MARKETING & PROMOTION
Kill the Dove! – a tale of the revolutionary 1960s
By
Francis X. Kroncke
I. Kill the Dove!! stands alone
Kill the dove! is a tale of the tumultuous 1960’s. It stands alone—no one has written a novel that covers these religious, political, imprisoned and sexual experiences. It follows the love, betrayals, failures and triumphs of three radical anti-war and feminist activists: Jared, Aaren and Char. They share Jared’s experiences in federal prison as the impact of the Vietnam war, sexual violence, racism, sexism and the failure of traditional moral and spiritual value systems play out in their lives. It is a semi-autobiographical narrative inspired by the author’s personal experiences of the monastery, trial, prison and personal revolution.
II. Audiences
Based on the marketing and promotional plan described below, Kill the Dove! appeals to several audiences. These include:
· Baby boomers and the Flower Children of the 1960s, now aging and eager to remember the era
· The expanding segment of newly minted youthful social activists—a segment that crosses all categories from the new evangelicals to the first-time politicos energized by the election of Obama. His presidency is sourced in the Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience movements of the Sixties. For decades America has indulged in cultural amnesia and young activists know little about the Sixties. This novel is a referential work.
· Movie producers—Kill the Dove! and its source materials provide a comprehensive and inspirational resource for film producers and other creative talents (as it did for the 2008 theatrical play Peace Crimes www.minnesota8.net/peacecrimes.htm )
· Progressive political individuals and groups
· Nonprofit social justice organizations
· Religious organizations that preserve the values of the Sixties
· Higher education institutions that need a Sixties resource and classroom materials
· Those segments of the women’s and men’s movements that are developing a vision of earth-centered spirituality and a new sacred-sexuality spirituality, e.g., Margot Anand, Starhawk, David Deida, Ken Wilber, New Warrior Training of the Mankind Project, et al
· Libraries—Kill the Dove! is an original and unique novel and resource about the Sixties
III. Marketing drivers
Marketing and promotion will be driven by
1) My professional and personal marketing and promotion experience
2) The rising interest in the Sixties and social activism, as demonstrated by the recent presidential campaign
3) The negotiation of a movie deal for the book
4) Endorsements from nationally and regionally recognized political and cultural figures
5) The development of an aggressive Web-based marketing project that includes using Internet video sites, such as YouTube
6) Tapping into long-standing social, educational and politically progressive communication networks
7) The strong educational appeal of the novel and the coordinated development of collegiate classroom teaching materials
8) Workshops developed for high-interest niche markets, such as religious and politically progressive communities, organizations, and associations
9) A comprehensive media campaign that builds upon the recent promotion of the theatrical play Peace Crimes in print, radio, TV, and website channels. There is a specific campus-based promotional synergy between the novel and Peace Crimes. The docu-drama theatrical play is based upon the core materials and experiences from which Kill the Dove! is drawn. The documentary produced by a public TV station about the play, namely, Peace Crimes— Backstage is a great advance promotion video-streaming advertisement. (See www.minnesota8.net for streaming video of Backstage)
10) Linkage with progressive political and nonprofit social justice fund-raising events and established public forums, such as book clubs, poetry readings, etc., where the book will be sold and also used as a fund-raising incentive
1. Personal Marketing and Promotion Experience
My twenty-five years of sales and marketing experience includes community organizing, door- to-door selling, development of national sales teams, distributorship development, senior manager and vice president of sales and marketing for small to medium-size organizations, national launch of products and services, business development consulting services, and the promotion of a theatrical play produced, collaboratively, by a university theatre department and an Equity theatre. I’ve worked in the nonprofit, higher education, and corporate sectors. See resume in Appendix. See www.minnesota8.net and www.pwh-mn.org Resume www.minnesota8.nt/killthedove.html
2. Rising Interest in the Sixties
“Timing is everything.” Reagan numbed and dumbed down America. For decades, colleges and high school history books skimmed over the Sixties and the Vietnam era. As I witnessed during the promotion of the theatrical play Peace Crimes, which is drawn from the sources for the book, the staggering lack of knowledge about the times is greatly outmatched by an intense and fervent desire to hear about the Sixties and anti-war stories.
President Obama’ s victory is generating interest about the history of social justice and political activism in America. The foolishness about the “domestic terrorist” Weatherman Bill Ayers only underscores the need to explore and understand a historical era that is, presently, profoundly misunderstood by all educational and media vendors and services.
The continued growth of alternative media, notably Web-based news sites, and the formation of new progressive networks, such as the Network of Spiritual Progressives, provide an ever- expanding infrastructure for disseminating information about Kill the Dove! through articles, interviews, excerpts, etc.
The novel will be launched with collateral material available on a series of linked websites, such as was used to promote the play (see www.pwh-mn.org and www.minnesota8.net). This will include workshop events and materials for college classrooms.
3. Kill the Dove!!, the Movie
The Sixties. Anti-war. Religious zealotry. Free Sex. Gays and lesbians. Prison. Sex and violence. There are many themes that support a film storyline. The life and love story of Jared, Aaren and Char is headed for the big screen. Kill the Dove! combines elements of drama, action, and romance. There is a network of Hollywood star-activists who helped develop and produce the Catonsville 9 movie, about Fr. Dan Berrigan, S.J., and the first nationally famous draft board raid. George Mische, one of the Nine, will be a main driver in this regard.
Given the recent marketing of movies about the “Chicago 10” and the “Camden 28,” there is indication that mainstream entertainment producers have opened the door to stories about the Sixties and anti-war radicalism. The success of the general-release movie Across the Universe is a further sign of interest in the times.
4. Endorsements from nationally and regionally recognized political and cultural figures
The play, Peace Crimes, reawakened great interest in the novel’s background story of the Minnesota 8 and the activism of the Sixties. Several major fund-raisers were held, including one at the home of Garrison Keillor, a personal friend and primary supporter. He visited me and others of the Eight while we were in prison. Recently, he was the lead funder of the Peace and War in the Heartland project.
During the promotional events, Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and a witness at my trial returned for the play, the fund-raisers, and a major university and public radio event. I am one of the dedicatees in his book Papers on the War (1972). He remains a personal friend.
Peace Crimes also brought out regional artists and media personalities who were active during the Sixties. A “Poets for Peace” event brought out a line-up of poets, several of whom had served time in federal prison. Robert Bly has consistently held public readings on war and peace themes. I anticipate enthusiastic support from the arts community, generated through each major market’s local literary centers, such as Minneapolis’ The Loft Literary Center and Intermedia Arts.
The play promotion also established connections with current anti-war and pro-peace groups and new leaders, among them Colonel Ann Wright, Elizabeth de la Vega, Coleen Rowley (former FBI), and a host of other noted individuals and organizations. Veterans of the Vietnam era and of the Afghan and Iraq wars, along with other peace education organizations, participated in and supported the promotional events. Kill the Dove! will be promoted through the ongoing national campaign that is promoting resistance to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While it is premature to promise high-visibility endorsements, national celebrities like Garrison Keillor and Daniel Ellsberg who have direct connections to Kill the Dove!’s story will be invited to write jacket blurbs. Likewise, Kill the Dove! will be of interest to other genre-related Minnesota novelists, such as Tim O’Brien and Chuck Logan. Within the Catholic community, Daniel Berrigan, S.J.,
remains noteworthy, as does James Carroll. Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky head the list of potential academic activist endorsers.
5. Web-based Marketing
I will host interactive web sessions using a) e-conferencing, b) video-conferencing such as Skype, and a c) blog. I plan a continual series of articles for Web outlets discussing the themes in the novel, how they relate to current events, etc. The “Peace and War in the Heartland” website, www.pwh-mn.org, will be redesigned to be “Peace and War in America” with the book as a centerpiece referent.
To promote the play, exploratory use of YouTube resulted in a short menu of video clips (see www.minnesota8.net and “YouTube” link on right-side menu). For Kill the Dove!, extensive video clips will be developed. This will include interviews with students, professors, etc., but its main strength will be linking the novel’s content to other content sites. All of the Minnesota 8 are still living, as are all of the witnesses (though time is not on our side in this respect!). Their personal stories linked to the book is a good fit for the video-clip generation.
TPT, a public TV station, produced a documentary, Peace Crimes Backstage that was aired at eight times in prime time. Print coverage included all the major newspapers, alternative papers, and campus papers, as well as Internet news sites. This documentary is still available through the University of Minnesota and can be downloaded and/or video streamed at www.minnesota8.net. The documentary and archived radio shows can also be viewed and heard at www.pwhmn.org/media.php
6. Progressive communication networks
The Obama campaign re-vitalized existing and generated new progressive communications networks. Traditional outlets, such as public radio and TV, are now complemented by an ever- expanding array of progressive communication websites, blogs and video outlets.
7. Educational Marketing – “Peace and War in America”
Kill the Dove! goes beyond my personal memoir and the play Peace Crimes to present an epic tale of the Sixties. Kill the Dove! is not just about draft resistance—it is about the many socially radical themes that threaded through the Sixties. Through the regional campus promotional events I’ve established networking contacts with campus leaders, key faculty and student organizations that have national linkage.
Kill the Dove! and the background story of the “Minnesota 8” trial provide a comprehensive picture of why Sixties youths resisted illegitimate authority. “Peace and War in the Heartland” play promotion project produced eight campus-based events. The lack of credible Sixties-based courses on college campuses was amply established. Likewise, I was consistently asked to provide educational materials. A complete workshop for teachers and a collegiate classroom curriculum will be developed for marketing by the time Kill the Dove! is published.
Commonly, colleges would teach American history through WWII, then stop. The sociology curriculum would handle cultural history by starting in the 1980s.
Kill the Dove!’s background story of The “Minnesota 8” trial has strong educational appeal since the trial was quite unusual. In most draft raid trials, such as the famed “Catonsville 9” (see http://c9.mdch.org/index.cfm), no witnesses were called. Defendants simply made personal
statements from the witness stand. In our trial, 13 witnesses were called, including historians, theologians, ecologists, nonviolent teachers, a national journalist, and a former government official (Dan Ellsberg). Through witness testimony the historical, theological, sociological, political, ecological, and personal chapters in the larger story of resisting illegitimate authority are presented. Consequently, these materials and Kill the Dove! provide foundational and useful teaching materials.
8. Workshops
I have piloted a “Family as Peacemaking/War-making Storyteller” workshop that focuses on enabling participants to identify and write their own family’s peace/war-making story. I presented this to the Men’s Spirituality group at Wisdom Ways Spirituality Center (http://www.wisdomwayscenter.org/) for the 2008–2009 season. I also presented the same material to over 150 people at University of Wisconsin, Stout’s institute for retired learners.
I will engage national progressive religious organizations to sponsor and/or administer this workshop, which will have Kill the Dove! as the major content reference. Likewise, I will present at as many national/regional educational association events as possible.
There is also a special niche in the New Age market, the goddess spirituality sector, the neopagan movement, and the growing sacred sexuality market for speaking about the rituals of intimacy that Kill the Dove!’s main characters enact at the end of the novel. Barry Long, David Deida, Margo Anand, Deepak Chopra, Ken Wilber and others have opened a market segment that will be receptive to Kill the Dove!.
9. Building upon Peace Crimes
There is synergy between promoting the play Peace Crimes and marketing Kill the Dove! Peace Crimes is specifically valuable to college theatre departments because it has fourteen actors. The play was developed to include four roles for Equity actors from the History Theatre (www.historytheatre.org) and ten for students from the University of Minnesota’s theatre department. The structure of the play and the theme make it appealing for campus promotion and production.
Peace Crimes was promoted in every media format and outlet, from University radio and newspapers to Web-based alternative news outlets to YouTube video clips. I am highly confident that TPT will be interested in developing a documentary around Kill the Dove! When I met with TPT’s producer, Tom Trow, I learned that he had been a beneficiary of our previous “Beaver 55” draft raid. On the very morning that he was setting out to report for induction, he read in the Minneapolis Tribune that his draft board had been burglarized and thousands of draft cards destroyed.
10.Book Clubs, Fundraisers, etc.
I will aggressively market Kill the Dove! through local and regional bookstores, public readings, book clubs, etc. Locally, The Loft Literary Center (www.loft.org) and Intermedia Arts (www.intermediaarts.org/) are the jumping off-points for networking with like organizations across the country. I will promote Kill the Dove! by fund-raising signings and book sales with shared revenue given to sponsoring organizations. The list of such opportunities is quite long.