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Where Words Meet

HEY, LOOK! YER BOOK IS ON YOUTUBE!

(WANTONLY PROBING THE NEW FRONTIERS OF WRITERLY HYPE FOR ALL)

by John Skipp

Dear gang –

All year, I’ve been wanting to shoot a commercial for THE LONG LAST CALL, my most recent alarming horror novel.

And why, you might ask, would I want to do this evil thing?

It’s like this:

The mass market paperback is coming out this September, from Leisure Books. They are excited about pushing it as “The Return of John Skipp” – making it kind of a big deal, which is exactly what you WANT your publishers to do – and I just thought it would be cool to send the Leisure sales force some goodies to play with.

And what could be better, I asked myself, than a weird, stylish promotional video? A video with lots of “MEEEEE!!!” all over it, self-promoting like the shameless motherfucker that I am?

I wanted to do it for fun. I wanted to do it for the experience. But mostly, I wanted to do something that would MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO READ THE BOOK.

Just to see if it actually worked.

In fact, I’d hoped to shoot it in February, back when we wrapped JAKE’S WAKE. But my crew got busy on other gigs, and the money was used up, and then we lost our key location, and blah blah blah blah blah.

But while I got sidetracked by the vicissitudes of life, I’d already gotten Leisure thoroughly psyched on the idea.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered – courtesy of my awesome girlfriend – that Leisure had gone ahead and made one without me.

Which you can take a look at, by heading over to www.youtube.com, and doing a search for “John Skipp”.

I’m really curious as to what you guys think.

Personally, I think it’s INCREDIBLY COOL that they sunk a couple of bucks into this thing. The fact that they went to that extra effort is astonishing, and rare.

But it also underscores a couple of central facts about commercials for books:

1) THERE’S NOT A LOT OF MONEY LAYIN’ AROUND FOR THIS SORT OF THING.

The fact is, shooting original footage takes time, planning, equipment, people, a place to shoot, etc. And most of those things ain’t free.

That’s why the Leisure ad is full of snippets from pre-existing material (toothpaste and lingerie commercials, for example), purchased intact and then edited together around snippets of dialogue from the book.

To the producer/director’s credit, the book was clearly studied at some length. The dialogue airlifts in from all over the story, not just the opening chapter. Certain themes were evoked, or at least mentioned.

The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t feel at all like the book I wrote.

Which brings me to:

2) THAT PERSONAL TOUCH.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: most of what a writer brings to the literary party is their own distinctive point of view. How they plot. How they people their stories. What their deeper concerns are. What their sense of humor – or drama, or compassion – is made of.

The author’s voice – their personality, and the dance of their language – is what creates the feel.

I think that’s kind of important.

The commercial – of if you prefer, EPK (electronic press kit) – is also good for introducing the writer as an interesting character whom you might like to meet, or read a nice story from.

Creating interest – not just from the reading audience – but from bookstore owners/bookers/buyers who might want you to appear at their store.

Or talk show hosts who might want to have you on the program. Or college professors who might like you to lecture for their students. And so on. Etcetera. Etcetera.

Which is why I’d like to postulate the following notion:

3) THE AUTHOR AS OWN BEST SALESPERSON.

Obviously, not every writer has this skill. But if you can talk clearly and enthusiastically about your book, in an entertaining manner, THAT JUST MIGHT COME IN HANDY!

So here’s what I’m gonna do.

I’m going to get my little pro crew together – camera, lights, boom mic, sound, and electrical – in a big dark room. I’m gonna keep the lighting very stark, simple, dramatic. Mostly shadow, with pools of light. Total noir. In black and white.

I’ll have a list of questions that I want to be asked. I’ll have notes, just as I would for any speaking engagement.

But mostly I’ll just riff, improvising on the themes, talking about the story I know so well.

I’m also gonna shoot a couple of hot, striking visuals from the story, in color, which I may or may not use.

Should take about three hours to shoot, and maybe five to edit. Probably cost me $300, max.

Again, this may sound crazy, or entirely beside the point of the writer’s business.

But in the time it took for me to get around to this shit, Simon & Schuster has set up a new video website with 40 authors on it, and more to come. Digital promos are being used by Hyperion, HarperCollins, and Penguin to motivate sellers and sales. And Leisure, God bless ‘em, just took the jump with me.

In short, it’s not just the wave of the future, but of the actual present.

Something to think about, boys and girls.

Me, I’m doing it for the fun. For the experience.

And to see if it actually works.

Yer pal,
Skipp

Related posts:

1. From Book To Film
2. A Book By Any Other Name…
3. How to Write a Bad Book Review In Twelve Easy Steps
4. How To Build A Book
5. Will you read my book?

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