Bloomsbury opens case on Stellarimington.com

The Bookseller - 30.06.11 | Charlotte Williams

Bloomsbury is breaking cover to create a website supporting the launch of former MI5 chief Stella Rimington's first book with the publisher, intending to build her and her protagonist, Liz Carlyle, as a brand.

The site, Stellarimington.com, which goes live this week, is laid out like a case file, including categories to interact with such as "Counter-Terrorism: The Team" where readers can learn vital statistics about the main characters. Visitors to the site can also see exclusive video interviews with the author and an interactive map plotting where each of Carlyle's cases has taken place. The launch ties in with the release of Rip Tide in hardback on 18th July, which sees MI5 Intelligence Officer Carlyle investigating what led a British-born Pakistani to become a pirate off the coast of Somalia.

Head of adult and specialist marketing Amanda Shipp said the idea was to give Rimington a real platform and strong identity as it is the first time Bloomsbury has published her.
Shipp said: "We really wanted to throw a lot of energy behind her. There wasn't really anything online for Stella. As she is chair of the Man Booker this year, we thought it was a great year to draw it all together." Shipp added it was part of Bloomsbury's aim to "focus our attention" on its crime list. "From 2012, we are trying to publish a crime book a month," she said.
Rimington is set to attend literary lunches and festivals such as the Lowtham Festival, Literary Lunch at Cotswold House Hotel and the Ways with Words Dartington Festival, and the "Latest Intelligence" section on the website will be updated with more events as they are planned.