Monday, December 07, 2009

What force can bend even PR reps to his will? Cthulhu!

Cover for Del Rey's Lovecraft CollectionImage via Wikipedia
As a guy who currently earns much of his living from reviewing stuff, I get blasted with a fair share of press releases most of which hold little interest to me. Thus, it makes my Monday to get a little honest PR representing rightful fear and worship of The Elder Gods, as Tor sent me today. I recount it all for your benefit below:
Hi Jay,
This December, take a break from sparkly vampires and annoying good cheer with regular stops at Tor.com, where every day we’ll be tempting the Great Old Ones to awaken for our inaugural Cthulhu-mas, a month dedicated to all things Lovecraft.
Upcoming features include posts from Weird Tales editorial director Stephen Segal, an original comic from art superteam Teetering Bulb, Cthulhu-themed gift recommendations selected by Ellen Datlow, a new short story with a Lovecraftian focus, and lots more.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the blog this month yet, here’s some of the posts you’ve missed:
*A list of H.P. Lovecraft-related titles available for 30% off all month: http://store.tor.com/
*Very special Cthulhu-mas wishes! http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58390
*Lovecraft monster drawings from Mike Mignola, Michael Whelan, John Jude Palencar, and Bob Eggleton: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58269
*The introduction of Tor.com’s exclusive line of holiday cards: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58384
*Patrick Nielsen Hayden on “H.P. Lovecraft, Founding Father of SF Fandom”: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58397
As if your sanity weren’t already pushed to the brink this December.
All best,
Ami
As I've recounted before, Tor have a strikingly good PR staff who seem to get it. Invoking Lovecraft and taking potshots at Twilight both earn points in my book, and I'm pretty much the target audience of Tor products. Plus, I just finished the milSF-Cthulhu mashup "A Colder War" from Charles Stross's Toast, so I was primed for this missive either way. Still, for those of you wondering what a targeted (and geek-friendly) press release looks like, the above is a great example. Ami, keep 'em coming!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]