The Risks and Rewards of Transmedia Fiction and Alternate Reality Games

In English Language by Hannah Johnson

Alternate reality games are a great way to directly involve fans in storytelling…as long as you use your transmedia powers for good instead of evil. By Hannah Johnson AUSTIN: ARGs (alternate reality games) and transmedia have not only extended storytelling beyond the confines of any specific media, but they are also effective techniques for building interest and engagement among fans …

Gamification: The New Marketing Buzzword

In Digital by Hannah Johnson

Using games to promote brands is increasingly commonplace. Learning some gaming “best practices” can help you avoid amateurish pitfalls and will reward you accordingly. By Hannah Johnson Over the past year or so, gamification (also called game mechanics, serious games, and funware) has become a mainstream technique that marketers rely on to drive more traffic to their websites, to increase …

Best of Publishing Perspectives 2010: Digital

In Digital by Hannah Johnson

There is no doubt that most of the innovation in publishing in 2010 was related to digital issues and developments. This year, we saw a number of changes related to technology that have altered the way we think about and approach the business of publishing. Looking back, here are the best and most popular articles about digital topics from 2010: …

Does Bonus Content Help Sell Books?

In Discussion by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson Many of the speakers and panelists at yesterday’s Mediabistro eBook Summit talked about ways to promote books to online audiences, as discussed in our feature story today. One of the most popular of these techniques was the creation and distribution of “behind the scenes” and bonus content, like book trailers, author interviews, extra stories, and blog posts. …

Technical Difficulties Can Be Good

In Hannah's Perspective by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson As some of you may have noticed, our server went down today because we had too much traffic. As @babetteross said, “Well that’s both good news and bad news!” How true. As I waiting in the customer service “phone queue” for 45 minutes before finally talking to someone at our hosting service, it occurred to me that …