I checked my snail mail yesterday only to discover an envelope from Holtzbrinck Publishers (which owns Tor, among others). It was a small #10 envelope, and felt like there was more than just paper inside. Curious what the hell they’d be sending me other than a review book, I tore it open post-haste.

Turned out to be a note from the Online Marketing Department along with some bookmarks. It seems that Holtzbrinck now has its very own blog which is ran by a committe of bloggers. You can find it at www.holtzbrinckonline.com.

But what sounds really cool is that next year they’re going to be offering a website that will send readers the first chapter of all their new titles via RSS feeds. That sounds like it could be a great way to market books online. Eager readers subscribe to the feed and check it out once and a while. Not every one will be a hit, but I’m sure a few people will read a first chapter and get hooked–people that might not have picked up the book and read the first chapter otherwise. Kudos to them; I hope it works.