Random House Direct Inc. is awaiting results of a 50,000-piece mail test to gauge interest in its second major new continuity program this year, the Official “Star Wars” Book Collection.
The firm is prepared to send out another 500,000 pieces and plans to mail a million pieces annually as it builds a database of “Star Wars” readers. The elaborate four-color mail packages cost $450 per thousand to develop and distribute and include six inserts and a brochure.
“There is a giant universe for this,” said Lisa Faith Phillips, vice president and general manager of Random House Direct. “We’re waiting and watching to see how the results come in.”
The latest “Star Wars” movie, “Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” hits theaters May 16. Action figures, posters and other collectibles based on the film came out last month, and a big promotional push is backing that merchandise.
The direct mail test dropped April 20 to individuals who had expressed an interest in science fiction and “Star Wars” books at the Random House Web sites and to a segment of the “Star Wars” fans list. Linda Huntoon of Direct Media Inc., Greenwich, CT, brokered the files.
The mailing was accompanied by an e-mail blast to 5,000. The publisher has access to the universe of about 1 million registered users at the official “Star Wars” Web site (www.starwars.com) for its advertising. However, LucasBooks, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd., producer of the “Star Wars” movies, conducts the e-mail transmissions, keeping its names close to the vest. A second blast is planned to 100,000.
“This is the first time our division has conducted simultaneous direct mail and online campaigns for the launch of a new continuity,” said Vladimir Damian, marking manager of continuity programs for Random House Direct. “That should significantly expand visibility and hopefully start word of mouth among the hard-core “Star Wars” fans, which we believe are in the range of 45 million in the U.S. alone.”
Random House Direct plans a small amount of advertising in fan magazines and banners at affinity Web sites. It set up a dedicated site for the program last month at www.starwars.randomhousedirect.com.
There are 80 books in print in the “Star Wars” series — with more planned — from two publishers that have had success on their own. LucasBooks helped define the optimal reading order as well as selected groupings for the continuity program. This marks the first time in the 27-year publishing history of the titles that the entire saga has been collected in one place.
The program kicks off with an offer for “Heir to the Empire” by Hugo Award action-science fiction winner Timothy Zahn. The hardcover edition can be previewed for 30 days by returning an enclosed certificate in a postpaid reply envelope. Readers can keep the book for $4.95. Subscribers receive books at set intervals for $18.95 each.
Offers include free gifts — like The Galactic Starchart and “Star Wars” bookmarks — as well as signed limited editions by Zahn as incentives for the first 25 or 100 recipients in selected mailings. New York-based Pinpoint Design created the direct mail pieces and is working on expanding the dedicated Web site.
The books are bound in simulated lizard skin. A complete set has a uniform appearance on a bookshelf with each of six series distinguishable by a specific color. The series are based around universes, planetary groupings and key characters. It took some work to get the books in uniform formats since many were first printed as mass-market paperbacks, Phillips said.
The first “Star Wars” book appeared in bookstores in 1976 with not much excitement and modest sales. The motion picture based on the book catapulted the science fiction heroes into superstardom.
In its other major book continuity initiative this year, Random House Direct rolled out a children’s mystery series, The A to Z Mysteries.
The books come from the publisher’s library of stories targeting 7- to 9-year-olds.
After successful tests, the program will begin this month with two annual mailings of 300,000 pieces each: one in May prior to the summer reading period and another in September as children head back to school.
The offer letter, addressed to parents, asks: “Are you the parent of a budding detective?” Titles like “The Absent Author” and “The Bald Bandit” can be previewed for 15 days and then purchased for $1.99 each. A magnifying glass and clue map are incentives to sign on. Two free bookmarks are attached to the offer card.
Young readers who join the Secret Sleuth Society sign on to receive a new book every four to six weeks and pay $3.19 to keep them.
The two programs join others at Random House Direct such as Gourmet and Bon Appetit (negative option two-book-a-year programs), the Louis L’Amour series of 120 novels that started in 1981, and children’s program Saddle Club.
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