Orion is running the first ever publisher promotion with music-based social networking site Last.fm as part of its year-long campaign for Ian Rankin‘s final Inspector Rebus novel, reports the Bookseller’s Alison Flood. Orion’s promotion, which begins on August 16th, will see a dedicated area of the site host exclusive Rankin/Rebus top 20 playlists, with a Rankin essay on music, an author video, audio extract and cover image of the as yet untitled book. Banners and ads will drive users to the Rebus area; the page will click through to Amazon for pre-ordering of the novel, which will be published in the UK on September 6th.
“I really wanted to focus on the music aspect of the books as this potentially will be Rebus’ swansong, and I think that there are so many opportunities now to exploit the specific cultural and musical crossovers that are important to Ian’s writing,” said senior marketing manager Claire Brett. “Working with Last.fm will enable us to invert this relationship – we’ll introduce new fans to the books via the music.”