Joe Pulizzi, a name synonymous with content marketing, has made a startling departure from his usual domain. Known as the “Godfather of Content Marketing,” Pulizzi has spent years advising businesses on how to build and monetize audiences through valuable content. His books, which are almost required reading for any marketer, have been lauded for their practical insights and clear strategies. However, in a surprising twist, Pulizzi ventured into the world of crime fiction, where his debut novel, The Will to Die, weaves a chilling narrative set against the backdrop of a funeral home—a setting eerily reminiscent of a true crime story that shocked Texas.
The Pivot to Fiction
Pulizzi’s shift from non-fiction to fiction wasn’t just a casual experiment—it was born from a desire to craft something his wife would actually enjoy. “I think the most important part was I wanted to write something that my wife would actually read,” Pulizzi explained in an interview with Robert Riggs on the True Crime Reporter® podcast. “She basically said, ‘Your marketing books are boring.'” This feedback from his wife ignited Pulizzi’s curiosity and led him to delve into a genre that had always intrigued him: mystery and crime.
What resulted was The Will to Die, a crime novel that deviates sharply from his previous works. Set in Sandusky, Ohio, the novel follows the journey of Will Pollitt, an advertising manager who returns to his hometown after the mysterious death of his father, a funeral director. What begins as an effort to settle his father’s affairs spirals into a dark exploration of secrets lurking within the funeral industry—a world Pulizzi knows intimately, having grown up in it.
A Tale Rooted in Reality
Pulizzi’s novel, while fictional, draws from real-life events that are almost too strange to be believed. His thematic choice echoes the case of Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede, an East Texas funeral director who infamously murdered a wealthy widow and hid her body in a freezer. The darkly comedic true crime story was later adapted into the film Bernie, capturing the imagination of audiences nationwide. Like Tiede’s case, The Will to Die explores the thin line between the ordinary and the sinister, where seemingly benign individuals harbor dark secrets.
Pulizzi’s connection to the funeral home industry is deeply personal. “I grew up in the funeral home industry. My grandfather was a funeral director,” Pulizzi shared. “I ran around the funeral home when I was five years old and started working there when I was fifteen.” This firsthand experience lent authenticity to his novel, allowing him to craft a setting that is both familiar and unsettling.
Crafting a Narrative with Precision
While Pulizzi’s transition to fiction may seem unexpected, his approach to writing a novel was methodical and informed by his marketing background. “I was very aware not to leave anything hanging and to make sure that the inciting incident happens as quickly as possible,” Pulizzi explained. His experience in crafting content for an audience came in handy when he used his wife as a barometer for what would resonate with readers. “It’s very important to my wife that things are wrapped up and that there are no cliffhangers,” he said.
However, Pulizzi admits that writing a novel was no easy feat. “When I start a business book, I don’t want to say it’s easy, but it’s much easier for me because I have a very specific idea of what the informational needs are of my audience,” Pulizzi noted. In contrast, writing a novel involved a significant learning curve. “I had no idea how to write this novel, where I was going to go. This is not as easy as writing a business book.”
Pulizzi likened the process to training for a marathon. “You can’t go out tomorrow and write a novel unless you train yourself for it,” he said. After weeks of struggling to find his rhythm, Pulizzi eventually fell into a routine, writing between 500 and 2,000 words each morning until the first draft was complete.
Navigating Family Expectations
Despite his excitement about the novel, Pulizzi’s family’s reaction was lukewarm, at best. “I wrote this and was so excited for my uncle to read this… and they did not like it at all,” Pulizzi recalled with a hint of disappointment. “They thought that I was making fun of the funeral industry, which I never intended.” The novel, which Pulizzi intended as a homage to his family and their profession, was not received as he had hoped. Yet, this did not deter him from continuing to explore the funeral home setting in future works.
Pulizzi’s novel also tackles modern themes, including the disturbing trend of reverse life insurance—a practice that exploits vulnerable individuals. “I started researching and realized that this is a thing. And, oh my God, there are people who are really getting taken advantage of,” Pulizzi said. This element of the novel adds a layer of realism that resonates with readers familiar with the dark side of financial manipulation.
The Allure of Murder Mysteries
Pulizzi’s novel arrives at a time when the appetite for crime fiction is at an all-time high. In periods of societal anxiety and stress, audiences often turn to crime novels and true crime as a form of escapism. Pulizzi observed, “I think it’s an escape for a lot of people… They don’t want to read about working in an office; they want to read something outlandish, something exciting.”
This desire for escapism is especially prevalent among women, who make up a significant portion of the crime fiction audience. Pulizzi’s wife, for example, is an avid reader of mystery novels, often juggling multiple books at once. “It’s a real escape for her,” Pulizzi said. “And I see that she has less stress during her day if she’s had a chance to spend 30 or 45 minutes reading.”
Pulizzi’s novel taps into this widespread fascination with the macabre, offering readers a fast-paced mystery filled with unexpected twists and turns. The novel’s setting in a funeral home—a place most people rarely think about—adds an extra layer of intrigue, making The Will to Die a compelling read for anyone who enjoys peeling back the layers of ordinary life to reveal the darkness beneath.
The Future of Pulizzi’s Crime Writing
As Pulizzi continues to navigate his new role as a crime novelist, he remains committed to the genre, though he acknowledges the challenges ahead. “I think it’ll still be involved,” Pulizzi said of the funeral home setting in future works. “People love the inner workings of what happens inside a funeral home—the embalming process, the cleanup, the pickup. Everything about that fascinates them.”
Pulizzi’s next novel, currently in the early stages of development, promises to build on the foundation he laid with The Will to Die. “I’m using the same characters, but the plot is evolving,” Pulizzi hinted.
Despite the challenges, Pulizzi remains passionate about his new venture into crime fiction. His novel, with its unique blend of marketing and mystery, funeral homes and financial fraud, has carved out a niche in a crowded genre. For Pulizzi, the transition from content marketing to crime fiction has been a rewarding, if unexpected, journey—one that he plans to continue for the foreseeable future.
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