UNIQUE FACTS ABOUT TL HINES AND WAKING LAZARUS
The novel’s opening scene was inspired by a true event from the author’s childhood: At the beginning of WAKING LAZARUS, eight-year-old Jude Allman falls through the ice and drowns. Author TL Hines drew from his own childhood to create this scene: at age five, he fell through the ice while icefishing, and was saved from drowning by his uncle. See The Inspiration for WAKING LAZARUS fact sheet in the press kit to read more about it.
Success after humble beginnings: TL Hines came from a middle-class, blue-collar background (his father was a laborer at an aluminum smelter, and his mother was a restaurant cook), and he was the first person in his family--on either side--to get a college degree. TL literally “worked” his way through college: each summer, he was a laborer at the same aluminum plant as his father, and throughout his college years, he paid for school by doing jobs such as sorting seed potatoes, trimming Christmas trees, working the graveyard shift at a convenience store, and cleaning cadaver storage rooms as a janitor.
WAKING LAZARUS was acquired through the author’s blog: The book sold after Bethany House Acqusitions Editor Dave Long discovered the author’s blog, downloaded the first chapter, and asked for the whole book. In other words, the book sold to a publisher the author had never queried--after the book had been rejected by 80+ literary agents.
Unique Grassroots Marketing through Volunteer Book Publicists: The author is aiming to build word-of-mouth for the book through Volunteer Publicists, an effort the author calls “an open source approach to the marketing and launch of a novel.” Anyone can sign up as a Volunteer Publicist at the Other Side of tlhines.com (http://www.tlhines.com/breakonthrough). Volunteer Publicists agree to help spread the word about the book in exchange for bonus content, as well as the chance to win unique prizes: an iPod Nano, 10% of the author’s first royalthy statement, or a role in the author’s next novel, coming Summer of 2007. To date, more than 100 people have signed up as Volunteer Publicists.
Faith*in*Fiction Connection: WAKING LAZARUS was acquired as part of Dave Long’s “Faith*in*Fiction” online community, which not only looks for authors in a unique new venue, but also seeks books outside the traditional CBA mold. In Dave Long’s words, Faith*in*Fiction seeks to find “voices outside the chorus, to reach the many who have tuned (Christian Fiction) out.” Find out more about the Faith*in*Fiction online community at http://faithinfiction.blogspot.com
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