There have been a number of great opportunities for fans of fantasy as of late.
In this age of the internet(s), many authors and publishers are using online technology in concert with rare and cool contests to help them market, publicize and get the fans directly involved in forthcoming book releases. It allows the fans to take some ownership of the genre they love and helps bridge the gap between author and reader.
It is a gap that I am happy to see slowly dissolving.
The coolest of these contests in my opinion center around naming a character in a forthcoming book.
What cooler event than to offer fans something so priceless?
- Patrick Rothfuss recently began a contest and auction that allows one fan to get his name and/or appearance into his second book, The Wise Man’s Fear.
- Brandon Sanderson, earlier in the year and in behest of Mr. Rothfuss’s charity efforts, had a similar auction where the winner became a character in one of the three books that become Memory of Light in the Wheel of Time series.
- Even the producers of The Simpsons have a similar contest at the moment, where fans of the show can send in a notecard with the pertinent information of who the character is and why they deserve to be on the show.
Naming contests have been around for years and years.
And here is another one.
This time with bestselling author Terry Brooks!
More than two years ago, Terry offered a similar auction at BiddingForGood. The proceeds from the auction go to schools and similar non-profit entities around the world. For three weeks people could bid for the opportunity to have their name used in Terry’s next Landover novel—what would eventually become this year’s bestseller A Princess of Landover.
There was a winning bidder. That person had an unusual email address though and Terry fell in love with it immediately. He offered the winner a much larger role in the book if he could use the email address handle—which did contain elements of the winner’s real name—instead of the winner’s actual name.
That is how the annoyingly mute G’Home Gnome Shoopdiesel came to be.
Terry is doing it again this year! This time for a forthcoming Shannara book!
The question is: How much is it worth to be immortal?
The Shannara series has been one of the most beloved fantasy series of all time. It is literally one of the foundational pieces of the genre. One can easily make the argument that without The Sword of Shannara the genre would not look the same, might not exist with the size it does now. After all it was Sword that defied other publishers and their belief that fantasy beyond Tolkien just couldn’t sell.
If you would like to have your name used in a forthcoming Shannara book, Terry invites you to click HERE!
For me this is a huge deal. I love charity activity like this!
Bid often! Best of luck to you!
