Book 1 Project

Lisbeth Salander’s Style

Lisbeth Salander’s clothing and over all style would be a good way to promote the novel and Lisbeth’s character. The items and clothing that could be promoted would be: her trademark leather jacket, ironic tee shirts with sayings such as “I AM ALSO AN ALIEN”, heavy punk Doc Marten boots, and temporary tattoos of a dragon or wasp. There are many descriptions of Lisbeth’s style in the novel, one being “She had on a black skirt that was frayed at the hem, worn-out black, mid –length leather jacket, rivet belt, heavy Doc Marten boots, and horizontally striped, green and red knee socks” (Larsson p. 48).

I feel that this idea would market well to fans of the novel, especially fans of the character Lisbeth. Along with the film about to be released, I think Salander’s apparel and temporary tattoos would market well, because of the collectability of the items and clothing, and because many people like Lisbeth and her relatively unconventional fashion. Many fans would also feel like they are a part of the world or culture that Lisbeth is a part of, and will have a way of relating to the character by having real tangible representations of her. Salander’s fashion could also be picked up by designer stores such as American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Forever Twenty One, and others, to help promote the clothing, which would greatly help market the character, perhaps turning people to start reading the novel.

An example of Salander's Wasp tattoo

 

Collectible Millennium Magazine

 In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, one of the lead protagonists is a journalist and co-owner of a political magazine called Millennium. I think that producing a limited amount of collectible Millennium magazines would be a really cool way to promote the Stieg Larsson series.

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Blomkvist’s magazine Millennium is important to the characters because Millennium’s reputation was tarnished after Blomkvist committed libel. In order to save Millennium’s reputation, Blomkvist agrees to solve Vanger’s murder, so that Vanger can help prove Mikael Blomkvist’s innocence and Millennium’s credibility. The magazine is a target of Wennerstrom, the man who was a victim of Blomkvist’s libel, and the novel says that “Wennerstrom isn’t going to fall for it. He’s going to keep on destroying Millennium” (Larsson p. 124). It’s obvious that Millennium magazine is central to the novel’s plot, so the magazine would be very marketable.

This would be an excellent way to market the series, one reason is because of the fact that the magazine supply would be limited, and therefore could be considered collectible. The collectible magazine would contain actual articles about the events pertaining to the novel. Perhaps there could be an article about the controversies of the Vanger family, or about the Wennerstrom Corporation’s illegal and criminal activities, and maybe just random articles about the culture and life of Sweden and its politics. All the articles could say that they were “written” by Mikael Blomkvist himself. For even more authenticity and relevance to the novel, there could be Vanger Corporation ads (and only Vanger ads because Millennium lost all of its advertisers) that help fund the magazine. The goal of the collectible Millennium magazine would be to make its owners and readers have what seems like an actual artifact from the novel, as if they were reading the events and were actually apart of the culture and world of the Millennium Series. The magazine’s collectability and limited production could make many fans of the novel try to get their own copy of a real Millennium magazine.

 

Viral Campaign

 “You’ve been inside my computer. You’re a hacker” (Larsson p. 343). That was when Blomkvist confronted Lisbeth Salander about her being a very skilled computer hacker in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The underground world of computer hacking is an important element to Lisbeth’s persona and the plot of the story. One way to market the novel would be to do a viral campaign, relating the Lisbeth’s computer hacking world. Similar to the Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight’s viral campaign, there would be a series of web quests, scavenger hunts in selected cities, and codes and passwords, along with collectible mail items sent to those who “crack” the codes of the website that the viral campaign takes place on. The campaign could have passwords and puzzles to solve, similar to hacking, like Lisbeth Slander does. There could be a map of the participants selected city, giving clues to a scavenger hunt, which reveal facts and secrets about the plot of the novel. The winners of the scavenger hunts and code cracking could be mailed collectible items from the novel (like a Millennium magazine!) or tickets to the film or even a free copy of the Dragon Tattoo novel.

Lisbeth Salander is a very popular character because of her mysteriousness and the fact that she is a computer hacker. Fans of her character and those who are interested in her hacking skills and the underground culture that she is a part of would be very interested in the viral campaign. The fact that people can find out secrets about the plot or win collectable Dragon Tattoo items would also draw people to the viral campaign and eventually the novel.

Fer Dennings Sake, Whut is a Book?

A book is another name for a story.

Right now, that's all a "book" is for me. I don't think that the physical way that a story is presented determines whether its a book. When I look at the book vs. ebook debate, I really just see a debate over conveniences vs. inconveniences, and preferences vs. other preferences. Some people don't want to have to go to a library or a bookstore, so they would prefer to have a library in their hands, an ebook. And some, would rather hold a book, and be able to turn to any page they want, and have that more personal and physical feeling of reading a book. Even though an ebook isn't physical a book, it's still a book. It contains a story, just like a book. The difference to me is that some would prefer to read a story in a different way.

Like Joe Meno said, it doesn't matter which form the book takes on, it's always a book.

As I see that there really is no difference between the two, I would still somewhat prefer a physical book over an ebook. Like I said, it's really a battle of preferences and conveniences and inconveniences. I have to use an ebook for English because I couldn't find a copy of Brave New World. So I used my sister's ebook. I really don't like it, at least for school. It's slow, the "page" numbers are different, and I wish I could just flip to any page I wanted to, rather than having to press a button, at home it's not so terrible, I have an entire library in my hands, which is cool, but I would still prefer to have a physical book. Being the visual person that I am, I love the cover art on a physical book. While not all are great, most are beautiful, and make a bookshelf look cool and colorful. I also feel like a physical book is more personal. It may be mass produced, just like an ebook, but a physical book just seems more personal. They feel more real and human, and honestly, I find myself more protective over a physical book than I do an ebook. Physical books are always things that were passed down and kept, while an ebook has books that you rent, so it doesn't seem that important. You have to go out and make an effort to get the book, you have to really want it. With the ebook, you get things with the touch of a button. Like the internet, it all seems to be quick fix, and not as rewarding.

I refuse to panic, and I don't think that people should panic about the "future of books". I think that people are blowing the whole issue out of proportion. No matter what form a book takes, I think that reading will live on. What we really should be worrying about is if people stop writing. That would be bad.

Y I Reed.

I read because there are so many books that have had an impact on culture and society. When I read these impactful and important books, I feel as if I'm apart of this culture and I feel like I have a greater knowledge of history and context of the time that the book was written, along with context of culture itself. Novels such as Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird were all novels that I loved because of the impact that they had on society. When I completed reading each of those novels, I had a reassuring feeling that I was a member of humanity and that I was apart of its culture. It's a rad feeling, because I don't think we realize it, that were all members of this, and books are one of many things that remind me of this.

I love interpreting and relating to characters when I read as well. Great Gatsby was such an incredible book to me, because it was full of so much content and symbolism, especially for a relativley short novel. The symbolism of East and West Egg, the vivid discriptions and hidden meanings found in every color that Fitzgerald uses all meant so much to me in a weird way. I loved just reading over and over again and dissecting the symbolism that he provides. The characters felt so strangley relateable: Gatsby and the way Fitzgerald used him to depict the strong and passionate yearning for something, the longing for the "green light", Nick and isolation and alienation, with a pure desire to find and know people to simply connect with. I loved it all, and I probably wouldn't be reading as much had I not read Great Gatsby. When I read, honestly just love the accomplished feeling of finishing and understanding something, and having a connection with someone elses thoughts.