Mysterious Emails
Here’s a suggestion for your next book group: an email mystery called “Daughters of Freya.” What’s an email mystery you ask? It’s a story told through a series of emails from different characters sent to your inbox, “as if the characters copied you on the emails they are sending each other.” You receive a four to five a day over a three week period, leaving you unable to skip ahead to find out what happens. There are also links to newspaper and magazine articles, detective reports, photographs and other items that contain clues to the mystery. Intrigued? Not yet? The story synopsis might reel you in.
“An email from a desperate friend sends journalist Samantha Dempsey to Marin County north of San Francisco to investigate The Daughters of Freya, a cult that believes sex is the solution to the world’s problems. But she soon finds out there is more to the cult than meets the eye.”
I have to say that although the plot and concept do sound interesting, I was skeptical that anyone could get into this type of literature. But, as Jessica from her beansandorange blog points out:
“I am the LAST person who would like this. I read in bed… so why the hell would Iwant to sit in front of a computer (where I already live 40 hours out of the week) and read…for fun?! Well. Because it’s easy. And interesting. It’s the lazy person’s solution to book club. The emails are relatively short, and you read them as they come, which is basically every time Icheck email, which is basically all the time.”
Lazy? Check email all the time? Sounds like it’s perfect for me (and most of the people I know). And, at $4.99 you’re spending about the same as a used paperback.
Nathan from PixelThoughts thinks the idea is “just damn good,” and sees an untapped marketing potential in the concept:
“Not only is it a slightly new take on ‘the story’, which taps into modern methods of distribution, but it’s voyeuristic heaven, and has an opportunity to bring the reader even closer to the action. Why not take it a step further and personalise some of the content using the recipients name? How will marketers use it? Could the two characters from your latest advertising piece start CCing people into their story?”
I did sign up for the first three free installments and can definitely see getting sucked into it. I plan to bring it up to my book group and see what they say.
