It's still Tuesday in Hawaii, right? (Book trailers!)

Okay, I really fell off the horse on Book Trailer Tuesday! And I see my Trailer Tuesday inspiration at BirdBrain(ed) book blog has, too. Oh well, that's the great thing about blogs, huh? Not like she's going to get fired from her position as head blogger over there.

Okay, a few trailers that recently caught my eye! All three of these approaches are so different - the trailer for Release by Beth Kery (created by Lea of closetwriter) goes straight for the plot instead of being quirky or oblique, and sets a saucy mood with the music. I think it's a super smart choice to do it this way for this book, because, okay, let's face it, the plot is hot! And juicily mysterious, and Beth Kery totally delivers, so you know you will get the goods here. (Book releases in early February.) Anyway, trailer #1, for your perusal...



Our second trailer: Jeff Somers. A quirky, author-made trailer (or, it feels author-made) that I also really like. This trailer has little to do with the books at all. Really, I don't think it would be easy to describe the books in a trailer - they're these mad, wonderful, futuristic, breathless dystopian things. I can't help but wonder how many people will send him the bar code for pants.



Okay, I was reading about this last trailer on Avid Book Reader's Morning Report. I think it actually appeared on TV! Is that something new for a book trailer? I wonder what shows it ran on. Anyway, it's 15 seconds long. And again, it's nothing about the plot of the book, though you get a very sly nod to Stephen King's Misery here, don't you?

So what do you say? Seen any good trailers lately?

Trailer Tuesday - Succubi fun! + smackdown update

Hey, Happy Trailer Tuesday. This week I've really been enjoying the trailer for Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by author Jill Myles (the book comes out December 29th).

The diary concept here appeals to my natural in-born nosiness (it's set up as the heroine's diary, humorously outlining the events of the book). I love how the text and the pictures (drawn by Myles's husband) work together, and generally, just the clever attitude of this trailer.

I'm totally going to read this book. Book two, Succubi Like it Hot, comes out January 19th. Whoa! The shotgun release! Excerpts, extras and goodies on the series here.

Trailer Tuesday is hosted by Anastasia over at Birdbrain(ed) book blog. Does she have her trailer up yet? No! We'll check back later.

Kitty softness smackdown rumble news:

Tensions heat up between the kitties!

Read all about it here. (Or see the post below.) You have until Sunday to place your bet and win a book, but please, follow the directions. And you can't vote for your own cat.

Memo to Rfp: Does Oblio need to come over there and scrub your brain out with his soapy little paws?

Book Trailer Tuesday!

Hey, look! It's Book Trailer Tuesday! This one is dedicated to Orannia, who will be firing up her new computer any day now so she can watch things like trailers.

Okay, check it out, a new trailer, this one for the debut paranormal romance by Skylar White entitled and Falling, Fly.

I thought this was engaging and intriguing. Sometimes I don't like photos of models in trailers, but this one tempers it with interesting art and graphics that have a kind of vintage sensibility. Also, the model shot seems to be the book's cover, magnified a great deal, so hey! Makes sense to use the cover!

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A quick trip to the author's website turned up this description for and falling, fly:

...a dark fable of desire between a fallen angel and a self-medicating neuroscientist in a steampunk hell.

Sold! Seriously, is that a wildly enticing description, or is it just me? Anyway, details on the book here.

Book Trailer Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Anastasia of Birdbrain(ed) blog, and anybody can play. Her offering this week is the exciting trailer for Stephen King's latest!

Trailer Tuesday - Incarceron!

Wow, this trailer!

It's so simple. Beautiful. I really want to read this book! Of course, I want to read the book from a combo of the trailer and blurb. Which is huge, considering it's YA.

It's interesting, in a way, how this trailer doesn't try to tell all about the book. I think it has to have supporting explanation. But then, no advertising really lives in a vacuum. but this trailer takes that more seriously than others.

The extremely intriguing blurb:

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.

Misc Updates:

If you get a chance, wish my trailer partner, Anastasia, a happy Blogaversary. I don't know if she's putting up a trailer today, but that the prerogative of the blogaversary girl.

Lea: sproutwrangler extraordinaire

Lea of closetwriter has fixed the clock sprout she made, which went haywire over the weekend through some techie mystery. Here it is! Now I have two sprouts again: the clock here, and the other one and at left, what I call the 'sleek sprout.'

Dude poll results:

The results are in! I am officially going to allow myself to say dude and feel okay about it. "People may laugh at you, but who cares?" was the winner, closely followed by the stonewashed jeans-wearing lovers of the word. I love you, dudes!

Hostage Crisis update:

I still haven't found Instant Attraction, and it wasn't in the car, but Jill Shalvis is generously sending me a new one. I can't wait! If and when I find the old, it's contest time! Dust bunnies not included.

Book Trailer Tuesday - zombies! And an unrelated poll

Here's the deal: most genre trailers have photos, often of attractive people, with words floating across, set to dramatic music. And on trailer Tuesday, I always ignore that kind of trailer, even though that's 95% of them. Am I wrong to ignore them? Maybe those are the kinds of trailers that people like. Let me know if you have an opinion on that!

Maybe those are the kind that work. Isn't it funny how everybody always says, well, nobody knows if book trailers really work. Nobody knows what to think of book trailers. With this Trailer Tuesday meme, which it seems only two people on the planet are doing - Anastasia of Bird Brained Blog and I - it's as if we are exploring uncharted territory! Dudes, we are like Star Trek.

This trailer, and bear with me, I know it's a zombie thing and not everybody likes zombies, but it's really cool. It has words and music and photos, but the photos move to the beat of the music in a way I really like. And the words are minimal. I found this trailer enjoyable to watch because of the way these three elements work together.

NOTE: See Anastasia's trailer pick for today, and some of her views on book trailers here!)

Poll

Did you notice how I said the word 'dudes' up there in the sentence, "Dudes, we are like Star Trek!" You don't know how many times lately I have written dude, and then deleted because, who says dude anymore? It's a 1990's thing. I wasn't saying dude back in the 1990's, but suddenly it's almost 2010, and I want to say it. All the time!

It's kind of weird. What has gotten into me? I have never been a dude person! Ooh, maybe this post will break me of it. Anyway, poll at left. Please advise.

Book Trailer Tuesday 3! The hippest one yet.

Hey! Okay, this is a trailer, or more a trailer tie-in that I stumbled across at Sci Fi Guy.

What I think is really neat is that it makes a kind of hip event out of the cover. And I think it adds a certain cache to the book, like it's cool and inventive by association. I love also, that an outside artist got involved and cross-promoted.

It's also very "now" in a way. Or at least to me, it is. Especially in that it reminds me of this other cool video that a friend recently sent me. Has everybody seen this thing? If not:

Okay, my trailer Tuesday buddy Anastasia at Bird Brain(ed) blog has a trailer with Jon Stewart in it! Go see! Anybody else participating in Trailer Tuesday yet???

Trail of two trailers for Book Trailer Tuesday!

It's really been interesting casting around and paying attention to trailers. And it sort of makes me think about what makes a good book trailer. And the answer there isn't so simple, because it depends on what you think a trailer should do. Should a trailer:

A. Raise awareness of the title and the book's existence.

B. Spark people's curiosity enough for them to pay attention to reviews and other info.
C. Show viewers fun stuff about the plot or characters.

D. Give viewers a cool experiential hit of the book.
E. Get viewers to want to read/buy the book.

F. Build positive awareness/the brand of the author, and the books on a secondary level.

Obviously any one trailer may be doing several of these things. I doubt a trailer can singlehandedly do (E), though a (C) or (D) trailer plus a good review is a powerful combo for me.

This PsyCop trailer is a perfect example of (D), a cool experiential hit. Like, a lot of trailers are just the blurbs set to music and visuals, but this one utilizes visuals to try and express what it's like to be a pscyhic. Or at least I think that's what it's doing.

I like the simplicity. I come away without any idea of the plot or characters, but it gives me the heart of the book, or what I hope would be.

Yesterday, Smart Bitches did a great post about Maggie Steifvater's book trailer, below. I'm not going to discuss this at length, because they did an excellent job of it.

A few notes, though: It's interesting how the Steifvater trailer barely talks about specific books; it's more her relating to her audience in a fun, playful way. It's a perfect example of (F) author brand building. If you look at the comments on that Smart Bitches post, it seems quite effective. There's a lot I enjoy about this trailer. The guitar music, the personality of the notecards, the illustrations.

Questions I'm pondering: I haven't read any of her books. Are her books humorous? What if they're not, does this trailer set somebody up to expect a humorous book? Or is it more like meeting Maggie at a party and liking her because she's playful and funny, but you don't automatically expect the books she writes to be that way?

Other book trailer Tuesday participants: BirdBrained! (anybody else??)

Book Trailer Tuesday!

Hey, did you think I forgot Book Trailer Tuesday? Of course not.

Here it is, my trailer pick of the week, for Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

I love this deceptively simple trailer. The narration is light and friendly, but ever so slightly foreboding. The art is lovely and unusual, but most of all, I love the depth of it.

Note how the camera seems to move deeper. In a way, it feels like it invites the viewer into the experience of the book itself. It makes the book sound interesting, like there are things to discover and explore. Of course, I already thought that--I do really really want to read this book!!

Go to Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog for more links to Book Trailer Tuesday.