whatisrobert.co.uk - Kevin Brooks - Being
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Puffin are set to give Being, Kevin Brooks' first novel for them (published March 1st) a massive, integrated PR campaign, the details of which are detailed on the back page of proof copies, recently distributed to reviewers.
In addition to a microsite - www.whatisrobert.co.uk - there will apparently be a 'massive push on fan-fiction websites' and 'webraiding' on popular teenage blogs. This kind of promotion has its risks, particularly because the Young Adult aduience has a pretty good nose for hype. As long ago as 2004, one gaming forum poster observed:
webraiding forums was initially pretty effective when not everybody was doing it. However, it is a real low hanging fruit because you need only a handful of posters full day to clutter all the influential forums with hype. Then the challenge is for these people to create a credible personality with postings relating to other topics than the product at hand. However, these days most people I've spoken to - even the companies known to facilitate this type of activity - consider fake posting too risky. The probability of getting caught is pretty big and then the PR damage is enormous. It's not worth it.
The campaign will also be linked to the launch of an online magazine written by and for teenagers which is set to focus on Being.
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