Soulless Tea

I have written in the past that I am impressed not only with the novels from the author who writes as Gail Carriger, but with her marketing savvy. Ms. Carriger has not only created a series of witty, entertaining steampunk fantasy books, the Parasol Protectorate (with "soulless" protagonist Alexia Tarabotti), but she has created an entire persona to go with it -- tea and fashion maven Carriger -- and works tirelessly to present that persona via blog, Twitter, and personal appearances.

Her efforts have paid off: In an era in which print sales of books are ebbing, the second and third books in her Parasol Protectorate series landed on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2010 -- quite a feat, especially when one considers they were her second and third novels ever published.

Last week, Amy and I had the pleasure of taking part in one of the events designed to promote Ms. Carriger's books: a tea held at a nice tea/rose house in Old Town Pasadena. The event sold out, and the rather small space was jammed with elegant outfits as folks sipped tea and nibbled on scones and finger sandwiches. Ms. Carriger made sure everyone at the tea had a chance to talk with her: She went table to table as people ate, and later set up a signing table in the middle of the room. In between, she read from the manuscript of the fourth book in the series, HEARTLESS (which comes out in July), and answered questions. If only all promotional events were this much fun.

(The photo of me is from Pixy Vision Productions, the official photographer for the event. All other photos are by me.)

Identity-Less

I've been enjoying Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series of steampunk novels quite a bit. I've read the first two entries in the series (SOULLESS, released in 2009, and CHANGELESS, released in 2010) and have the latest, BLAMELESS, sitting on my Nook ready to read. The books take the approach (interesting if done right) of analyzing a fantasy conceit through the science fiction lens, and conveying it all in a tongue in cheek, hyper-Jane-Austin style that is a lot of fun to read. So much so that I don't even mind that it incorporates one of the current fantasy cliches, vampires vs. werewolves (although here, the conflict is more in manners than in tooth vs. claw combat).

So I found the interview with "Ms. Carriger" in the current Locus magazine interesting. Not only did the author create Gail Carriger as a pseudonym (due to her involvement in academia when formulating the series), but she has created an entire persona around the nom de plume. When she makes appearances as Carriger, she dresses in more vintage clothes, and adopts a more Anglicized and mannered conversational style than normal. Her stated goal is to create Gail Carriger as a brand. And it is working. CHANGELESS debuted on the NY Times bestseller list, as did BLAMELESS last month.

It's no secret that an author's public persona can be an effective marketing tool, particularly when the author is an entertaining bon vivant or a fun curmudgeon. To what extent can a persona be created as an advertising tool -- particularly where, as here, the author's true identity and the persona's creation are open "secrets?"