When sci-fi novelist Chris Kennedy writes an ebook, he names characters in his novels after real people, many of them his fans.
He calls the characters “Redshirts,” a term that originated with the Star Trek TV series. Starfleet security personnel who frequently died during episodes wore red shirts.
“If you want to be in one of my ebooks, tell me something about yourself,” Chris says. “I already have 20 people lined up who will be characters in my sixth ebook.”
One of his fans is Father John Zuhlsdorf, a Catholic priest and Internet personality better known as “Father Z” who has a huge following.
Father Zuhlsdorf wanted to be a Redshirt, and Chris named a fictional chaplain after him.
“He managed to survive the Redshirt process and made it into the next ebook as well,” Chris said.
How Publicity Builds
“Father Z has mentioned the ebooks at least a couple of times in his blog, and I’ve heard many readers tell me they heard about my books from him. He’s also on Facebook.”
All the other people who are named in those ebooks tell their friends, too…and they tell their friends and so on…
“I hate having to come up with new names for characters so it’s a win-win for me,” Chris says.
“Not only do I get people who will give me their names, but I also get free publicity and guaranteed sales for using them!”
More Ebook Publicity Ideas Tomorrow
Naming characters in your ebook after real people is one of the sales tricks I’ll discuss tomorrow—Thursday, July 17, 2014—when I host the paid webinar How to Promote Your Ebooks for Maximum Visibility and Sales. It’s from 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time and I’ll record it. So if you’ve made other plans, register anyway. I’ll send you the video replay and all the bonuses within 72 hours.
Most of my tips apply to both fiction and non-fiction authors. When I asked readers of my ezine this week to share with me their best tips for promoting ebooks, I was inundated with responses! Some of them are incredibly clever, and others so easy! I’ll show you how one ebook author ended up on the cover of a magazine. Register now and make marketing your ebooks a lot easier.
