Greg Fishbone and the Penguins of Doom

My friend Greg Fishbone is preparing for the publication of his first of many novels for kids, Septina Nash and the Penguins of Doom, in 2007. I read a draft of that wild and crazy book back in August 2003, and, yes, it really does take that long to get a book published.

Anyhoo, in a guerilla-marketing move, Greg created a MySpace page for the Penguins of Doom rock 'n' roll band, with a countdown clock to the publication of Septina Nash.

This is where it might get a little embarrassing. After just a few days, more than 1,250 people signed up to be listed as "Friends" of the penguins. That's about eight times the number who have signed up on Greg's own page. This is one reason I don't use MySpace; high-school-style popularity was confusing enough the first time around, before penguins started muscling in.

I also hear that there's a MySpace group devoted to writing for teens: that seems like a savvy approach to keeping in touch with your readers.