Strange Ads Promote an Author Who Isn't Real and a Book That Doesn't Exist

IFC's upcoming The Spoils of Bablyon, a comedy miniseries that spoofs serious miniseries, is based on a book that seems to be sold out in Hudson News stores around the country. The problem with keeping the book in stock, though, is that there were never any printed copies. Eric Jonrosh (and the jig will be up when he shows up on TV and looks a lot like Will Ferrell, who produces the series along with the rest of the Funny or Die crew) is the megalomaniacal author of the book, and his persona has become the avatar of IFC's marketing for the show. "[Andrew Steele and Matt Piedmont, who wrote the series] created a character—well, we don't even like to call him a character," head of marketing Blake Callaway tells AdFreak. "We like to pretend he's real. We've written the fake book reviews. He's committed to literacy, because if you can't read, you can't read Jonrosh." The writer's megalomaniacal streak is borne out in the ambitions of the miniseries, which appears to span a period from the 1930s to the 1980s, if the trailer (see below) is any indication. So IFC has an appropriately grandiose ad campaign, with the book-focused executions littering bookstores and branded Little Free Libraries installed in cities like Dallas and Minneapolis in partnership with that organization. Callaway says he hopes to entice writers from the blockbuster-ier end of the literary spectrum to turn out for the show's Los Angeles premiere in January. "[James Patterson] is on our wish list,"... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #wall street #fifty shades #makes sense

Other news stories related to: "Strange Ads Promote an Author Who Isn't Real and a Book That Doesn't Exist"

Strange Ads Promote an Author Who Isn't Real and a Book That Doesn't Exist

IFC's upcoming The Spoils of Bablyon, a comedy miniseries that spoofs serious miniseries, is based on a book that seems to be sold out in Hudson News stores around the country. The problem with keeping the book in stock, though, is that there were never any printed copies. Eric Jonrosh (and the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #makes sense #fifty shades #wall street

News Corp. Touts Print Ads, But Books, Real Estate Are Real Winners

News Corp. continues to tout the strength of its legacy newspaper business even though most of the company's growth now stems from expansions in the real estate and book publishing markets. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Authors on the Real-World Cost of Book Banning

Authors discuss how having their work targeted by censors has directly affected their livelihood and their well-being. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Netflix’s ‘Pieces of Her’ doesn’t blindly follow the book. Author Karin Slaughter couldn’t be happier.

Netflix’s "Pieces of Her," starring Toni Colette and Bella Heathcote, departs regularly from the source material, but the spirit of the novel remains intact. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-05 12:00:35 UTC ]
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'Bridgerton's' author doesn't want you to pay $800 for her books

Since the Netflix adaptation of the revisionist Regency drama "Bridgerton" premiered on Christmas, Julia Quinn's original book series is in very high demand. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-01-12 18:36:35 UTC ]
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How to promote books by black authors

As a black publicist with more than seven years in culture and entertainment publicity, I have sat in many all-white creative meetings where the genuine answer to making a campaign diverse was to give Stormzy a call (before that it was Tinie Tempah).  If you are serious about diversity and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-24 03:36:15 UTC ]
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In ‘Short Life in a Strange World,’ paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder help an author make sense of his existence

Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
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Authors call out John Lewis for 'similarities' between Christmas ad and children's books

John Lewis' Christmas advert has come under fire as author and former bookseller Jen Campbell highlighted the similarities between the advert and her children’s book Franklin’s Flying Bookshop (Thames & Hudson). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-18 10:24:18 UTC ]
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The books world is sexist – and a one day promotion isn't enough to fix it

For International Women’s Day, Waterstones has given over its website front page to female authors. This is welcome, but it’s far from enoughWomen are used to living off scraps that fall from the table. Whether we’re being patronised by politicians touting for our votes, or being told by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust increases festival fee to promote author 'fairness'

Scottish Book Trust is to increase the money paid to authors participating in its Live Literature programme to £175 out of a belief that writers, storytellers and illustrators “should be paid fairly for the important work that they do”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Children’s Book Authors Don’t Like Children’s Books

Authors like Louisa May Alcott and A.A. Milne learned their success in children's literature didn't translate to respect for their art. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-27 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Discover New Japanese Books and Authors: Close-up on Japan Book Bank

As the largest online catalog of published Japanese content in the world, Japan Book Bank is the best and easiest way for publishers and copyright agents to discover new Japanese books and authors. PW caught up with Yoshiaki Hamza Yoshino of Japan Book Publishers Association to discuss JBB and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In ‘Hell of a Book,’ an author and his imaginary friend go on a book tour

Jason Mott’s novel starts out as a relatively straightforward story. Then reality and fantasy blur. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-13 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Boldwood and Ad Lib snare Tiger King book for new e-book venture

Boldwood Books has launched an e-book collaboration with John Blake's Ad Lib, starting with a book that reveals all about the stars of hit Netflix series “Tiger King”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-15 19:13:40 UTC ]
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Children's Books in China 2018: Promoting Wordless Picture Books in China

“The more words, the better” is a general truism of the Chinese children’s book market. Chinese parents and educators always want more words for children to learn and more paragraphs to relay additional information. A book’s value often is tied to the quantity of text on its pages. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Go viral, score book deal. 'Cat Person' author sells her debut book in the U.K., with U.S. deal in the works

The debut book from Kristen Roupenian, whose New Yorker short story “Cat Person” went viral far beyond the scope of most short fiction when it was published earlier this month, has been sold to British publisher Jonathan Cape, the Guardian reports. Roupenian's short story collection, “You Know... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books & Booze, Book Promotion Forum Merge

The San Francisco-based publishing associations have merged to form one entity, BayPub. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book the Writer service brings authors to book clubs – for a fee

While authors have appeared in person, via Skype or via telephone at book clubs before, Book the Writer has the clubs pay for the author's appearance. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Book Authors Feted at Shanghai Children's Book Fair

On the last day of the inaugural China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), held from November 7-9, the winners of the Golden Pinwheel Awards were announced. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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L.A. author Percival Everett wins National Book Award for retelling of 'Huck Finn'

USC professor Percival Everett wins the National Book Award for Fiction for 'James,' a retelling of 'Huckleberry Finn' from the character Jim's point of view. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-11-21 21:14:19 UTC ]
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