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I think
the first book video I saw must have been several years ago,
when the short, goofy Flash-animated video for Yiddish
with Dick and Jane was being passed around. Yiddish
had just been published by Little, Brown and Company, and
had gained some notoriety—not only for its satirical
content, but for the lawsuit that Pearson, the publisher of
the Dick and Jane primers, was pursuing against Little,
Brown for copyright infringement. The book, filled with old-timey
easy-reader style illustrations, lent itself easily to a comical
video treatment, which is probably why, in the parlance of
internet films, it went "viral."
A book
video is a long commercial, or a very short film, usually
made specifically for the internet, with the intent of promoting
a book. How effective are they? We may never know. Publishers
spending $10,000 on a 10-minute trailer (as Little, Brown
did for the Michael Connelly book Echo Park—I
swear I read this somewhere) are never going to admit that
they wasted their money. The Connelly video has received approximately
20,000 views on YouTube, which is pretty good, but a video
of my cats rolling around in catnip has garnered 38,000 views—18,000
more views than their $1,000-a-minute book video. And of course,
no book video has garnered more views than Nora the piano-playing
cat, who now has hits in the millions.
The producers
of that first Yiddish with Dick and Jane book trailer,
VidLit, went on to produce some less successful book videos
for Little, Brown, notably the "Consider the Lobster" video
from the David Foster Wallace book of almost the same name.
VidLit used the same quirky style for the Wallace trailer,
which featured the author reading from the titular essay,
about a trip to the Maine Lobster Festival that elicits a
rather serious philosophical argument from the author as to
whether or not lobsters feel pain. The VidLit video looked
more appropriate for a Jimmy Buffet book than it did for an
essay that features prose such as, "So then here is the question
that is all but unavoidable at the World's Largest Lobster
Cooker, and may arise in kitchens across the U.S.: Is it all
right to boil a sentient creature alive for our gustatory
pleasure? A related set of concerns: Is the previous question
irksomely PC or sentimental?"
To be
fair to VidLit, even their worst book videos are better than
most of the book videos I've seen, which are barely watchable.
I am rarely able to sit through an entire one. Many of them
go on for too long—a three minute iPhoto slideshow with
a non-professional voice-over is much harder to watch than
one would think. The best ones are either very short, humorous,
or are able to hook viewers with a cliffhanger.
 But
there are some treasures on YouTube. Searching for "book"
or "book video" will unearth a variety of book videos (including
one of a shirtless Glenn Danzig discussing his home library).
Through some snooping around, I discovered that the authors—not
the publishers—produce many of the better videos themselves.
I also discovered that some of those authors have backgrounds
in the entertainment industry—two have worked in television,
and two have made short films. Alan Silberberg, author of
the kids' lit book Pond
Scum, made a cute and colorful book video featuring the
characters on his book cover coming to life and riffing about
Pond Scum. As to why he made a book video, Silberberg
said, "I find having anything visual that I can email to librarians,
book sellers and hopeful fans has helped me be 'noticed' and
stay noticed." Silberberg has a distinct advantage over other
authors wishing to make their own book trailers—he's
a cartoonist and a writer for television who is also an adept
Flash animator. And the trailer shows how perfect it is for
the medium—it's very short, it features the book cover
prominently, and it's funny. As to why he did it, Silberberg
said, "Getting noticed as a new book, especially in the crowded
kids' novel world, is a difficult task, and as an unknown
author, I knew I needed to try everything possible to let
people know about Pond Scum."
Janice
Erlbaum produced a video for her book Girlbomb: A Halfway
Homeless Memoir (Villard, 2007), a memoir about spending
her teen years in homeless shelters and halfway houses. Erlbaum
says," I made it because I was trying to reach a younger audience
for my paperback, an audience that spends more time online
than reading, and I thought, 'The kids today love that YouTube;
I should get a video up there.' But really, I doubt that it
had any effect on sales or name recognition." Erlbaum's video
differs greatly from Silberberg's—it has a cast, a script,
multiple locations, and an original score. It's much more
like a short film than a commercial.
Virginia
Vitzthum, author of I Love You, Let's Meet: Adventures
in Online Dating (Little, Brown, 2007), thinks that her
experience in blogging and making short films may have even
helped her place her book with Little, Brown. "[T]hey want
authors who'll self-promote. My experience with Little, Brown
was when I'd do something like start a blog or make a video,
they'd come back with some money or a publicity push." Vitzthum
also mentioned that "a few Amazon commenters said they bought
the book after seeing the video (and I don't think
those were people I know!)" Vitzthum 's video is a song parody
of "My Favorite Things," with two online daters dueting in
anticipation of their first meeting.
 Brian
Frazer, author of Hyper-chondriac (Atria, 2007) also
made his trailer on his own, with no prompting from Atria,
his publisher. The frenetically funny Hyper-chondriac
trailer is animated, but features Frazer's real head on his
animated body. How did he get such a professional-looking
video? "[B]ecause I used to work on the TV show Blind Date,
I knew some graphics people there who cut me a deal. As to
whether or not it has resulted in sales, I'm certain it has;
however, it's really hard to say how large an impact it has
had. Regardless, I'm glad I did it.."
There
seems to be a general consensus among the authors—they
all agree that they'll do more book videos. Erlbaum says,
"Despite the expense and lack of results, I'll probably do
it again for my next book—this time, I'll do a better
job on the video, and hope to get my publisher on board to
help distribute it. There's always the possibility that it'll
spark interest in the film rights." Silberberg agrees. "I
can't say I've noticed a direct impact on sales—but that
wouldn't stop me from making more promos for this book or
my next one!"
So, in
these nascent days of book videos, the jury is still out on
their effectiveness. And it also seems that the more media-savvy
authors have the best chance of making successful videos.
But, as a YouTube viewer and sometimes-producer, I suggest
to all who want to make book trailers to make sure you have
a cat or two, either rolling around in catnip or playing the
piano.
You can
see all these videos at http://dorothy
parka.livejournal.com/79638.html
(August,
2007)
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