Not The Usual Book Tour

To generate buzz for a new book release, publishers have been known to send the author out on tour, to meet and greet the readers while signing paid copies of print editions.

So how does Houghton Mifflin Harcourt promote a new edition when there is no single author?

The publisher is set to release the latest edition of their American Heritage dictionary, and it doesn't come cheap. At $60, it's more like a long-term investment. But does anyone really need a physical dictionary these days?

You sit down to write an essay and you've got a dictionary within Word. If you set up the program the right way, you'll have your spelling checked as you go along.

HMH is using marketing to get around the way things are getting done. They are going to convince the reading public that they need a dictionary, and they'll do all that with a virtual book tour without a living author.

You can follow the dictionary on Twitter, just like you might follow an author. It will share new words with you. Look, you can expand your vocabulary! You don't need Bill O'Reilly's word of the day after all.

There is a website filled with interactive activities that make words so much more interesting than you might ever have imagined. A word cloud! Let's try it!

The bottom line on the campaign is aimed at households with children. Those who are learning how to read are also building a vocabulary of new words. "Look it up in the dictionary" is an oft-heard phrase when the kiddies run across a word they've never heard before. Armed with a good dictionary, they'll learn the many meanings and even a bit of the nuance that goes along with communication.

For Mom and Dad or their high school-aged offspring, there is an online edition that they can access for free if they've bought the $60 version, or anyone can buy access for around $25. It's the reality of the marketplace these days. Print and digital are both in demand.

We still need dictionaries full of words both common and obscure. It's expensive to compile and verify all those words. HMH is turning to some heavy-duty marketing to get that point across so that they can recoup their investment in the new edition of the American Heritage dictionary.

Notice how it's coming out just in time for holiday gift giving?