“Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free”
We could probably convince Mark Knopfler that writing a book isn’t exactly “money for nothin’” and these authors aren’t playing “the guitar on MTV,” but other than that it’s pretty close to the Dire Straits song. Okay, so you might have to use your imagination to hear “Hawaiian noises” and see “bangin’ on the bongos like a chimpanzee,” but as music artists of earlier decades had to make videos for MTV to create hits, authors now put book trailers on YouTube to keep up with the Joneses—actually, the Roberts and the Pattersons. In other words, it’s not enough for writers to worry whether we are photogenic enough for the book jacket portrait, now we can also be anxious about appearing natural on film.
Pamela Paul of the New York Times wrote an article earlier this month about the book trailer phenomena:
…the trailer is fast becoming an essential component of online marketing. Asked to draw on often nonexistent acting skills, authors are holding forth for anything from 30 seconds to 6 minutes, frequently to the tune of stock guitar strumming, soulful violin or klezmer music. And now, those who once worried about no one reading their books can worry about no one watching their trailers. (A mother still nursing her 8-year-old: 25,864,943 views; recent best-selling maternal memoirist: 5,124 views.)
My favorites of the trailers in Paul’s article is Dennis Cass’s “Book Launch 2.0,” which won this year’s Moby Award for Best Performance by an Author (Yes, there’s an Oscar-like award for book trailers) and Gary Shteyngart’s trailer for Super Sad True Love Story. Shteyngart’s video is a hilarious spoof featuring well known publishing professionals and actor James Franco, who seems to be everywhere these days.
It was also interesting to see the trailers of memoirists Mary Karr, Jeannette Walls, and Kelly Corrigan. Reading personal nonfiction narratives brings you so close to the authors that hearing their voices and watching their mannerisms add to the reading experience.
Who will star in your book trailer and what soundtrack will you chose?
I’m going with Shakira and the Waka Waka video, but with more hot male athletes and James Franco, of course. All the men will be bare-chested—think Top Gun volley-ball scene—and I’m changing the lyrics to “this time for Bradley.” Since this video will work for any book I might write, I’m comfortable blowing my entire online trailer budget on one big production.
Tags: Book Trailer, Dennis Cass, Gary Shteyngart, Jeannette Walls, Kelly Corrigan, Mary Karr, Shakira
art, awards, books, consumerism, culture, editing and publishing, writing
I want a bad-ass, beautiful physicist in mine. She’ll be speaking Swedish in the physics lab and catapulting giant gauze bags of glass beads that will flush the air like stained glass.
Great post, Asa!
You’re awesome Shira! I’m still giggling.
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