Publishing promo: London Bridge in America

1 Sept

Back in 2014, I was intrigued by the idea of creating audio/podcast style content to help promote book releases. It struck me that there must be other ways to bring new titles to life, particularly non-fiction. Today, authors just lurk outside podcast studios with a ‘pick me’ look in their eyes, but in 2013 podcasting was a much smaller and less commercially relevant. I’m not really an entrepreneur, and the idea came and went. But I’m still convinced audio remains a brilliantly low-cost way to create imaginative marketing content.

With his next title, ‘London Bridge in America’ (Jonathan Cape), about to be published, my good friend Travis Elborough was up for a bit of an experiment. The book tells the colourful story of how the old London Bridge ended up relocated upon an artificial lake in Arizona – another example of Travis’ knack for exploring the wider and stranger dimensions of cultural and political history.

It struck me that the pivotal moment in the book was the meeting where the idea of flogging the bridge to the Americans was first floated. So, together, we developed a mini radio play, featuring period music and radio-style introduction to the book.

Listen below

Our cast: Julius Beltrame, Leo Chadburn, Nick Faber and myself. Travis introduces the book.