Stacy Harp of MediaSoul has started a new company designed to promote books through the blogosphere. She states, "We exist to help people in the media, such as authors, filmmakers, musicians and others get their message out to a targeted audience of consumers.Using carefully selected and trusted Bloggers to review and promote products, Mind & Media is the most affordable source of advertising online."
This is the sort of innovative marketing that GraceHill Media has utilized for movies they promote. Members of this blog have benefited from their programs twice. Harp's announcement raised these concerns from Adrian Warnock: "I wonder how media will take bloggers honesty- what if I am given a book to review on emerging church and totally diss it? Will I get another one? Will they realise that dissing something gives other bloggers a chance to leap to its defence and actually amplifies the level of attention, or will they move onto someone more amenable?"
I would think that any writer/filmmaker/musician would be happy to know that what they produced is rubbish. "Word of mouth" promotion happens around relatively unknown books that are quality, and quality products will survive a few bad reviews. On the other hand, a bad product won't be saved by a few good reviews It seems that the media has nothing to lose by promoting their products through blogging, seeing as if their product is quality, "word of mouth" marketing will happen faster, will be more permanent (the posts don't go away), and will reach more people.
Check her company out and if your interested in working with her, let her know!
Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.
