I need command of my own flash mob

Speaking today to a local bookseller, the question was posed: if an event were planned in the store to promote Immortal, could I get thirty or forty people to show up?

And the answer is: I don’t know.  Because so far all of my promoting has been online.

Networking

As of right now I have 641 Facebook friends and 488 Twitter followers, and with all but a few exceptions there is no overlap between those lists.  That’s over 1000 people I could conceivably put words in front of at any given time.

Except, if you are on either of those networks– and if you aren’t, I’m genuinely surprised– you understand that those numbers don’t mean all that much.  A Facebook invite to all of my friends for an event in Cambridge MA on the first weekend in October will be wasted on 3/4 of the total, for the people who don’t live close enough.  That still leaves about 160 local people.  But once you’ve pulled out the people who

1. have plans
2. don’t have plans but ignore all invitations
3. don’t have plans and don’t ignore all invitations but don’t want to read the book or go to an event for it
4. don’t have plans, read their invitations, don’t want to go but don’t want to insult me by declining so they accept and just don’t show up

what you have left is:

1. me
2. my wife
3. my son (maybe, if I make him)
4. mom

Beyond that I can’t guarantee anybody.

And Twitter is even worse, because proximity-wise the odds are long that even a tenth of the people following me are also nearby.

My mob will be in black-and-white

Flash mob

Which is why I need my own flash mob.  I need a large number of people I can say “show up here now!” at a moment’s notice.  And I don’t really care if they buy anything as long as they show up where I point them.

Does anyone know how I can get one?  Maybe on loan?

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