to work to puzzle out the answers to these clues, one of which was the co-ordinates to Bimini Road. ‘This unusual underwater structure off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas is believed by some to be a man-made edifice and a remnant of Atlantis,’ he said .
More clues were given out, some pointing to the Great Pyramid of Giza while others indicated Newgrange, the rite-of-passage tomb in Ireland known for its alignment to the rising sun on the winter solstice. ‘Possible adversaries and secret societies were hinted at,’ Cox said. Hundreds of internet sites were examining in great detail the places, people and groups being mentioned on the Twitter and Facebook pages. ‘It was an internet feeding frenzy.’
Suddenly Cox realised that the publishers were playing a game. He remembered that one of the characters in The Da Vinci Code was Bishop Aringarosa and he realised that aringa was Italian for herring and rosa in Italian meant red, so the clues on the Twitter and Facebook pages were probably red herrings.
He also spotted that the publication date was a clue – 15 September 2009 or 15/09/09, which together added up to 33, the highest numbered rank of the Scottish Rite Freemasons. ‘The Freemasons would be a central theme of the book – something that had been hinted at on the dust jacket of The Da Vinci Code all those years ago.’ [250]
Once the book had been published, Cox soon discovered that most of the clues had indeed been red herrings. ‘There was no Morgan affair, no Aaron Burr, no William Wirrt (and the strange story of his skull), no Knights of the Golden Circle, no substantial mention of Albert Pike, no Benedict Arnold, no Confederate gold, no Babington Plot.’ The Sons of Liberty, Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and other people and places that Cox had noted on the Twitter and Facebook pages were also absent. Neither was there any mention of Bimini Road or Newgrange, nor anything about the ancient book, The Key of Solomon. The Great Pyramid was mentioned, but in a completely different context .
Brown and Doubleday had pulled off a hugely effective campaign of misinformation, pushing interest away from the real plot while stimulating massive interest and intrigue so people would rush to the shops to buy the book when it came out. ‘This was something of a coup,’ Cox said. ‘They successfully kept the plot of The Lost Symbol pretty well hidden until the day of publication.’
The secrecy surrounding the novel had been so complete that virtually no leaks appeared on any internet sites about the real nature of the novel’s plot. Instead, Brown and Doubleday managed to get people focused on subjects ‘that at best were only on the fringes of the novel. It was an incredible undertaking that guaranteed a huge amount of media and public attention on launch day.’ [251]
More than five million copies had been printed, which was a massive gamble. Packing crates of The Lost Symbol had been wrapped in protective and legal seals to ensure that no one opened them before the allotted release time. E-books and audio books were also readied at the same time and under a strict veil of secrecy. ‘It was all to safeguard a marketing campaign which some believe could come close to achieving sales on a par with Rowling’s last Harry Potter book, which sold 3.5m copies in its first eight days.’ [252]
On publication day the mayhem began. In the UK, Tesco, the UK supermarket giant was selling 19 copies a minute of The Lost Symbol while Asda had sold 18,000 copies by 4pm, taking it from just another publishing activity to an event of phenomenal proportions. Then a price war started with Asda and Tesco dropping the price of the hardback edition to £5 per copy. Waterstone’s followed up by slashing the price of the book in half and other booksellers did the same. Tim Godfray, chief executive of the Booksellers Association, said that a huge price war always comes after the release of a massive-selling title, The
More clues were given out, some pointing to the Great Pyramid of Giza while others indicated Newgrange, the rite-of-passage tomb in Ireland known for its alignment to the rising sun on the winter solstice. ‘Possible adversaries and secret societies were hinted at,’ Cox said. Hundreds of internet sites were examining in great detail the places, people and groups being mentioned on the Twitter and Facebook pages. ‘It was an internet feeding frenzy.’
Suddenly Cox realised that the publishers were playing a game. He remembered that one of the characters in The Da Vinci Code was Bishop Aringarosa and he realised that aringa was Italian for herring and rosa in Italian meant red, so the clues on the Twitter and Facebook pages were probably red herrings.
He also spotted that the publication date was a clue – 15 September 2009 or 15/09/09, which together added up to 33, the highest numbered rank of the Scottish Rite Freemasons. ‘The Freemasons would be a central theme of the book – something that had been hinted at on the dust jacket of The Da Vinci Code all those years ago.’ [250]
Once the book had been published, Cox soon discovered that most of the clues had indeed been red herrings. ‘There was no Morgan affair, no Aaron Burr, no William Wirrt (and the strange story of his skull), no Knights of the Golden Circle, no substantial mention of Albert Pike, no Benedict Arnold, no Confederate gold, no Babington Plot.’ The Sons of Liberty, Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and other people and places that Cox had noted on the Twitter and Facebook pages were also absent. Neither was there any mention of Bimini Road or Newgrange, nor anything about the ancient book, The Key of Solomon. The Great Pyramid was mentioned, but in a completely different context .
Brown and Doubleday had pulled off a hugely effective campaign of misinformation, pushing interest away from the real plot while stimulating massive interest and intrigue so people would rush to the shops to buy the book when it came out. ‘This was something of a coup,’ Cox said. ‘They successfully kept the plot of The Lost Symbol pretty well hidden until the day of publication.’
The secrecy surrounding the novel had been so complete that virtually no leaks appeared on any internet sites about the real nature of the novel’s plot. Instead, Brown and Doubleday managed to get people focused on subjects ‘that at best were only on the fringes of the novel. It was an incredible undertaking that guaranteed a huge amount of media and public attention on launch day.’ [251]
More than five million copies had been printed, which was a massive gamble. Packing crates of The Lost Symbol had been wrapped in protective and legal seals to ensure that no one opened them before the allotted release time. E-books and audio books were also readied at the same time and under a strict veil of secrecy. ‘It was all to safeguard a marketing campaign which some believe could come close to achieving sales on a par with Rowling’s last Harry Potter book, which sold 3.5m copies in its first eight days.’ [252]
On publication day the mayhem began. In the UK, Tesco, the UK supermarket giant was selling 19 copies a minute of The Lost Symbol while Asda had sold 18,000 copies by 4pm, taking it from just another publishing activity to an event of phenomenal proportions. Then a price war started with Asda and Tesco dropping the price of the hardback edition to £5 per copy. Waterstone’s followed up by slashing the price of the book in half and other booksellers did the same. Tim Godfray, chief executive of the Booksellers Association, said that a huge price war always comes after the release of a massive-selling title, The
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