Fitzgerald Becomes First Classic Author To Have Interactive Tourism Novel

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel has just made literary history again by becoming the first classic novel in the world to be published with an interactive tourism guide. This Side of Paradise: Interactive Tourism Edition, published by SELTI, guides readers to the real locations that inspired the fictional story. All royalties from this special tourism edition are being donated to the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, the only museum in the world dedicated to the famous couple. The tourism edition also includes a link to the SELTI article “What Would Fitzgerald Think of the Kindle?”

“These types of classic and contemporary interactive tourism novels could usher in a new wave of consumer spending that helps the economy rebound,” said Patrick Miller, founder of SELTI and publisher of the first interactive tourism novel on Kindle, Blind Fate, a suspense thriller. “Consumer spending accounts for 70% of our nation’s economy, and one of the heaviest sources of consumer spending is tourism. The best way to reach potential tourists is directly through the novels they read. New devices like the Kindle Fire and iPad allow readers to click on related tourism websites from inside the book—if publishers include them.”

Readers can purchase this special edition right now for their Kindles or, with a Kindle app, for their desktop or laptop computers, iPads, iPhones, or any smart phone or tablet computer. Remember: anyone can Kindle! Check out the new novel on Amazon and click on the free sample here: This Side of Paradise: Interactive Tourism Edition.

Kindle readers can click on tourism links
from inside this special edition to visit related
websites, such as the museum's
page on the Southern Literary Trail,
as seen on the Kindle Fire.

“Scott Fitzgerald's dogged pursuit of literary fame and fortune took him across oceans and continents,” said Willie Thompson, Executive Director of the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum. “How fitting that his first novel can now not only transport the reader back in time, but also across the globe. The Interactive Tourism Edition of This Side of Paradise is only the beginning of everything that literature can become in our modern world.”

Since Fitzgerald’s works have always enjoyed international popularity, the new interactive tourism edition might be the first time foreign readers are introduced to the Princeton and Montgomery Fitzgerald tours with photos and tourism guides, especially from inside a book. That new enhancement could transform foreign readers into foreign tourists. One of the real settings in the novel was Princeton University, where Fitzgerald also attended in real life.

“When I attended Princeton in the sixties, Fitzgerald’s legacy on campus was still very strong with the students,” said Julian McPhillips, President of the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Board of Directors. “His descriptions of the social clubs, student life, and Gothic campus buildings were very accurate. We were all inspired by the classic work that helped establish his prominent role in history and literature.”

Twenty years after graduating from Princeton, McPhillips worked with his wife Leslie to save the Fitzgerald House in Montgomery from demolition and convert the aged structure into the museum it is today. One of the fun events held there every year is the Annual Flapper Gala, where Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald enthusiasts attend a fundraising party in period costumes from the 1920’s.

Moundville contest deadline extended

The University of Alabama Museums has requested that the deadline for entering the Inaugural SELTI Writing Contest be extended to April 15, 2012. This will better fit the academic calendar of the students. The deadline has been added to the official rules, which can be found by clicking here

As a writer, I have never been to a place that emanated such a powerful aura of mystical energy before, which makes Moundville the perfect setting for a tourism short story competition. One has to truly visit there to feel the magic of the place surround your soul. Even if you don't participate in the contest, please visit their website to learn about an exciting visit by clicking here.