I want to create a ghost story blog site for my recently-published novel Dredging the Choptank in which the protagonist is overwhelmed by a river spirit. Ghost stories are powerful folklore and America likes being scared. But people are hesitant to admit their spiritual experiences, so I’d like to reward bloggers with some sort of positive reinforcement, encouraging more posting. I’d like to know how to send an email to a blogger automatically when they post a story. Can I capture their email addresses?
I’m not decided what I might send them but here are some ideas:
• A certificate might be lame: congratulations! You are perpetrating folklore!
• I’m going to ask my pagan friend if she can give me tips on dealing with a spectral presence in the house. I know some but I wonder if Korinne could somehow get looped into responding to the bloggers. How could I send some to her email?
• A coupon for a discounted Dredging at the Red Canoe: they sell my book on commission and I can ask Nicole if they’d honor that.
• Some ghost image: I’m considering creating some sort of sketched ghost icon for the blog, a mascot as it were, but that might be too silly. Or I look for an archetypal image that doesn’t have copyright restrictions.
• A clue: maybe bloggers receive an emailed clue to a game or scavenger hunt at some haunted spot. Do I really want to hide stuff in Greenmont Cemetery?
• An improvisation yes/and game: what if one blogger starts the ghost story and others finish it?
Could my ghost story postings have hyperlinks to different endings?
The blog would have links to:
• My website that is in development now (and I should find out how to update it),
• The book trailer that I’m about to upload onto YouTube,
• My publisher Apprentice House,
• Maryland Spiritual Association maybe: I need to talk to their president.
And I need to learn how to decorate the blog with prettier layout and creepier fonts.
I would definitely be interested in the final project! You have the whole page visualized.
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