Wednesday 4 April 2007

Coben is after your ATM Cash

Orion Books is taking a filmic approach as it becomes the first publisher to advertise a new book using the ATM:ad medium, which enables third parties to run campaigns using cash machines.

The Orion campaign, which goes live on April 2nd, will promote "Promise Me" the new title from renowned thriller writer, Harlan Coben. As part of the massive marketing campaign for the paperback, Orion conducted market research. From the findings, it became apparent that the highly charged suspense of Coben's books, makes reading them much like watching an 'edge of your seat Hollywood Blockbuster'. In response, Orion decided to take the marketing to a new level and promote the new book by using a short film ad. This will be represented on the ATM:ad campaign.

Whilst trying to remember your PIN number the ads will run for four weeks across 28 London-based ATM cash machines, including London Underground sites, railway stations, shopping malls and selected venues, such as the Royal Festival Hall. During the four week run, the ad is expected to deliver 240,000 one-to-one transactions, and 60,000 cash machine receipts, which will also feature a reminder of the campaign, further strengthening the promotional message.

Julie MacBrayne, Marketing Executive at Orion Books, said: "We wanted to increase the profile of the marketing campaign, so we decided to use the film as a way of advertising on ATM cash machines. We are the first publisher to do this, and we believe ATM:ad is an incredibly exciting, new way of grabbing the attention of consumers whilst also capturing the imagination of retailers and the in-house sales force. "

Harlan also has his hardback THE WOODS out at the same time.

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Most people in Freehold Township know David M. Salkin as a member of the Township Committee and owner of the Jewel Case, a jewelry store in the South Freehold Shopping Center.

Now, however, Salkin's claim to fame may be his new role as a published author. Salkin, a lifelong resident of the community, has sold two books to the Berkeley division of Penguin Books, with the first one expected on shelves at the beginning of April. His first book, a military thriller titled "Crescent Fire," took about a year to write and, according to Salkin, it was a chance conversation with an editor at Penguin that got him his first break. "Through total fate I met Doug Whiteman from Penguin," Salkin said. "I was talking to him and at the end of our conversation I just said, 'Look, I know everybody probably tells you this, but I'm writing a book. Would you mind just taking a look at it?' Eventually they called me and said, 'Can we make a deal?,' and I nearly had a heart attack. They made me an offer, I signed on the dotted line and I still pinch myself saying, 'Holy cow.'
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Don't you just love looking at old pulp covers? Well, there is now a site called Crime Boss dedicated to those of the 40's and 50's - which doesn't mean to say you should be old enough to remember them! Worthwhile checking it out.

Black Horse Westerns on crime/western authors
Keith Chapman alias Chap O'Keefe's article DETECTIVES IN COWBOY BOOTS talks in length about British and American crime authors who've also written westerns (or vice versa). It's very interesting and gives background on British paperback and pulp authors. There are also other articles of interest after Chapman's piece.


MATT HELM Creator Donald Hamilton Has Passed Away


Friends,

Earlier today I learned that Donald Hamilton has died.

Don was 90 years old. Though his name may be little remembered today, in the 1960s and 70s he was well known as the best-selling author of the "Matt Helm" novels, a series of well-written and popular stories about a ruthless agent of the U.S. government who fought evil in the Cold War world (and eventually - briefly - the post-Cold War world). Helm starred in 27 novels between 1960's DEATH OF A CITIZEN and 1993's THE DAMAGERS; he was also featured in several movies starring Dean Martin, as well as a short-lived TV series starring Anthony Franciosa that reimagined the character as a private eye. More recently, Dreamworks optioned the rights to all the Helm novels for feature film development. A final Matt Helm novel exists but has never been published.

Don also wrote a dozen non-Helm novels, including several popular Westerns (including THE BIG COUNTRY, which became the Gregory Peck movie, and SMOKY VALLEY, which was filmed as "The Violent Men" starring Glenn Ford). And he wrote several outstanding noir crime novels, including one - NIGHT WALKER - which we're proud to have reprinted last year in the Hard Case Crime series.

In the last decade of his life, Don moved back to Sweden, where he'd been born, and lived there with his son, Gordon. He died peacefully, in his sleep, this past November. Gordon kept the fact of his death private until today, when he confirmed it in a phone conversation with me.

We've lost a number of giants of the mystery field over the past few years - Mickey Spillane, Ed McBain, and Richard S. Prather, among others - and Donald Hamilton is very much of that caliber. He sold more than 20 million books during his lifetime. But unlike Spillane, McBain and Prather, all of whom were widely remembered at the time of their death, Don's passing has sadly gone unremarked.

I thought you might be interested to know about it, and that perhaps you would have an opportunity to let other people know as well. If you would like additional information, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Best,
Charles Adari

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