HarperFiction travels the UK with ‘experimental’ marketing for upcoming thriller Anna O 

HarperFiction ramped up its campaign activity for Matthew Blake’s upcoming novel Anna O, with a global bookshop day. 

The HarperFiction team visited 35 bookshops across 15 cities in the UK yesterday (11th January) dropping off coffee bags to “wake up” booksellers as well as showcasing the collector’s edition of Anna O, which is also available across the first print run. 

The thriller follows a young woman who commits murder while asleep. It will be published on 1st February in the UK.  

The team also asked booksellers to vote on whether they thought the titular Anna O should be found guilty or not, encouraging an interactive approach to their marketing. The cities visited included: Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, Bath, Bristol and more.  

HarperFiction plans to continue the campaign with an experimental stunt on publication day where Anna O newspapers will be handed out alongside free coffee at key London stations. It has also created a podcast mini-series in partnership with digital marketing agency Tandem where Blake will reveal the sleep-walking cases that inspired the novel.