or an outside event (like a shortage of light bulbs) that makes your product (candles) suddenly burst into high demand. Or maybe you have a life changing event that triggers your passion, maybe you read a book that causes something to click in your brain or your heart.
And then, there’s no stopping the heat….
Read the rest of the lessons on Copyblogger’s slice of the sphere and get the next clue in the Blog Hunt!
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo meets Writing Roads (another girl with a tattoo or three)
I’m bad at picking books to read at the bookstore, you know, when it’s just me and shelves of beautifully packaged words. Apparently I missed that gene. I get swayed by the cover or the fact that the author’s name kind of looks like mine and I’m blinded by the dream of being published. Anywho, the ones I pick up on my own almost always disappoint.
Thank the good lord, I’m very good at taking book orders recommendations.
I might be a little annoying about it too. I ask a million questions, like: Do any animals get hurt? (I literally can’t take it) and Is it scary? and How fast, exactly, do you think I’ll be able to read it? (Because the world has to stop until I finish). I like to get the full review before I invest my time and I like to know what I’m getting myself into it. I demand full ‘word of mouth’ service.
As a result, I end up with superb books. Books that smart people told me I had to read. Or else.
Even though I like girls with tattoos…
And so it was with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. First of all, I never would have picked this book up on my own. Even though I like girls with tattoos, I’m not into dragons. And it’s a murder mystery type of book, not my usual genre. But, my parents – who have a superb reading record (I did get that gene) – gave it to me for Christmas. And I saw their eyes light up when I ripped the wrapping paper away. And I knew that even though this book promised some unpleasant subject matter, and even though it started out with a lot of hooha about banking and business (yawn) – this book was going to be a keeper.
Turns out, it’s a trilogy: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest. Adding to the intrigue is that the author, Stieg Larsson, died of a heart attack right after he handed in his manuscripts. He has no idea that he’s sold millions of books, that this book is becoming a raving hit and that three movies have been made based on the trilogy. A writer’s life is just full of ironical detours, eh?
Is fiction ever really fiction?
There’s also more intrigue in that his life oddly mirrors much of his protagonist’s life. You know how I love when art imitates life and when fiction isn’t really all that fictional. And, for the geeky among us, this is the first book I’ve read where modern technology (laptops, email, the internet, hackers) are seamlessly interwoven into the story without seeming artificial.
My latest GIG…
And then the planets collided and I was hired to do the social media marketing campaign for the first movie. The author, the books and the movie are all Swedish, and they’ve reached cult status overseas, both the books and the movie have won prestigious awards over there. My campaign over here is going to be very bloggy. I’m staging a mystery for readers to solve across the blogosphere...so stay tuned. You could win premier tickets, meet-ups with the actual girl with the dragon tattoo, shirts, books…the whole bit.
I think books are best found through word of mouth…and now I’ve been charged with the task of putting this book into as many wordy mouths as humanly possible. How cool is that?
And, between you and me, the book is that good. So, read it. Or else. And then, tell everyone you know about it. Or else. And then, go see the movie. Or else. And then, tell everyone you know to see it. You know, or else.
Filed under Marketing, News, Social Media | Tags: blog marketing, blogs, dragon tattoo movie, indie film, international best-seller, Marketing, musicboxfilms, mystery, novel, promotion, social media, stieg larsson, the girl with the dragon tattoo, thriller | Comments (13)
