Archive for the ‘ Marketing ’ Category

VIRAL MAD – PART 2

[ click to start voting ]

Chiral Mad is nominated for “Anthology of the Year” by This is Horror, alongside a list of splendid anthologies. Click the image above to see nominees for all categories in the This is Horror Awards 2012. The voting is simple. Email awards@thisishorror.co.uk with a subject line of ‘Awards 2012 Votes’. Write the category and your first and second choice for each award (or only one). I can only hope you vote for Chiral Mad, but it’s up to you. Below are the five nominees for anthologies, so you can get an idea of what the book is up against. Some fine company. Voting ends January 4th.

1. Chiral Mad, edited by Michael Bailey
2. Terror Tales of the Cotswolds, edited by Paul Finch
3. The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandemeer
4. The Best Horror of the Year Volume 4, edited by Ellen Datlow
5. The Mammoth Book of Body Horror, edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan

I am more than honored to see Chiral Mad on the shortlist for this award, especially since This is Horror is based in the United Kingdom, which means the anthology is making its way around the globe. In fact, this blog for has already reached nine countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Finland, South Africa, Switzerland, and Netherlands (WordPress has some nice built-in analytics).

The London Book Festival has just named Chiral Mad as the Winner of their Compilations/Anthologies category!

London Book Festival 2012[ click for results ]

Chiral Mad was also recently recognized as an Award-finalist for the 2012 USA Best Book Awards in multiple categories (Best Cover Design: Fiction, and Fiction: Anthologies). Click the award logo for a full list of winners and finalists.

The 2012 Halloween Book Fest Awards, held in Hollywood, California, also recognized Chiral Mad as an Honorable Mention earlier this year.

Bram Stoker Awards, you say? Why not? According to the official recommendation list, Chiral Mad has been recommended for the award by multiple parties, as well as three of the individual stories: “Inevitable” by Meghan Arcuri, “Experiments in an Isolation Tank” by Eric J. Guignard, and “Some Pictures in an Album” by Gary McMahon.

The latest review of the anthology comes from the San Francisco Book Review: “Chiral Mad positively affects the world before negatively affecting your psyche.” The review specifically mentions “Need” by Gary Braunbeck, “Brighter Her Aura Grows” by David Hearn, and “Underwater Ferris Wheel” by yours truly. Read why San Francisco Book Review calls the anthology “the perfect book for fans of psychological horror, people who like to be truly bothered rather than splashed with blood and gore” in their four star review.

I would also like to thank Jack Ketchum for his continued efforts to promote this book. He has tweeted about the anthology on five separate occasions, and each time it has directly impacted sales. He has quoted lines from three Chiral Mad stories: “Mirror Moments” by Christian A.Larsen, “The Apologies” by Erik T. Johnson, and “There are Embers” by Chris Hertz, and has sent the following messages to his thousands of followers: “Want a copy of CHIRAL MAD? Check http://bit.ly/Tapp4o  for details. Did I mention all proceeds go to Down Syndrome charities?” and “Friday reads: CHIRAL MAD, solid antho edited by Michael Bailey. All proceeds go to Down syndrome charities — and I’m happy to be in it…” Jack Ketchum, you are incredible.

Last but not least, the money. I will post the amount on a separate line for impact…

$3,000 and counting.

Good work, everyone. Continue spreading the virus that is Chiral Mad. Many more reviews are one the way…

2012
12/22
CATEGORY
Anthologies
Awards
Marketing
Reviews
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VIRAL MAD – PART 1

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, viral marketing has played a major role in the success of Chiral Mad thus far. So, to keep the virus spreading, I’ve collected a plethora of information about the anthology here, including some awards, reviews, and other promotion. Read and spread. That’s how it works.

First, the awards. Chiral Mad was recently listed as an Award finalist for the 2012 USA Best Book Awards by USA Book News, and in two separate categories: Anthologies: Fiction, and Best Cover Design: Fiction. It was also a finalist for the 2012 Halloween Book Fest Awards earlier this year.

Second, the official reviews. There will be a lot of reviews coming in for this anthology in the near future (and I’ve been asked three times this week for additional review copies… one in Italy, even), so I thought I’d collect them in various blogs as they arrive to keeps things simple for those that are interested and want to follow along. For those that choose to skim, I’ve created some review cliff notes below, although I’d recommend reading the reviews in their entirety.

Horror World review of Chiral Mad
“Get this book… as win/win as it gets.”
“Little slices of life as seen through a gaze set firmly askew.”

This is a great review of Chiral Mad by Horror World, and I couldn’t be happier. I am also noted as a recognizable name alongside Jack Ketchum, Gary Braunbeck, Gene O’Neill, Gary McMahon, Gord Rollo, and Jeff Strand, which is quite the honor. While I don’t quite agree I should be placed on the same virtual pedestal/ bookshelf as these amazing authors, it’s already been said and can’t be taken back! The review mentions Jack Ketchum’s “Amid the Walking Wounded,” (‘delivers the goods’), R.B. Payne’s “Cubicle Farm,” (‘hell of office drudgery examined with wonderful results’), Gary A. Braunbeck’s “Need,” (Braubeck never disappoints… weird and dark and downright depressing’), Gary McMahon’s “Some Pictures in an Album” (‘a reason to be frightened… plenty of paranoia’), and A.A. Garrison’s “The Bad Season” (‘a glimpse of a mad man’s mind’).

Hellnotes review of Chiral Mad
“Every contribution is well written and literate, most are highly compelling, and each is constructed with an entire test tube full of asymmetric molecules.”

Hellnotes offers another good review of Chiral Mad and I love the blurb. The review mentions R.B. Payne’s “Cubicle Farm,” Monica J. O’Rourke’s “Five Adjectives” (‘deceptively simple’), Gary McMahon’s “Some Pictures in an Album” (‘the ultimate tale of paranoid creepiness’), Gord Rollo’s “Lost in a Field of Paper Flowers” (‘punch-in-the-gut’), and Jeff Strand’s “A Flawed Fantasy” (‘quality snuff literature’). This review is kind of a mixed bag of tidbits, but it’s a good one.

Kirkus review of Chiral Mad
“A glimpse into the lives of people entering or already inhabiting the soul of darkness.”
“A compilation of entertaining, if often disturbing, stories.”
“Skillfully mixed and matched.”

Another good review (if you go by the blurbs above), provided by Kirkus Reviews, mentioning the many topics of horror and madness captured in the anthology: Monica J. O’Rourke’s “Five Adjectives” (‘things that can trigger madness’), Ian Shoebridge’s “White Pills” (‘tenuous perception of reality’), Meghan Arcuri’s “Inevitable” (‘sense of desperation’), Gord Rollo’s “Lost in a Field of Paper Flowers” (‘memories and the damage they can cause’), Chris Hertz’s “There are Embers” (‘sudden emergence of repressed memories’), Michael Bailey’s (yours truly) “Underwater Ferris Wheel (‘casually chilling’), Jeff Strand’s “A Flawed Fantasy” (‘gritty’), and Julie Stipes’ “Not the Child” (‘dreamlike’).

Third, fan reviews. Sometimes the best reviews are those by readers, so I’ve included reviews by both Goodreads and Amazon. If you’ve read Chiral Mad, I highly suggest that you write a review, even if it’s only a few words of positivity/negativity. Writers love reviews of all kinds. The more the merrier.

Goodreads reviews of Chiral Mad
“I’m not sure I’ve read another anthology that was as pleasingly edited as this one by Michael Bailey. It is chiral, by definition… There are thirty great reasons to buy this anthology. Twenty eight of them are the stories it contains, the twenty-ninth is the editing, and the thirtieth is because you need to be looking out for your fellow travelers on this planet.”

Amazon.com reviews of Chiral Mad
“A success story in the anthology department!”
“A perfect book for cuddling up with on a cold fall night. Each story is unique, spooky and thought provoking.”

There are currently two five-star reviews on Amazon. They specifically mention Gord Rollo’s “Lost in a Field of Paper Flowers,” Chris Hertz’s “There are Embers,” Gary Braubeck’s “Need,” Patrick O’Neill’s “Alderway,” P. Gardner Goldsmith’s “Sigil,” Jon Michael Kelley’s “The Persistence of Vision,” and Pat R. Steiner’s “The Shoe Tree.”

Fourth on the viral agenda are the various bloggings and tweetings, and facebookings:

Jack Ketchum has helped the virus spread by Tweeting a quote from the book (‘Kids see things differently; that’s why they make such great victims’ – Christian A. Larsen, “Mirror Moments”) and commenting on the book, calling it “a solid antho.” (thanks Jack!)

Speaking of Christian A. Larsen, he has been regularly blogging about Chiral Mad as well, which you can follow by clicking on his name. Not to mention some of the other contributors of Chiral Mad: John Palisano on his website and Erik T. Johnson at Yes Trespassing, Pat R. Steiner, A.A. Garrison at Synchroshock, Eric J. Guignard, Andrew Hook at Nitrospective, and the one and only P. Gardner Goldsmith.

Chiral Mad was recently featured on Darkeva’s Dark Delights Friday Fright Feature, mentioned as a well put together anthology for a worthy cause, with book information and a link to the book trailer.

If you are blogging about Chiral Mad without my knowledge and helping to spread the infection, I sincerely thank you, and I hope you reach out to me to let me know so I can mention it in VIRAL MAD – PART 2.

I think that’s it for now…

2012
11/27
CATEGORY
Anthologies
Marketing
Reviews
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CHIRAL GLAD

CHIRAL MAD - COVER

Chiral Mad, the second psychological horror anthology by Written Backwards, has been out for just over a month now. Official publication date: 10/11/12. Unofficially, it was released at the second annual AnthoCon (hosted by The Four Horsemen) in New Hampshire exactly two weeks ago: 11/10/12, so it’s really only a few weeks old. We had a launch of the book with readings and signings by Gary A. Braunbeck, P. Gardner Goldsmith, Meghan Arcuri, Jon Michael Kelley, Patrick Lacey, and yours truly. To celebrate, 50 copies of the book were donated (purchased beforehand by a generous third-party, a $600 donation) and handed out via swag bags to the first 50 to register at the event. Nearly all of the copies I brought with me sold out, and there seemed to be a lot of buzz over the charity (Down syndrome), the cover, and the fine contributors of this project.

Gary A. Braunbeck gives quite the performance with his readings (I’ve had the opportunity to hear him read four times in my life), and likewise gave an emotional reading from his story “Need.” I had someone after the launch comment, “Man, that guy gives a performance…” Meghan Arcuri held listeners at the edge of their seats with her reading of “Inevitable” and shocked everyone in the room afterward by admitting it was her first publication, and her first reading experience. P. Gardner Goldsmith, as always, gave a memorable reading of his story “Sigil.” I would hire this guy to be the voice behind any of my works (audiobooks someday). In fact, since I’m not a fan of reading my work aloud, Gardner ‘volunteered’ to read my short story “Plasty” at a separate reading event, and had the crowd both laughing and holding back the bile in their throats with his audible charisma. Patrick Lacey was in attendance at the book launch as well and remarked that his story “Send Your End” was his first publication, which resulted in a round of applause. From reading his story, one would guess Patrick to be a veteran of the craft. We were limited by an hour for this reading/signing event, so a few of the authors, like Jon Michael Kelley, volunteered to instead discuss an important object in his story “The Persistence of Vision,” captivating the audience with his description of thaumatropes. Many authors approached me at the event and asked if they could submit something for the next project.

“How did you gather all of this talent?” I was asked regularly at the convention. “How did you get [fill in any of the following here: Jack Ketchum, Gary Braunbeck, Gary McMahon, Gord Rollo, Gene O’Neill, Jeff Strand] and all of these other awesome people into one anthology?” The answer I gave was simple, but longwinded: “These are all great people, in- and outside of publishing. Every one of them. I sought out 1/2; the other 1/2 came to me. I mentioned that all proceeds (every cent) from the anthology would go to Down syndrome charities, and gave a challenge of interpreting chirality, and they came to me.”

A month earlier, at KillerCon in Las Vegas, I was able to meet with seven of the Chiral Mad contributors, including Jack Ketchum, Gene O’Neill, P. Gardner Goldsmith, Eric J. Guignard, Monica J. O’Rourke, John Palisano, and Aaron J. French. There was a lot of early buzz for the project at this event as well, and we took some photos, signed a few things, and had a wonderful time. All great people, as I mentioned before. Not only do these individuals have immense pools of literary talent trapped in their minds that somehow find way onto paper, they are some of the finest examples of humanity.

Viral marketing is what really made this project take off. Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter and various blogs by contributors spread word of this anthology like the overused analogy of online wildfire. Creating a teaser book trailer (and later an official version) helped as well. The few days following the book trailer launch resulted in a couple hundred additional submissions. If you’re wondering, over 400 short stories were submitted to Chiral Mad. 28 made it into the book. 1/2 of the 28 were personally invited and submitted something extraordinary; the other 1/2 sought me out and submitted something incredible. All 28 authors tackled chirality differently, and all 28 created amazing stories.

So, where are we at after just over a month, or two ‘unofficial’ weeks? Let’s just say that the first charity anthology released by Written Backwards, Pellucid Lunacy, has raised a little over $2,300 to date. We’ve met that mark with Chiral Mad already, which is something incredible.

How do we keep the ball rolling and raise even more money/awareness for Down syndrome? Viral marketing. Word of mouth. Reviews (they are starting to surface). Social networking. Sharing. Blogging. Giving copies as gifts. Donating copies to libraries. Let’s spread some Chiral Mad.

2012
11/24
CATEGORY
Anthologies
Conventions
Marketing
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