Ernest Cline to Give Away a DeLorean

By Jason Boog 

Novelist Ernest Cline has created a unique strategy to encourage readers to buy a print copy of his book, Ready Player One. Cline outlined his new contest in a video message to readers (embedded above).

Both the paperback and hardcover edition of the book contain a secret web address hidden in the text–an “Easter egg” that will lead readers into an online quest. The first reader to find the hidden address and solve the online challenges will win a major prize.

Here’s more about the contest: “If readers can find this hidden clue, it will lead them to the first of three increasingly difficult video game challenges. The first video game challenge is an Atari 2600 game that contains another Easter Egg that will lead you to the Second Challenge. Completing the Second Challenge will lead you to the Third and Final Challenge. The first person to complete all three of these challenges will win the grand prize, a 1981 DeLorean automobile, complete with a Flux Capacitor!”