Holt marketing director Richard Rhorer hadn't heard of Meetup.com, much less thought of using it as a publicity tool, until a work project turned him into a member. Rhorer, who also serves as executive producer of Holt's podcasting site QuickandDirtyTips.com (which launched in September), joined the social networking site's podcasting meetup in April 2007; now he's hoping another meetup will bring some pre-pub buzz to one of the house's upcoming paperback originals, What Was Lost.
Meetup, which was founded in 2002 and claims some 2.5 million members, drew its most significant press attention during Howard Dean's tumultuous run for the 2004 Democratic nomination. Dean's supporters, known for being young and Web savvy, turned to the site to organize events and get together—they went online to meet up in the real world.
The Dean campaign brought so much attention to the site that, in its promo materials, Meetup actually debunks the myth that it's specifically associated with Dean. There's a lot more to Meetup than politics and Howard Dean—the site is full of groups centered around interests both obvious (e.g., wine lovers and singles) and not-so-obvious (ghost trackers). And the site has more than 1,000 groups, of varying sizes, centered on books.
Rhorer, noticing the book group activity, thought the site might be an ideal opportunity to reach out to reader-networker types. Working with What Was Lost's editor, Helen Atsma, Rhorer has coordinated an event for the author, Brit Catherine O'Flynn, with Meetup's Union Square reading group. That group, with some 1,000 members, was chosen largely because of its size.
Working with the group's organizer, Rhorer has set up an event that's equal parts pre-pub publicity driver and impromptu bookclub. As of press time, 100 members have RSVPed to the February 4 event, at a bar in Manhattan, and all of them have been mailed a galley of the book. For her part, O'Flynn, who will be on a U.S. visit from the U.K., is attending the event after a traditional media lunch that afternoon.
O'Flynn's novel, about a mall music store employee who attempts to untangle a forgotten local mystery, has already been published in the U.K., where it became, according to Atsma, “a little book that got amazing word-of-mouth.” In the U.K., the book has been shortlisted for various major lit prizes and won the Costa Award. Atsma hopes all this will pique Meetup members' interest.
Although Holt has promoted authors on Facebook and MySpace in the past, Rhorer anticipates that Meetup will help the publisher reach the book club audience, readers between 20 and 40, who are becoming harder to get to. “Usually, going after book clubs, we mail galleys to coordinators [at the independents]. The coordinators probably dump the galley in a pile with eight others from that day,” Rhorer explained. “Here we thought we could get directly to book club members who are very connected in social networking.”
Although there is some concern that the event may be getting out in front of the title too soon—the book is due out in June—Rhorer has a plan to keep the title front-of-mind. He's sending everyone who attends the February event a free, finished copy of the book right before it hits stores, along with a note encouraging the recipient to pass the book along to a friend. Holt may also do another Meetup event if the first one proves successful.
