James Patterson is the world's best-selling author, with over 380 million books sold, and the Guinness World Record for most New York Times best-sellers ever. But with the abundance of choice in media and entertainment afforded modern audiences, books are being chosen and read less and less.

So for his next book, “The Chef”, James Patterson challenged the team to re-think the entire approach to the reading and marketing/PR experience. To develop an approach that would embrace technology, drive commercial success and build connection, relevance and affinity with a new mobile generation.

“The Chef by James Patterson” was a complete re-imagining of what the novel experience could be for a modern mobile audience. We built an immersive and multi-media reading experience within Facebook Messenger which was first of it's kind. Alongside that, we created a Facebook Group which would function as a book club for the reading community to come together with James himself. Later when the physical hardcover was published this experience was accessible through a scannable code printed on the book itself.

Insight: In today's age of infinite choice and mobile consumption, it's more important than ever for authors to reinvent themselves and their storytelling.

Key Message: James Patterson, the world's best-selling author, is launching a re-imagined literary experience for his forthcoming novel, THE CHEF - exclusively on Facebook Messenger and Groups.

Audience: We leveraged Patterson's existing Facebook and Instagram followings (3.7MM, 68k) in addition to targeting an audience of M/F, 18-40 (interests in thrillers, e-books, similar authors, etc). We targeted a series of around 30 media and press outlets to generate excitement.

Creation & Distribution: We developed the Messenger experience and FB Group Book Club and planned a series of organic and paid posts on Facebook to drive engagement. For the Group, we designed a community playbook with weekly polls, recipes, and live Q/A's with James. For press, we created a kit including the pitch, and video walkthroughs.

In the Messenger experience, readers were invited into the story by Caleb Rooney- former detective, turned food truck chef who is embroiled in a plot threatening New Orleans.

Throughout the text, key moments are brought to life through content such as police shoulder cams, security footage, case files, audio recordings, and interactive maps. This not only added depth in the case but kept readers engaged and reading to find the next easter egg.

In addition, via artificial intelligence, readers were able to ask questions and get results back to refresh their memory or uncover clues.

Alongside the Messenger bot, James Patterson hosted a Facebook Group book club that grew to over 5,000 members. Content included weekly questions, polls, recipes, a fundraiser and live Q/As.

Finally, three months after the launch of the experience, a physical book went into print with a scannable code to open the digital experience.

The Chef by James Patterson experience has 100,000+ readers and growing - which exceeded estimates for this new entertainment format. The FB Group book club had over 5,000 members during the campaign leading up to the physical book being published. (A fundraiser in the Group for New Orleans schools even raised $20k!)

In addition, there were over 30 pieces of positive media coverage- and over 1,500 additional mentions across social media.

In print since February, off the back of this experience and campaign (at time of submission) The Chef has been a New York Times best seller for 10 weeks!

All in all, this is an exciting next step for one of the foremost authors of our time. It is not only a behavior shift for readers, but more importantly, a strategic one for authors/publishers exploring ways to evolve for the realities of modern media and consumption.