Generating "buzz" is all the rage!! To succeed these days, you need good word-of-blog. Going "viral" is about infecting people with your particular strain of hype. Exclamation points help!!!
Thus, I was not surprised when I received a press release announcing that David Seaman (the name alone is buzz-worthy!), described as "buzz expert and author of Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz", planned something outrageous to create buzz about his new book.
Seaman pledges to appear naked in Times Square if "Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz" doesn't break the Amazon.com top 100 list within three days.
"With the recession as it is, sometimes an author has to put everything on the line to get attention for a worthwhile and exciting read," Seaman says in the press release. "Book sales are down at an apocalyptic rate for most authors due to the downturn, and I'm willing to take a risk here... This book is worth my reputation, and possibly a couple nights in prison."
Apocalyptic!!!!
Nudity!!!
Prison!!! (Not to be confused with jail.)
But here's the...rub.
If the selling point in this buzz blast is the lure of Seaman showing up nude, then we DON'T want to buy the book, right? He plans to run naked in Times Square only if he DOESN'T break the top 100, yes? If he actually wanted to sell the book, wouldn't he promise to appear nude only if it became a best-seller? Unless that is something we do not want to see.
As for the book, I don't know anything about it, though the release describes it as "the definitive guide to guerrilla fame and cutthroat viral marketing." Guerrilla!!! Cutthroat!!!
I found a head shot of the author here. I don't know what the rest of him looks like, but it's good bet we'll find out later this week, because I, for one, am not buying the book.
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