It can be easy . . .

Some of you may know I've a pretty big worldwide following in the Tomb Raider custom level world as I build Tomb Raider adventures using the TR4 game engine which was released by Eidos a few years ago. One of my adventures, The Imprisoned Spirits - Next Generation, was downloaded over 30,000 times.

Well, I figure it's about time I started marketing my book with my adventures. In the next fortnight I'll be releasing a 7 level Tomb Raider adventure called Flashback. And here is a screenshot showing how I'll be getting my book known. I've replaced the more usual Save and Load passports with my book cover!

Great idea, George. I hope it boosts your sales.

I forgot about this thread. I just released Flashback this morning. Here is one comment of quite a few so far from someone who just started playing it.

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Can't remember having ever felt this thrilled about playing a game before, it kind of feels like falling in love for the first time(butterflies in the stomach, racing heart, giggling and feeling all excited etc.)

I guess I've got Tomb Raider games down. Maybe I'm in the wrong business heh heh.

It's nice to see someone multi-talented George! Congratulations!

Congratulations George. You truly are a man of many talents. What a superb idea.

I came up with what I thought was a more subtle and effective way to advertise the book in the game. Here is the title screen when you first start the game.



Hopefully folks will enjoy the game so much they'll take a look at the book!

What a great idea George - nothing like a bit of subtle marketing

Why not just put in a screen/folder/level (I don't know how the program works) that gives the creator (you) credit along with your book cover and synopsis. I don't know if this is possible, but that might work.

Also, you could make Laura Croft need to find the book to reveal some secret code, etc. that is embedded in the book. That will really get the book and title into peoples heads.

Nice ideas Flash. Apart from the title screen which every player will see every time they start and quit the game, I also employed a salesman! Yep, he was there in the first level and showed up from time to time throughout the entire game, opening doors here, raising a block there, and in the final level he did his salesmans pitch for me!

Brilliant! I have to make sure that I speak to all of you when I start looking at some more marketing!

Great marketing strategy, George. I hope you get wonderful results with it.

The game is proving popular so let's hope it converts into sales! Here are a few reviews so far:

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Is this really the end of the game??? What a pity! It was so great! A masterpiece!

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'BRAVO !', George Maciver, for your beautiful levels.

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Finished. Brilliant game!

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Found the Flashback. Very good levels. Thanks.

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This adventure is not to be missed. If you're looking for 5-7 hours of pure fun without the need for a stuck thread or a walkthrough, start downloading this right now! All tens from me.

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This work is truly amazing! There's no way out of here. If you come in you're in for good!

Wow, this review just came in for Flashback. The guy is young and English isn't his first language but it sure communicated to me!

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"well George make another brilliant game this guy is a old biker at level building and this can be seen . is alot off good young builders like Titak for ex but George bulid levels like no one can doo or at least only a few can .......this is a classic TR adventure challenging but never frustrating a real masterpiece , the music in the game was brilliant the best i think from all custom levels so far .... gameplay brilliant graphics top notch also ...... this one deserve to be at hall of fame for sure along with Titak's game and TR emergency wich was my favorite from all . bravo George ur one off the best builders so far i cannot give less than 10 in the line for this piece off art i hope u continue to build amaizing levels cos ur one off my favorite builder along with Horus and Dutchy BRAVO" - Jack& (29-Feb-2008)

But will it sell books? This is what I've hung my whole PoD marketing strategy on. If this doesn't work, I'm out of ideas.

No George, it won't sell books. The article I wrote abot PoD publishing will be out soon. I received an email yesterday saying they were working on it and requested a pic to go with the article. Once I've added the link to the article, I will be discussing how difficult it is to sell books.

If the gamers who are connecting with you are readers I can see it selling books for sure, especially since they are loving the game and will want to keep connected with it to deal with the grief of finishing the game itself (my daughter's a gamer, I have seen this happen)...

Well, at least it's being advertised all over the world. One of my games was downloaded over 10,000 times in one month, so I know it's getting plenty of airtime!

My first novel, Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine, was published at the end of May 2005. For the whole of July, the bubblegumclub website ran a competition with three prizes of the book. The web traffic for the site can be viewed here:

http://www.24log.com/rating/rating.php?c=11

When I checked the stats ten minutes ago the visitors showed 2312. Now they show 2502. That's heavy daily traffic!

The exposure didn't produce any sales and cost me three books.

I've had 3 people email me in the last few days to say they're going to buy my book!

Congratulations! I hope they do! ... and I hope you receive many more emails!

I'll keep you updated!

It is right now at 3049! One never knows if it sells books or not, Shelagh. They may purchase at a later date, and from somewhere not listed. The exposure couldn't have hurt.

Hi Zada,

The exposure was good. I am becoming better known and this may, eventually, produce more sales. Abe mentioned on another thread that work he wrote several years ago is now gaining recognition. Publishers are keen to encourage writers to keep writing and continue bringing their work to public attention. Only the most motivated will make new submissions and this will sort the wheat from the chaff for the publishers. Those who rise to the top will start to receive offers, not based on the quality of their work but on the fact that, by gaining exposure, they become less of a risk.

Publishers and agents are businessmen and women. The bottom line is: will it sell?

Shelagh wrote:

My first novel, Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine, was published at the end of May 2005. For the whole of July, the bubblegumclub website ran a competition with three prizes of the book. The web traffic for the site can be viewed here:

http://www.24log.com/rating/rating.php?c=11

When I checked the stats ten minutes ago the visitors showed 2312. Now they show 2502. That's heavy daily traffic!

The exposure didn't produce any sales and cost me three books.

It's now 11pm and the number of visitors for today is currently 10,469. It will be more than 11,000 by midnight -- 77,000 visitors per week!