The Obsidian Lesson: What Jennifer Armentrout Taught Me.

{Disclaimer: Alicia and I don't know and have never met Jennifer Armentrout. We also have no connection to Entangled Publishing. We were not asked to do a blog on this. I'm just obsessed with Obsidian's marketing.}

Look at these covers:

If YOU haven't seen those covers this summer, then you don't frequent popular Book Blogs, Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.

Everywhere I looked this hot couple was there!


Many readers and bloggers used the cover as profile pictures on their social media sites. Some people just took pictures of holding the book. Others did listopias of the cover models! Check this out!

 (FYI, not only are these two cover models gorgeous but they have the nerve to be happily engaged! As if being so freaking hot wasn't enough!)

Anyway back to the insane exposure of Obsidian! I mean seriously. The covers were everywhere. One week I literally counted how many times I saw the cover. . . 47.5 times.


Why the half?
Because I'm not sure if it was even an Obsidian cover, but it was definitely the hot guy!


So, why am I talking about this?


Because Holy Shit! That's awesome! How did Jennifer Armentrout or her publishing company Entangled, gather so much exposure for this series? How can I learn from them?

I came up with Conspiracy Theories:

CONSPIRACY THEORY #1

Maybe Entangled paid thousands of bloggers to make the book their profile. . .some sort of GENIUS VIRAL MARKETING PLAN! Maybe they even secretly contacted thousands of these bloggers and offered $100 or more to pretty much flood the Internet with these book cover images.


FAIL!
But then I did the math and threw that theory in the trash. I mean wouldn't that cost so much money for the company that they wouldn't make a profit off her books?


CONSPIRACY THEORY #2

These aren't real people! Jennifer Armentrout created thousands of facebook, twitter, and goodreads accounts. She made her covers the profile picture. She sat there updating these accounts all summer, never sleeping, constantly drinking Red Bull and Venti Blonde Roasts from Starbucks!

FAIL!
That's just a stupid theory.

*Sigh

So last week I did what many readers did this summer, I bought Obsidian! I had to see what all of the fuss was about.


What did I think of Obsidian?

Great writing? -->Check!
Captured my attention? --> Check!
Well developed characters? --> Check!

. . .but before you say, "Okay, Kenya. Get Armentrout's vagina out of your mouth! Stop sucking up!"

Sadly, I ended up not finishing the book. It just reminded me of Twilight. It was by no means Twilight. There were obvious differences, but for me it was reminiscent of my favorite series (Team Jacob, btw).


So I had to go right back to the drawing board to figure out, Why is this book everywhere? 

So I did what any normal, healthy-minded person would do. . .

I online stalked Jennifer Armentrout!!

I'm talking google alerts, reading her blog, checking out her interviews, sneaking into her home and smelling the underwear in her drawer than jumping under the bed when she comes home too early. . . . . 





Anyway, I may not love Obsidian, but I definitely have some sort of weird female-crush on Armentrout. I even plan on reading her other series

And that's when it HIT ME! All the answers swarmed to my head. All of the mysteries of the Obsidian marketing campaign just flew to me.

NOW I KNOW WHY THIS BOOK IS SUCCESSFUL!

And we can all learn from Jennifer on how to have a successful book too!

Here it is the secret to her success! (BHAHAHAHAHAHA)

• Its a good book!

Yep.
Sadly, there just isn't any cutting corners on that part. The cover provides a captivating and eye-catching image. Everything from her narrative voice to grammar is outstanding. There aren't any grammatical errors, plot holes, switching of genre in the middle of the book, info dumps, etc.

• She doesn't shit on her readers!

Yep, again.
Apparently, not cursing out people who dislike her book has worked out for Jennifer. And there are definitely people who have considered the Lux series to be similar to the Twilight series.

Did she immediately tell the bad reviewers how wrong they were? Did she provide them with a comparative essay titled "You are a Moron Reviewer, My Book is so Different from Twilight, Cockburger!" Nope. She just continued to write more books and blog posts.

She didn't even post diagrams or charts or. . . dare I say begin a movement to take down the violent GR reviewer system.

Nope. All of Armentrout's shitting is in her bathroom (and its a lovely bathroom too. . .).

• Her Blog and Website is BANGING!! (Banging means Good in old 1995's talk)

The website doesn't take a hundred years to load up. The site doesn't say, "Buy My Book! Buy Me! Buy Me!"

It says, "Come! Join the experience. Here's a glass of tea. The cookies are in the corner. The bathroom is down the hall. Browse around and make yourself at home."

She provides great information that truly lures you in:

 Meet Pepe and Sztella

Behind the Scenes Footage

Sneak Peek of Laptop Scene

• COOL Personality.

Check out one of the questions in her FAQ section:

FAQ Question: Do you think I'm cool?

Her Answer: I think you rock, home skillet. 

• Entangled is a BAD ASS publishing company!! (Bad Ass means Awesome!)

On this page, the company breaks down what they give authors. These are the cool things that caught my eye.

A dedicated promo budget and publicist assigned to every book, who will create a personalized marketing plan as well as manage the details of putting all of the pieces together. We don’t just point you toward promotion opportunities, we create them.

Lots of publishing companies say things like this. . .but with the exposure that Obsidian has received, I believe that Entangled is actually telling the truth! Bravo!





So? What have we learned today, besides the fact that I may need some sort of counseling in stalking?




Answer: In order to be a successful writer you need a good book, not to harass your reviewers, awesome online presence, a rocking publishing company, AND a Hot, Sexy couple from Hungary that doesn't mind posing for your book series.

Check Out The Awesome Book Trailer!