ROCKETS' RED GLARE
MARKETING STRATEGY AND CONSULTING
330 million people visited America's National Parks last year.
What would make that number zero?
When an ex-Clinton staffer watched a
plane hit the Pentagon in real time, the
experience simmered alongside his summers
immersed in backcountry Wyoming—
and years of tense conversations coordinating
the President's schedule with Secret Service
officials. What would be the 9/11 of
America's wide open spaces?
The first book in his Sage Mendiluze series,
Rockets' Red Glare, released in Spring 2025
from Blackstone Publishing.
(That's what we call the inciting incident.)
GOALS
Prove reader interest to secure book no. 2.
Get paperback release stocked in airports.
Build small group and book club interest to
engage word-of-mouth flywheel, especially
in regions connected to the plot.
OBSTACLES
While the publisher recommended avoiding
political alignment, Rockets’ Red Glare came out
in Spring 2025 when National Park budgets and
federal land protections were suddenly slashed,
furloughing rangers and other workers.
Although personally frustrating to the author (and to
me) to resist capitalizing on newsy tie-ins and his related
expertise within the media push, the context informed
our small group interest strategy and the author's emphasis
on public service: messaging that boosted event attendance,
book club inquiries, and the holistic brand awareness
that secured in-house support for book no. 2.
Operationally, I brainstormed and outlined a win-win
partnership program; for any paid opportunities like UGC
or social promotion, we'd leverage laid-off park workers
instead of traditional book reviewers and nanoinfluencers.
According to market research, most titles only breach
containment when the "non-readers" pick them up anyway.
