"A video
trailer for an online book launch?
That's crazy! I've never
launched my novels with a video."
My book publicist
cynically replied, "What did you use back then: clay tablets?"
"But a video
trailer for a book? This isn't The
Avengers at Imax with popcorn. Books
are the last bastion of artistic integrity in the mud-wrestling pit of
commercial . . ."
"You want to
sell books? Videos are what the
hot-shot authors are doing. We'll put
your trailer up on YouTube, embed it on JosephAmiel.com, your website, and
attach it to your tweets."
"My
teats? Don't try to tell me Danielle
Steele puts up with that."
"Tweets! Authors are out there tweeting and
interacting with their fans."
"I already do
that on JosephAmiel.com. All that
information you tell me I should be putting up there."
"Not
enough. It's a Grisham eat DeMille
world out there. But you've got an
edge: You're also a film-maker. Don't
you have that web series on YouTube about people in prison for life?"
"Ain't That
Life is a comedy web series that has nothing to do with prison. Look, those novelists with videos probably
already have loads of fans who'll watch them."
My
publicist wasn't giving up. "You
have fans, too. We just have to alert
them that you have a book about to be released."
"And they'll
eagerly crawl out of the burrows and caves where they're hiding."
"Exactly. And what better way to announce that you're
launching a courtroom thriller than with a video book trailer? Set it in a real courtroom with
actors who look like your main characters."
"It
will take a lot of time, but I guess it makes sense."
"And you've
also got to blog."
"Blog? What could I possibly blog about?"
"You're not too swift, are you?"
"Ok, I get
it: I'll write a blog about creating a video that's about a book I've
written. And I'll tweet about my blog
that's about creating a video that's about . . ."
"You're
beginning to catch on."
"It seems
like I'm doing all the publicity here."
"Check our
contract: My title is "Publicity Advisor."
"Just one
question: Those successful authors who are making trailers and tweeting and
interacting with their fans and blogging, when do they have time to write their
books?"
"If you want
to hire me as your Writing Advisor, I can try to come up with an answer for
that."
