New promo idea now that the fall promo is over

[jdcore]

Some of you participated in the Black Friday 99c/99p short story collection I organized. At the end of that, I sent out a wrap up email in which I half-jokingly said my next promo would be two unrelated genres, but that quip got me thinking ...

There really is a lot of cross-over in genres. What if I created a website where every month there was a promo featuring two different genres. For example, if I put mystery and sci-fi together, writers might expect to find books that were strictly mystery; such as The Big Sleep, or strictly sci-fi; such as The Time Machine - but there are novels like The Demolished Man or Inferno by Dan Brown that are a little bit of both.

So I'm thinking about putting together a website featuring monthly promos that are a mixed bag. February would be Romance and Crime/Noir, July would be Western and Legal, etc.

Also, I'm thinking books could be novels, novellas, collections, anthologies, even box sets. (I'd probably let box-sets go for $1.99 though.)

Since the idea is cross promotion on cross genre books, I'm calling the site Double-Cross Lit. In the first comment below I'll post my ideas for the mash-ups and the themes. And I'm looking forward to your comments. Remember though, this is currently just an idea.

[jdcore]

February
Love and Hate
Romance and Crime/Noir
What's a noir story without a femme fetale? What's a romance novel without a bad boy? Crime and romance go together like Bonnie and Clyde. And what better month to feature tales of twisted love than February? Happy Valentine's Day.

March
Daydreams and Nightmares
Fantasy and Horror
Every monster started as somebody's fantasy. Every fantastic beast is a monster to somebody. Were Dr. Moreau and his chimeras not a fantasy tale? Was Gulliver's journey not horrifying for him at times?

April
Mirth and Mischief
Humor and Thrillers
Laughter is the release of tension. Just ask Carl Hiassen or Janet Evanovich; and within the thriller genre, it can be subtle like the movie Ocean's Eleven to broad like Rush Hour. Whichever of these genres you come looking for, you'll find it in this promo.

May
Questions and Answers
Mystery and Sci-fi
In 1953, Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man won the Hugo award in science fiction, but at it's heart it was a howcatchem mystery novel. Dan Brown's recent Inferno is a detective story about a fictional genetically modified weapon at its heart. This promo explores science and all its mysteries, as well as the science of solving mysteries.

June
Love and Death
Romance and Military/Historical
From Here to Eternity, The English Patient, Dr. Zhivago, Memoirs of a Geisha, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Gone With the Wind... Obviously love makes war tolerable, but maybe in literature, conflict makes love better?

July
Free and Just
Western and Legal
The Ox Bow Incident is clearly both a story about the law and the old west. But while every great western has a question of justice at its core, so too every great American legal thriller, starting with To Kill a Mockingbird thru Runaway Jury could be set in old Dodge City. What could be more American for Independence Day?

August
Law and Disorder
Military/Historical and Crime/Noir
Was Bogey better in Casablanca or in The Maltese Falcon? Louis L'Amour could tell the same story set in 19th century Laredo, on the SS Lichenfield or in the mean streets of modern LA. War makes criminals of us all, and every criminal syndicate needs its foot soldiers.

September
Cloaks and Daggers
Fantasy and Thrillers
George R.R. Martin writes fantastic thrillers. What did Alice have in Wonderland if not an adventure? Every epic fantasy is also an epic adventure, and every thrilling tale leads us to a world of imagination. Whether you fantasize about wizards and dragons or about spies and murder plots, you'll find your heart's desire in this promo.

October
Monsters and Madmen
Horror and Sci-fi
We all know Stephen King is the master of modern horror, but isn't Under the Dome a science fiction novel? Isn't 11/22/63 about time travel? If War of the Worlds isn't a horror story, then neither is A Quiet Place. Science and scientific exploration are all about the unknown, and what's scarier than not knowing what's going to happen next?

November
Wit and Wisdom
Humor and Legal
Who doesn't love a good lawyer joke? The law is not usually considered a funny thing, but the more serious a thing is, the more farcical it becomes; and what's more serious than jurisprudence? From The Bon Fire of the Vanities, to My Cousin Vinny, the humor in the law and its absurdities is always just under the surface.

January
Gunsmoke and Mirrors
Western and Mystery
This promotion should appeal to fans of mysteries, westerns, even police procedurals. Westerns and mysteries have gone together from the beginning with old films like Tex Ritter's The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen, to novels like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

[Maggie Ann]

Very clever, Dave. 

[The Doctor]

Sounds good!

[CoraBuhlert]

Great idea, Dave.

And since I'm very much a cross-genre writer myself, I have books that fit several of those genre combinations.

[jdcore]

I've built a starter website. It's in beta obviously.

https://doublecrosslit.weebly.com/

[Gerri Attrick]

I like this idea. Well done, JD.

 

[jdcore]

I'm building the site now, but except for a few tweaks, it's pretty much ready to go. I already created the email lists (one for readers, one for authors) and the sign-up forms for the first two promos are up and live.

Here's the link: https://doublecrosslit.weebly.com/

If everyone could check out the site, and let me know what you think, that would be great.

[Maggie Ann]

Looks pretty good.

One thing I would change is instead of having two consecutive columns (from the end of one you go to the top of the next column), I would do side by side. February next to March, April next to May, etc. It's easier left to right than having to scroll all the way back up.

I love your descriptions. However, I don't think my work would fit in any of those categories. I think my stories are too lightweight.

[jdcore]

You write mysteries, correct? Two of the promos feature mysteries. Mysteries can also sneak into the crime genre. The idea is to embrace the spectrum.

I see what you're saying about the back and forth, only that won't work for mobile.

[Maggie Ann]

You write mysteries, correct? Two of the promos feature mysteries. Mysteries can also sneak into the crime genre. The idea is to embrace the spectrum.

I see what you're saying about the back and forth, only that won't work for mobile.

I write (mostly) historical romance. I do have one mystery series. I got the impression that most of what you're looking for is on the darker side.

Dang mobiles. I always forget about them. I'm among the 1/10 of 1/10 of 1/10 of 1% who does not use their phone to access the Internet.

[jdcore]

Historical romance is historical and it's romance

[Maggie Ann]

Historical romance is historical and it's romance

Okay. Ya' got me. 

[jdcore]

Hey, everyone, I'm trying to drive traffic to the site to get signups for the first two promos. It's sort of a beta run, but really it's solid free ebook advertising just like any 99 cent promo.

So I'm looking for Facebook groups I can post about this on. Recommendations appreciated.

Also if you're established on Reddit author groups, or want to blog about it, or can think of any other way I can get the word out, please let me know.