Not the real president and not in real life. And technically speaking, J.C. didn't do the deed -- but he dreamed up the child/assassin who takes down America's main man in the opening lines of his sci-fi thriller 7th Son: Descent.
Regular readers know that I have a bit of a mancrush on J.C., who has the social media chops so many brand managers can only dream of. His last print novel, Personal Effects, was a participatory, multimedia tour de force (learn more) and with 7th Son he does it again.
Now, for those of you who haven't been poking around the social media space for the past few years I should mention that although today marks the first day 7th Son is available (as they say) everywhere books are sold, the story has already been told through social media.
A couple of years ago, frustrated by his inability to find a publisher for his work, J.C. released the novel chapter-by-chapter in podcast form. The series went on to become one of the (if not the) most popular audio podcast novels and amassed J.C. a nice-sized army of fans. And then, well, one thing led to another and now the man has a book deal with St. Maarten's Press. Solid...
But that doesn't mean he's kissing his social media friends goodbye. You can (and should) buy the book. But you can also download the first 10 chapters as a free PDF (available for download across a network of social media and sci-fi blogs) or read the entire book for free on Boing Boing, where it's being serialized chapter-by-chapter. Eyes too tired from staring at spreadsheets all day? He's also offering it all as a 10-episode audio serial that should appeal to both audiobook fans and his original podcast audience.
If you want to see a great example of social marketing done right (by someone who isn't a trained marketer, no less) check out the site. There are a ton of other goodies -- from free prequel content to a killer loyalty points program for anyone who helps evangelize and promote the book.
Disclosure: I am not a member of the points program but J.C. did send me a free copy of the book (no, I haven't read it yet, but I plan to as soon as possible.) I also recently interviewed J.C. for my book (which is certain to be less interesting than his, although I hope it will be marketed at least half as well.)
Now go and get your clone on...
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