My Big Bad Wolf
Book Design, Publishing & Marketing
Dadalectic
Original writing and art were crafted into a dreamy book while publishing, distribution and marketing placed books into the hands of readers—garnering engagement and reviews.
Project
Overview
Internal Client
The Girl Mirage
A Geena Media brand, The Girl Mirage is Geena Matuson as multidisciplinary artist using the surreal to explore the ephemeral and shine a light on societal perceptions. Stylistically, her work plays with language and patterns, cognitive dissonance and ephemerality, often using the medium itself as a means to communicate a message.
As with her multimedia work, her two-dimensional art is characterized by a variety of colors, textures and shapes to create contrast and balance. While she employs one medium in a variety of ways, her work is often a mix of media including physical paint, pencils and pen; and photography, digital design, collage and layering.
Challenge
Turn Content into Product & Garner Engagement
With a selection of surreal poetry, or "poetic stories," and several series of digital artworks at the ready, Geena wanted to create a cohesive collection uniting the two mediums. This collection would showcase the unique style of The Girl Mirage while paying homage to dadaism, and form an overarching narrative.
Solution
Strategic Book Design, Publishing & Marketing
Book editorial design, printing and publishing were needed to turn this content into a cohesive product and bring it to market. The 18 works formed a collection of Geena's original poetry for which 9 digital artworks were formatted to highlight the poetry's structural significance. The content was then strategically positioned to tell an overarching story; while each poem tells its own tale, each work transitions into the next to tell a holistic narrative, forming the book Dadalectic: Waking Dream.
The book was printed, published with an original imprint, and entered into the GRN ("Global Retail Network") for distribution. Marketing and an advertising awareness campaign were designed to target brand audience and move the book from online product listing into the hands of readers—garnering engagement and reviews.
Results
Ad Yields 61% Engagement
The 36-page, full-color book titled Dadalectic: Waking Dream was completed, printed, published and distributed through GRN — and in less than 1 month, multiple sales and 5-star reviews were received on the book's Amazon product page. In just 2 weeks with a $50 spend, the Facebook video awareness campaign reached 7,030 people with 61% engagement. Additional press outreach led to a book reading and signing at local library, with the book placed on shelves at multiple libraries.
Dadalectic: Waking Dream
A surreal, dadaist collection of poetic stories and dreamy artworks play with pattern and perception in Dadalectic, first book by Geena Matuson as The Girl Mirage. This aptly subtitled "waking dream" will take you into hypnagogia, a state of half-consciousness between wake and sleep...
Specifications
Book Design, Publishing & Marketing
Content Creation
Created original written content and digital art composed of photography and digitized painting, formatted for 36-page print book.
Product Development
Strategy and research for product, print, publishing, distribution and marketing based on brand audience targeting; defined book product specifications.
Editorial Design
36-page book designed with Adobe InDesign for use with Blurb Books full-color, hardcover printing with respect to both text and images.
Publishing & Distribution
Registered publishing imprint; purchased ISBNs with agency Bowker; generated distribution through GRN; placed book on library shelves throughout county.
Marketing
Created all content, designs and materials for marketing across print, audio/video, web and social media; wrote all copy for book interior, author biography, product listings. PR work led to book reading and signing. In less than 1 month, multiple sales and 5-star reviews received on book's Amazon product page.
Video Advertising
Created 1-minute advertisement video with original audio using Adobe products; generated video caption file for accessibility. Launched and managed Facebook awareness campaign; with $50 spend over 2 weeks, campaign reached 7,030 people with 61% video engagement.
Portfolio
Visual Samples
Content & Design
18 original written works strategically chosen and organized to tell an overarching narrative and paired with 9 full-color artworks for a 36-page, full-color book design.
Excerpt
Behind the Title
“I chose the title ‘Dadalectic’ with subtitle ‘waking dream’ as I was both awake and asleep, a state of half-consciousness termed ‘hypnagogia’ in which your mind may sleep but your imagination is not at rest.
“In this state, you are left with meaningful meaninglessness, a testament to dadaism,” the author states in the book’s introduction, pairing ‘dada’ with ‘dialectic.’
Some of these stream-of-consciousness pieces relate to real events — like the time she was strangled by a boa constrictor at the science museum — while some relate to those visions we all have just as we’re drifting to sleep…”
Publishing & Distribution
Registered publishing imprint, ISBNs and generated distribution through GRN, Amazon.com, and on shelves at local libraries. In less than 1 month, multiple sales and 5-star reviews were received on book’s Amazon product page.
Advertising Campaign
Video created and used for awareness advertising campaign launched and managed with Facebook; campaign reached 7,030 people with 61% video engagement.
Play Video
Reader
Review
I can revisit whenever I want to feel like I can do anything...
An astral projection is a term used to describe an out-of-body experience where the soul, or consciousness, of a person travels outside of their body. For a long time I have read and heard about such experiences. I have craved to leave the illusion of the physical world and join the rest of the spiritual realm. Recently, thanks to Geena Matuson, my wish was granted. “Dadalectic: Waking Dream” took me to places it never occurred to me imagined existed. When I started the first story, “A False Freedom”, my soul left my body and Geena’s words guided my once bound consciousness on an adventure of romance, a near-death experience, feelings of insignificance and infinity. Geena’s words paint a life of endless possibilities and extraordinary beauty. When I finished the last story, “My, How We Burn”, my soul returned to my body and I found another meaning for “False Freedom”.
As free as I felt while reading Geena’s stories, it had to come to an end. Luckily, Geena has published these works and I can revisit them whenever I want to feel like I can do anything, in a dream where I never want to wake up.
— Heather Haskins, Reader
Event
Book Reading & Signing
PR work led to a book reading and signing, with books placed on library shelves across the county.
Dadalectic: Waking Dream
A strange, surreal and seemingly nonsensical collection of poetic stories and dreamy artworks play with pattern and perception in Geena Matuson's first book as artist The Girl Mirage. This aptly subtitled “waking dream” will take you into hypnagogia, a state of half-consciousness between wake and sleep.
Project
Brands
The Girl Mirage
A Geena Media brand, The Girl Mirage is Geena Matuson as multidisciplinary artist using the surreal to explore the ephemeral and shine a light on societal perceptions.
Geena Media Studios
A Geena Media division, Geena Media Studios produces and manages all film, video and audio productions including scripting, pre-production through to post-production, publishing and distribution.
The Content Consultant
A Geena Media brand, The Content Consultant is Geena Matuson as strategic management, marketing and creative consultant for your content, your brand—you.
See More
