I'm not quite sure whether this should be here or in connections. Ron, your call.

At long long last, the Drifter's Escape is ready to head to the printers. At least, the bound galley is. A bound galley is a concept from mainstream book publishing that I'm adapting to my purpose: basically, it's a pre-final version of the book (content is final, copy-editing and layout are not) which is sent to reviewers, libraries, and other people who might drum up business for the book. The quotes on the back cover of all the books you read are from people who were sent a bound galley.

So I'm thinking about people to send books to, and I was wondering if I could enlist the help of folks here in the brainstorming process: who to send this thing to?

I'm looking for three sorts of people, all of which overlap.
1) People who will play the game, immediately, and write about it, before the book goes up for general sale in October. Basically, early adopters and buzz-generators.
2) People who will provide nice back-cover quote sugar for the book.
3) People who can bring the book to a new audience. I know that I've got the "indie role-playing game world" nailed down tight, but I'm looking for ideas of bloggers, reviewers, artists, sorcerers, communists, folk singers, and such assorted people who might take an interest in the book and spread word about it. They don't necessarily have to be famous people, but they have to be new potential audience.

What's up with the book? The Drifter's Escape is a short-story collection combined with a role-playing game in a unique way. The game is not meant to emulate the stories, and the stories are not merely transcripts, but they echo and support each other thematically. The topic of the game is America, and the part of the American soul that is laid bare by the poor wanderers so popular in our folklore and our economy. The drifter's in the book travel between states and between worlds, and everywhere they go are pursued by their own hearts and by the demands of the Devil and the Man.

So it's that sort of thing.

Ben, as the kind of thing you may be looking for I'll raise The Dark Mountain project. They are a artistic (primarily literary) movement that share a certain aesthetic and ideology, and are looking for new modes of expression.

I can't say it's the ideal fit - Dark Mountain are anti-/post-civilisation people, and you'd have to be the judge of how whether the game carries those themes to any real extent. However, this is exactly the sort of group I would be aiming for - online, connected, new art-focused. Maybe that can stir some ideas in you or others.

Best

Alex

Hi Ben,

I looked and looked, but didn't find the posts by Em about her coffee-house strategy. I'll keep hunting the thread. It seems like a good fit for you too. Basically, you get local coffee-shops to put your book in their shelves with the various other paperbacks, maybe even a designated Games shelf.

Em and others had worked out a very good approach which suited the culture and economics of the venue.

Best, Ron

Ron wrote:
Hi Ben,

I looked and looked, but didn't find the posts by Em about her coffee-house strategy.