The Brief
Midas was approached by independent publisher, Union Square & Co, to generate online buzz for Eisner Award–winning animation director, comic-book artist and TV writer Hamish Steele’s DeadEndia series.
Midas launched DeadEndia as an exciting diverse YA graphic novel series, which was the inspiration for a Netflix series, by securing targeted reviews and generating buzz on BookTok.
Steele’s richly imagined world is known for its relatable and diverse action-packed adventures, presented in their signature style. His DeadEndia webcomic was adapted into a graphic novel by Nobrow in 2018, and into the Netflix fantasy horror animation, Dead End: Paranormal Park, showrun by Hamish in 2022. Following the cancellation of the Netflix show, to the disappointment of audiences worldwide, fans of DeadEndia could now enjoy the updated journey of their favourite characters in the new graphic novels this Pride Month.
The Work
Preparation for this campaign involved researching the influencers best placed to promote the themes of LGBTQ+ experiences, found family, neurodivergence, positive representation and belonging. To make the content relatable and ensure it reaches the right audience, it was also vital to take into consideration the intersectionality underlining the story in the form of leading queer, religiously diverse and neurodivergent POC.
Midas approached key influencers who promote inclusivity and the importance of diversifying one’s bookshelves on Instagram and TikTok offering them copies of the graphic novel to drive reviews on their socials.
The Results
Our ongoing campaign secured 16 influencers (to date) with a potential reach of over 486K, with content creators such as whatbritreads, bex.reads, mydarkgrace, caitlinreadsbooks, eva.readstoomuch, proudgeekstore, cameronreads, jams_reads, billreads and all.books.and.some.tea all sharing positive reviews of the novel.
https://www.tiktok.com/@whatbritreads/video/7248351283311168794?lang=en
@eva.readstoomuch GUYS GUYS GUYS AHH IM FREAKING OUT go read it rn #deadendia #deadendparanormalpark #hamishsteele #booktok #BookWorm #reader #booksideoftiktok #bookrecs #romancebooks #bookshelf #graphicnovelrecs #graphicnovels #graphicnovel #graphicnovelsrec #graphicnovelsrecs #graphicnovelrec #englishliterature #goodreads #booktiktok #underratedbookrecs #englishalevel #BookTokUK #chaoticreadwithme #booktokcommunity #BookLovers #comicbook #comicbookrecs #comicbookrec #comicbooksrec #comicbooksrecs #chaoticbookrecs #BookTokBooks #ineedabookcart #thestackjustkeepsgrowing #xoxo #RomanceNovels #horrorbooks
https://www.tiktok.com/@bex.reads/video/7246432565308165402?_r=1&_t=8c0wrdpkMRP