was published in the November 6, 2009 issue (#1074) of Entertainment Weekly. The preliminary dust jacket cover art was released to online retailers like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble with the words "cover to be unveiled". In late August 2009, it was revealed that the real cover would be unveiled on October 5, 2009, with parts of it being shown on September 21, 25 and 28. The cover art design for Under the Dome is said to be a departure from King's previous illustrated covers, using a combination of illustration, photographs, and 3D renderings. The final jacket design was released in two variations: with white lettering; and with the less common dark gray lettering. On December 16, 2009, Stephen King held a book signing at the Magic Lantern movie theater in Bridgton, Maine, the town that the fictitious Chester's Mill is modeled after. He also made several TV appearances discussing the similarity between the real town and the fictional one. "I live 18 miles out of town and I've lived there for a long time," said King. "I looked at the police station, that's the police station in the book. I just used the geography, the lake; everything is there." King was a Bridgton resident for nearly five years. Bridgton also serves as the setting in The Mist (1980). On the day of the release, Stephen King was in New York City at The TimesCenter to promote the book. In mid-October, Under the Dome became one of the highly discounted book preorders on Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target, sparking a "price war" between the retailers. The price for Under the Dome and several other high-profile hardcover books to be released in November 2009, typically around US$25, was set at just US$9 (a discount of nearly 75 percent off on a new hardcover). Later, Wal-Mart lowered the price to US$8.98 and included free shipping. Target's price was set at US$8.99. Viral marketing A number of viral marketing websites for popular locations referenced in Under the Dome were created to publicize the book, including Big Jim Rennie's Used Cars, the Sweet Briar Rose Diner, the Chester's Mill Democrat Newspaper, and others. A site was created for the Town of Chester's Mill, which provides links to all points of interest. An alternate reality game also took place utilizing all of these sites, beginning at the blog of Scarecrow Joe, one of the characters in