Filmmaker of the Year Uses Talents to Promote Books

This year at the 9th Annual Phoenix Film Festival, Webb Pickersgill was awarded as the "2009 Arizona Filmmaker of the Year" by the Phoenix Film Foundation which is the largest non-profit film organization in the state of Arizona. With the Phoenix Film Festival, IFP-Phoenix, Arizona Student Film Festival, International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival and the Phoenix Film Society.



Webb is multi-talented on many levels. A director, cinematographer, script writer, editor and producer Webb works on feature films, short films, commercials and book trailers. He has won several awards including a Davey for the book trailer Absolute Fear by author Lisa Jackson.



Several of his book trailers have become “Official Selections” of the World Independent Film Expo this year as well.


The "Official Selection" videos include-

Absolute Fear - Lisa Jackson
Ultra Violet- Nancy Bush
Found- Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fragile Eternity - Melissa Marr

Webb has owned his own business, Bassline Digital since 2004 and joined Circle of Seven (COS) Productions as a partner in 2006. You can find out more about Webb and his work at http://www.basslinedigital.com/. Circle of Seven Productions is the top book trailer producer in the United States and own the popular online reader site Reader’s Entertainment TV.

Social Networking - Fun vs. Business

At what point do we differentiate between social network fun and business? Are we always to be our "business" selves on sites like MySpace and Facebook? Do all of our Tweets need to be carefully constructed for ROI?

Is there a happy medium? And could being ourselves in a more personal way actually be a business strategy?

I've always mixed the COS MySpace with fun and business. Our MySpace blog get tens of thousands of views and is one of our strongest promo tools. I noticed that there's always a spike in views through when I write about two particular topics: Marketing is always well read on our blog, but even more popular are my rants about conventions and attendee behavior. I'm still on topic, sort of, by talking about the conventions, but I lean heavily into a more personal arena by giving my own insight to it (usually done with exasperation and/or humor).

60 days ago I decided to try a case study on Facebook. I hadn't been doing a lot with our Facebook profile, so this was a great opportunity to see what would happen if we tried something more "social". I started playing a popular Facebook game that had over 1 million players. The game is Mafia Wars.

I'm not a game player really. I used to play Tetris years ago, but that is about the extent of my game playing. My husband helped me get set up with Mafia Wars and soon I got the hang of it and learned to really enjoy it. Building my mafia meant finding other players, so I signed up for the Mafia Wars group site on Facebook. Once there I found over 150 people who wanted to be in my mafia.

These people didn't know who I was or what I did. They didn't care. They only cared that I was a good player. But, once they became a friend, in order to get on my mafia, it gave me access to communicating other things with them.

What surprised me was the number of these people who would comment on my Facebook profile when I posted something. At first I would post little things like "What are you doing this weekend?" People love to be able to share things about themselves so these type of questions were popular with everyone.

Then, I started posting our book video or comments on our clients books. Surprising me again, my mafia friends commented here too. Sometimes I got more comments from these people than from people I befriended because they are in the book community.

There is no doubt that some of my mafia friends bought books I recommended or talked about. I know because they emailed me. I never told them I was in the industry. I never went out of my way to say anything about what I did. What they saw was someone who loves to read making recommendations.

Could it be that because these people didn't see me as "selling" books that it instilled more trust for my recommendations? Traditional readers go to reviewers and others who are in the book world in order to get recommendations. But, these people were not traditional readers. They were "occasional" readers. They are part of that group who will read if inspired to do so.

Preaching to the choir does not build a bigger choir. We want to give traditional readers all the information they want in order to make purchasing decisions, but those people are going to read something regardless. It is the occasional reader that needs the extra nurturing so that we can encourage them to become traditional readers.

Mixing fun with the business of book promotion in a way that makes book promotion seem less like selling can be successful if done right. No matter whether you're playing online games or promoting a novel, you need to practice proper etiquette and remember that the way you conduct yourself follows you everywhere you go in the online world. Be thoughtful, considerate and honest and mixing fun with business gets easier to do.

Staffing for Social Networking And Online Success

How many social networkers does it take to run a company's online social networking program?

That depends. Not on how big the company is, but on how entrenched you want your company to be in social networking. How active do you want to be online? How effective? Is being transparent, responsible and accountable in your social networking outline and execution?

Here's how our own company determined some of our social networking priorities and execution.

We outlined the different types of readers that we know are interested in book video. We identified our audience. We outlined where those people are online. Many people are on more than one site, so we tried to narrow it down to the sites most likely to have the largest number of our target audience.

We outlined the type of material we want to offer these people. We matched up those elements to where we find that audience. Then we asked ourselves, what is the best platform or venue to reach this audience where they are hanging out online?

Then we developed a plan for our clients that would help them make goals that allowed us utilize the information we have attained, while also meeting the client's set goals.

For example, the client may be more interested in "branding" than sales. Branding is a building block to sales and someone looking to invest in their professional writing career knows they need to start with a good foundation. Going straight to sales may net you something, but it's like skipping foreplay, the payoff just isn't going to be the same.

If the client wants to do branding, let's say, as a chicklit author, we then match up our variety of platforms and venues to ensure that their video, audio, blogs, ads or whatever it is we're doing for them, finds that audience in a way that that audience likes. We might upload a fun video to TeamSugar, Popbytes or any number of similar sites, then approach known bloggers who fit that criteria and ask them to blog using the video. We may have other venues that are appropriate for this campaign and we apply them all.

How many people does it take to make that happen?

Since COS is primarily doing online marketing, promotion and advertising we have a full service front-to-back system.

Front End:

We have four people to address customer service. One main, full time employee who does the initial contact, helps determine the client's needs and is the liaison throughout the entire process.
We have someone who works specifically with our bigger clients. Clients who place multiple orders. This could be a publisher, agent, publicist or author.
For clients who have special needs I, personally, will work with them and our main customer service person to assist them in choosing a goal best suited to them.
And then we have our distribution coordinator who fills in for our main customer service person from time to time because we believe that the people who finish a project should understand how it all got to them.

We then have the products and the producers of those products who work with both the front and back end people.

The back end, or distribution department has 5 main workers and 2 ancillary workers. We have our social media manager who uploads video to social platforms and keeps track of what's going on with those sites on a daily basis. He can tell you if a site allows you to change a thumbnail, add more tags, allows live-links. He knows the ins and outs of how those sites operate.
The distribution coordinator works the front end so she knows what's coming and can advise others in the team what the goals are so appropriate distribution can happen. She collects information needed to optimize SEO, she is in charge of the timing of distribution, and she does things like sends out emails to the team what a book is released since COS does additional work on the day a book is released. She is also the person to follow up with our clients when their experience with us is finished. She sends them our company survey and makes sure they are satisfied with the product and the experience.
The quality control person for distribution goes around to our main sites or specified specialty sites to review how each video is performing. Each new video is assigned certain performance expectations and this person reviews that video to ensure it is living up to expectations. He does this until the end of the first week after the book is released. If the video is not performing to expectations he has a list of actions he will take until we get the video to perform.
Distribution research and development manager spends time each week looking for new venues and platforms. This might be a new video site, new blog, reader site or applying our videos to a new technology altogether. This person works with the other members of the team to follow trends and new opportunities.
We have a Distribution Specialist who works with booksellers, libraries and specialty sites who require special formatting or delivery. This has become a full time job.

In addition to those distribution jobs, customer service assists in R&E and in quality control. We have a tech expert who assists with any technical problems we run into.

But what of social networking itself?

Some of these positions incorporate social networking. Andrew, who watches the video performance, will post bulletins, blogs or comment in groups as he identifies how to get a video or audio product to perform better.

We have a group of volunteers made of of readers who will create a buzz for certain campaigns by talking about it in their own circle of influence.

I do the majority of social networking online. I blog every week for one of several blogs. Our COS MySpace blog is the most popular and has had tens of thousands of people read it. We have the COS blog, RECTV blog and I blog for Future Perfect Publishing. Recently I was made chair of the ITW (International Thriller Writers organization) Social Networking Committee and I blog on those social sites as well.

I recycle some of the blogs. If I write a blog that is popular I will re-use it down the line on a different venue. This allows me to maximize the work I put into blogging.

Andrew, Victoria and I all work at answering comments that come in to our blogs and social sites. That is something that is shared, but very vital to us.

In the summer of 2009 COS will have a certification program for Social Media Networking that we will require our employees who do front and back end work to attain. This will help our team to be as effective as possible while also being attuned to the ever-changing landscape of social media. This will help us stay on top of what works, what doesn't and how to best use our time.

Social networking takes commitment and dedication. It takes patience and time. And it takes energy and creativity. It isn't just a matter of mastering Facebook or writing a blog. It's become an important tool needed to keep our company viable.

Book Trailers that Matter

All books matter. They bring joy, inspiration, knowledge and/or entertainment. But sometimes there are trailers that come along that matter in a way that makes you want to share it with the world.
Currently, I have three such videos I'd like to share.
One is a beautifully drawn children's book called Change Has Come which is an inspiration about the future of America and the election of Barack Obama.
The second is an author reading from a book called Crazy Love. I can't watch this without getting emotional and I wish I could share it with the world.
The third is not a COS made trailer, but we did the distribution for it. It is the story of a mother's journey raising her autistic child.

What is the best book community out there?

We want to know what YOU think!
GoodReads, a favorite of COS, is a wonderful community of readers, but there are so many it's hard to determine which one to invest your time in.
A great deal of Ning sites have sprung up with groups for general readers and then genre specific. Shelfari and even Amazon's community have a great following. But, which one is best?
We'd love to have your opinion!

A Great Time Travel Novel!

MY MAN, MICHAEL proves you can be both a lover and a fighter! Combining mixed martial arts, romance and time travel!
The previous book in this series made both the USA Today and NY Times bestseller lists!
Michael thinks an injury will keep him from fighting again until a woman shows up and promises to heal him. But, he must travel with her and teach a community of woman warriors to fight in return.
Imagine Michael’s surprise when she fulfills her end of the bargain and finds that, to fulfill his he must travel into the future!
MY MAN, MICHAEL is out on Jan. 27, 09 and can be found at any major bookstore. Find out more about the book, the series and the author at http://www.lorifoster.com.

Part 1-

MY MAN MICHAEL LORI FOSTER BOOK TRAILER Part 1


Part 2-

MY MAN MICHAEL LORI FOSTER BOOK TRAILER Part 2


Part 3-

MY MAN MICHAEL LORI FOSTER BOOK TRAILER Part 3

Can out-of-home markets be the secret to stimulating books sales?

According to its website Scarborough Research “measures the lifestyles, shopping patterns, media behaviors, and demographics of American consumers locally, regionally, and nationally. Scarborough consumer insights are used by marketers and media professionals to develop successful programs that maximize return on marketing and sales investments.” When Scarborough researched the buying patterns of the Transit TV commuters it found something that might not be a surprise to publishers; commuters read.

Transit TV has flat screen televisions on its buses in five major cities; Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando and Milwaukee. According to the Transit TV site 46% of its riders are aged 18-34 and 55% are female. But what percentage of commuters are buying books and where are they going to buy them? That’s what Scarborough Research asked. And we’ll look at those stats in a moment.

Other than statistic significance, there are a variety of reasons why the publishing world should take note of this information.

• Demographics- getting your message to major cities
• A repeat audience
• Audience recall of material

Transit TV audience is preconditioned to accept book video as both content and purchase suggestions since they have been watching book trailers since 2008. Circle of Seven Productions signed a contract with Transit TV in March of 2008 to provide book trailers as content. The relationship between the two companies started with a simple email from Sheila English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, inviting Transit TV to look at COS videos on YouTube. “I saw the Transit TV logo on the OVAB site and recalled seeing that on ExpandedBooks’ website. I knew there must be interest in book content and COS offers something different than ExpandedBooks so I thought I’d contact Transit TV and see what they thought of our content.” Jeff Hartlieb of Transit TV said, “I saw the significance of the Book Trailer segments and when riders started asking where they could purchase the books, I knew we had hit a home run” Hartlieb goes on to say, “The content is highly visual and well suited to Transit TV’s environment which is one of the major reasons it has done so well on our system”

Once book trailers began to play on Transit TV there was a brief period of adjustment where commuters would see a book trailer and understand what it was. COS book videos are meant to be entertaining, so they aren’t overt advertising. And to lend to the impression of entertainment vs. ad, COS created bumpers, which are pre-roll video that tells commuters they are learning about certain genres of books and an end roll video that encourages people to read anything. “We were contracted to provide content, not ads,” says English. “By creating a pre and post video that encourages the experience of reading, then putting our trailers between those bumpers as examples of what someone might read, we are able to treat our book videos are entertainment, not ads.” The downside of being a content provider instead of an advertiser is that we don’t have the metrics or analytics that advertisers get. We know we will get 10 million impressions for each video, but we don’t get specifics and we don’t get to request particular spots or dates. The videos play within the month we submit them. Because the videos are taken as content and because of the lack of analytics COS doesn’t charge its clients for placement on Transit TV. COS does, however, charge a nominal fee for formatting and processing so it doesn’t absorb incidental costs related to the program.

The Transit TV venue has significant benefits to it. There is a 51% average advertising recall which is an amazing statistic, and one COS has seen in action.

“I was excited when I opened my email to see that I got a fan letter from someone who saw my trailer on the bus!” Says author Thora Gabriel who shared part of the letter. The commuter was so enticed by the trailer he noted the URL of the author and emailed her when he got to a computer. “Being quite a fan of various fantasy books and such, I was intrigued by the "trailer" for the book currently being shown on Los Angeles MTA bus
monitors.” This commuter recalled the book, the author and the URL after getting off the bus. He was inspired enough to take action. That’s what all promotion is suppose to do.

89% have a favorable opinion of Transit TV so the majority of people watching appreciate the content. With so many people on advertisement overload, to find a venue where the audience is happy to watch the material on the screen lends itself to positive outcomes for advertisers.

“I’m getting more and more fan mail from people who saw my trailer on the transit bus!” say author Christine Feehan. Authors are excited about getting this additional exposure and over the fact that it inspires action.

The Scarborough research found interesting facts about Transit TV commuters. They did an index that compares the overall population of the city to those taking the transit system. The way the index works is that it looks at the concentration of a certain type of consumer compared with the overall city.

For example, in Milwaukee, there is a 22% greater concentration of people who purchase books online who are taking the transit system and watching Transit TV. The concentration of readers/commuters purchasing books online in Chicago is 12%. That means that you can find a 12% concentration of book buyers on the bus compared to the metro population index. The down and dirty of these stats tells us that a high concentration of book buyers are riding the transit system.

Where are these book buyers going to purchase their books? Not everyone buys online as the research will show. In Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Chicago Waldenbooks was the preferred bookseller of commuters who watched Transit TV. But, in Atlanta it is B. Dalton that the majority of commuters bought books from. Other places where book buyers went were WalMart, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books and then online at Amazon.

There is a high concentration of book buyers taking the transit bus system who are spending significant and repeat time on the bus, watching Transit TV. These book buyers are now attuned to book video that plays several times throughout each day, informing them of new books and reminding them of the entertainment of reading.

It’s only a matter of time before one of the booksellers will find a way to utilize this venue and drive foot traffic to their own stores. They will benefit from multiple books being presented to these readers. It will just be a matter of driving that traffic to a central or “preferred” point of sale.

The readers benefit from having this information given to them in an entertaining way, authors benefit from a book promotion venue that is targeted to a high concentration of book buyers and booksellers benefit from repeat messages telling people that reading is a major form of entertainment.

Farewell to 2008 and Hello to 2009!

As 2008 closes I wonder, "Where did the time go?!" It's been an extraordinary year and a challenging one.

The economy has made it hard for every industry to flourish and as booksellers try to survive, publishers cut back jobs and acquisitions. Yet, books have not gone away. Nor do I think they will. Ever.

I do think that the competition between books will grown. With fewer books being printed publishers will be more picky about what they take and what they will pass on. I have friends who have been published for years that are now struggling to get their newest books picked up, or contracts renewed. It's a hard time and I don't have a crystal ball to tell us if 2009 will be any better. I hope that it will.

COS will be making changes in 2009 to our audio and video products and distribution of those projects. Because of the tight economy we feel obligated to make our products the most effective marketing tool they can be. So we have made relationships and signed contracts with more libraries, booksellers, book clubs and specialty sites. Not only is our distribution more diversified in platform, but it is more targeted in what audience will see it.
We have someone in our Distribution Department that goes around to our online sites and maintains them. He comments on other people's videos, participates in the community and maintains a general presence there for COS in a very real and meaningful way. And, it allows us to engage in a two way relationship, thus creating deeper and more loyal relationships with people on those sites.

Our distribution has increased and our Gold Distribution package is getting 3 million impressions with 3 million increment increases from there. These are meaningful impressions in vast numbers. Radio and television can't compete with our numbers for the price.

We will be doing more with mobile in 2009 and I'm excited about that. We will do a lot more interactive stuff and I can't wait to unveil that!! Reader's Entertainment TV will get a make over and we are adding two more sites-
In Faith Network (InFaithNetwork.com) will go live in January. It is specifically for our Inspirational videos. And Young Readers TV (YoungReadersTV.com) will be for children and young adult videos only. Both will tie in to Reader's Entertainment TV.

We will be attending several conventions in 2009 including RT, RWA, BEA and ThrillerFest.

I was reading the Advertising Age magazine last night and they are saying that in 2008 there were 10 Out-of-Home advertising venues that really stood out. 3 is cinema, where top agencies are now putting ads before movies. COS started doing that back in 2004. The stats on that kind of advertising are very impressive. And 4 is ads on buses. COS started putting book videos on buses earlier this year. It is always good to know that we're on the right track with advertising. We've been extremely happy with both venues!

Did you know that there is a concentration of book buyers on buses? Research shows that we can hit more actual book buyers with Transit TV than with traditional TV in those same areas. We even know where those people are going to buy their books and guess what? It isn't Amazon. That was surprising to me. A very, very small percent went to Amazon.com to buy books.

We are very grateful to everyone who helped make 2008 such a successful year for COS! Thank you! And we hope you and yours will have a wonderful and prosperous New Year in 2009!

The Goddess Prophecies by D.R. Whitney

The Goddess Prophecies: The Cup of Immortality is being heralded as the next Chronicles of Narnia, but it can also be compared to Lord of the Rings. Its an epic fantasy with 20 years of study and research behind the making of this novel.
Author D.R. Whitney is an Arthurian scholar and has studied in the US and the UK. Her new novel, The Goddess Prophecies is published by Crescent Moon Press.
The book has already inspired a video game and movie!

The story has epic fantasy elements and a lot of intrigue and perils as the last descendant of the Lady of the Lake, a modern and daring twenty-something inherits this mysterious amulet that leads her on an epic quest that time travels her through a Portal of Mists. With clandestine organizations and knights from Charlemagne chasing her, she finds herself in another world where she discovers that she must destroy the Master of the Souls and his minions who have stolen the Cup of Immortality to which her inheritance belongs. There her soul mate an incredibly powerful wizard returns to help her and together her quest takes them across these savage fantasy worlds with awesome creatures, powers and adventure that will keep
you turning each page with anticipation. Find out more at http://goddessprophecies.com

Murder Game Thrills

The game pieces determine who kill them. The cards tell them who and how they will die. It’s a game of life and death. Of cat and mouse.
I love a good thriller! And I love it when the plot is complicated enough be intriguing but not convoluted.

Murder Game by author Christine Feehan is one of her Ghostwalker books so it has a lot to it.
There’s the paranormal, military intrigue and of course romance. But, this book is differentin that it is very much a suspense thriller. And a great one at that!

Kaden is a dangerous man whose only family is his team of Ghostwalker elite, paranormal military friends. When a series of murders puts the team in danger he searches out a woman with special abilities. She can see the history of the things she touches. And he wants her to touch a game piece.

Tansy did some tracking for the FBI, but after some brutal cases something inside her snapped and she was hospitalized for months. No longer able to withstand her gift and the horrors that come with it, she stays far from civilization.

Kaden has found her and will get her help whether she likes it or not. Her help with the case will save his friends. But it will destroy Tansy. With an undeniable chemistry between them Kaden now must make choices no man should ever have to make.
You can find out more on the author’s site. She has the first chapter up.

http://www.christinefeehan.com.

Also, a very chilling book trailer for the book is available at-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-r_x60pf1A

An Old Fashioned Romance

PW calls Catherine Anderson “A major voice in the romance genre” and I have to agree. If you’ve not read Anderson and you love a good romance with believable and loveable characters I strongly recommend any of her novels. But, the one coming out January 6, 2009 is the one everyone is talking about.

Star Bright is the story of a woman who escapes her dangerous and abusive husband one night on a cruise ship. She changes her looks and makes her getaway to find herself working for a handsome and charming cowboy.

The chemistry the characters have makes this a true romance of quality.
Anderson has a book trailer for Star Bright and you can find more at the author’s site- http://www.catherineanderson.com

New YouTube Analytics Help Design Book Trailers!

YouTube is doing so many new things that it is hard to keep up! But, we have and now we’re going to share with you.

You’ll notice, when you go to www.youtube.com/booktrailers and click on one of our videos that the player can be seen in widescreen! This is new and so far we’re loving it!

I noticed on some other channels that YouTube is gearing up not only for lower third pre-role but for in-video ads to the right side of a video as well. That seems to be in alpha right now since I’ve not heard any rumblings from beta testers, but I see the writing on the wall.

YouTube will now let you buy ad space and get your video or channel featured. It is very much like Google AdWords and is run by Google.

YouTube has analytics called “Insight”. It can tell you things like the ages of people who watch a video, their gender, number of views, demographics and now they have something called “Hot Spots”. This is the information YouTube gives regarding this new feature-

“The ups-and-downs of viewership at each moment in your video, compared to videos of similar length.

Above the average line, your video is hot: it's retaining more viewers than average and they may be rewinding to watch that point again. Below the average line, your video's gone cold: viewers are not rewinding or may be leaving the video faster than the average.”

This is very important information. It lets us know how long someone is staying interested in a video. We can review the information and find out what people like or don’t like with book video. This enables us to build a better video. One with a greater engagement factor, thus allowing for a greater “call to action”.

According to a new survey done by TubeMogul, the attention span of your average online video viewer is very short. According to the TubeMogul study-

“Most videos steadily lose viewers once "play" is clicked, with an average 10.39% of viewers clicking away after ten seconds and 53.56% leaving after one minute.”

Here is the chart they put together that shows how many people continue to watch as a video plays.

According to this study the first 10 seconds of a video is key to get your message in or have something occur that will keep them watching. By one minute half of your viewers have left. Now, they may not be leaving entirely. They may have watched all they needed to in order to make a decision to purchase. But, currently, there’s no tracking system that tells us what they did once they left.

And not all videos are created equally. TubeMogul did not use Hulu.com stats because it is a different environment. There are other exceptions. Notice the Hot Spot analytics for Christine Feehan’s Turbulent Sea video. The video is clearly in the “hot” zone during the entire 2 minutes that the video plays. The majority of COS videos follow this pattern. Since we don’t have access to book videos outside of COS produced videos we don’t know if this is a normal trend for book videos or if it only applies to COS videos. The bottom line is that most COS book videos are being watched to the end. They are the exception to the rule much like Hulu.com is.

As we learn how to best utilize the analytic information we’re collecting we will be able to identify what works best so that we can be consistent in creating videos that are “hot”.

COS CEO Heads West in November

The CEO of Circle of Seven (COS) Productions will speak on Viral Marketing at Book Publishers Northwest Conference in Seattle November 11.th English is also slated to cover Online Marketing Opportunities in Portland November 15 th at the Pub West’s National Publishing Conference and Book Industry Trade Show.

The workshop on November 11th, Making Book Trailers for the Web, takes place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington. This is open to anyone interested and though there is a $5 suggested donation, it is not a requirement. Everyone is invited to come by and join in!

After the Seattle and Portland events it's back to northern California to work on the new COS website for 2009!

Book Trailers on Robert Scoble's Qik show

While at the RWA convention in San Francisco, CEO Sheila Clover English was interviewed by tech guru Robert Scoble. Check out the 15 minute interview here - INTERVIEW

Sheila talks about how libraries and schools are using book trailers, mentions the new Dorchester/Stephen King/COS book trailer contest and answers the question "What sites do you put trailers on?"

Christine Feehan's Turbulent Sea

NY Times bestselling author Christine Feehan rocks the book world with her new novel and its music video!

The new Christine Feehan (http://www.christinefeehan.com) novel, Turbulent Sea, that comes out July 29^th, 2008 is one of her “Magical Drake Sisters” series. That last book in the series hit #1 on NY Times! This book is more about the magic, the rock life and the couple and definitely is a book you can read without having to read the previous books.

Christine was recently interviewed on Reader’s Entertainment Radio and not only did you get to hear a reading from Turbulent Sea, but there was an audio byte for her upcoming novel Dark Curse as well. It was cool to hear Christine talk about her books!

You can check out the music video here- http://youtube.com/watch?v=ECqNxdDWliY

And if you want to check out the radio interview you can check that out here- http://www.cospRadio.com or http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Circle-of-Seven

Pam's Pages: Conspiracy Game

Pam's Pages: Conspiracy Game

Anyone can make a book video right?

During ThrillerFest this year I had the opportunity to chat with people who knew just enough about book video to have one. Outside of that they knew very little. It was a great chance for me to educate people who thought they were already "in the know" about book video.

Just about anyone with imovie or Windows Movie Maker can create a book video. Some of them are pretty good. Some are not. It can take a lot of time and effort to create a book video, so by the time you're finished you feel very experienced in the process. Yet, I still see a lot of very basic mistakes made over and over again. Text at the lower third of a video is not a good thing to do if you're going to distribute around the internet. That's not to say that there aren't times in which breaking that rule are to your advantage somehow, but as a rule the lower third of a video should not have text. There are other, similar, rules that should be followed when making a viral video. Many people learn through their mistakes, which is the way many of us learn.

Now you can insert metadata into your video in a way that gives you better SEO. Whether it is Flash, WMV or MOV formats, you can give your video a better standing in the search engines if you know how. Do you know how?

Better video SEO, lower-third rule, initial abandonment rule, font rules, rating rules...the list goes on and on. If you know those rules you're doing better than half the people I see making book video. If you follow those rules you're doing better than 90% of the people I see making book videos.

So, let's say you're one of the 10% of people creating book video correctly and utilizing all the rules that will get you better placement and quality on the internet. Now what? You've created this great book video and what do you do now?

If you aren't getting your video to at least 40 sites that are specific to your genre, then what are you doing? Are you sending them to booksellers? Are the booksellers taking the majority of what you send? Are they taking everything you send? Are you sending to niche specific sites? Are your videos being used by libraries? Are you creating a buzz with your video? How are you doing that?

If you created a video and someone from BN.com said, "I'll put that up in a prominent place on the BN.com site for $250!" would you pay $250 for that placement? Would it be worth it to you to get your video up on the BN.com site in say 2 places? 3?

How much is this worth? -
Posting to at least 2 places on the BN.com site- $
Posting on Borders.com site- $
Put into a bookseller's newsletter- $
Posting to 30 social media sites specific to the book-$
Posting to 10 bookmarking sites that get good buzz-$
Sent to 5000 libraries-$
Sent to 300 booksellers-$
Posted and highlighted on 2 blogs-$
Highlighted on Reader's Entertainment TV-$

Be honest. What would you pay for each of those things? Can you get those on your own? Perhaps you can. Perhaps you can get great distribution.

Where are book trailers getting the most buzz? Where are people talking about then and using them to make decisions on what books to buy? Where are people passing them around and putting them up on their own sites? Where are book clubs getting them from?

This is where research and development comes into play. Someone has to be following the trends both before and after posting a book video. You track the trends and, over time, can determine where a book video is most effective online.

There is a full circle that happens when you're a professional business. There is-
knowing the market
knowing how to set and maintain goals
knowing how to measure effectiveness
knowing how to create a viral video or commercial
knowing the rules that make that video most effective
knowing what readers find entertaining in book video
knowing where the readers are finding the book video
knowing who is buying after watching a book video
knowing where to best place a video
knowing how to make trends work in your favor
knowing where to go to find out the trends
establishing a quality control measure
reviewing quality control and taking action on it
growing viewership
growing awareness/branding
knowing the market

Anyone can make a book video. But it doesn't make you an expert just because you made one. Some people have a natural talent for making a video that others will love and take action on. If you can grow a viewership organically that's fantastic! But, if you're not getting thousands of hits on your video, not getting media attention or not seeing a correlation to sales, then it might be to your benefit to save your money and invest in having someone who has extensive experience do your video for you. Anyone can make a book video, but not just anyone can make a book video effective.

An example of a book trailer that works - Residual Marketing Effect

Sometimes it takes a while for an idea to settle into place and take hold. When we started producing book trailers no one knew what it was for. There wasn't a YouTube so it was harder to convince people that a book trailer could work. Now, book trailers are well established for many people. There are still a few who think it's a new idea, but that won't last long.

This blog is the perfect example of what a book trailer should do. Conspiracy Game, the book trailer, came out 2 years ago. At that time, this reader saw the video and picked up the book. She didn't get around to reading it right away. She loved the trailer. The point being that the trailer caused her to buy the book. Now, she has read the book and was so inspired that she blogged about it.

Two years and that book video is still getting hits. It still inspires people to find out more about the book and the author.

I think there will be residual marketing effect for online video that will allow us to monitor data over time, proving that, as long as the book is available, the video will be active promotion for it.

Let's see USA Today or NY Times do that.

Should Publishers Alter Contracts for Book Cover Illistrations?

With the economy what it is many people are asking themselves whether there will be more cut backs in jobs, less books printed, more on-demand prints or less spent in promo/marketing. But one avenue of change that could be helpful to publishers is altering contracts with book cover illustrators.
Don't get me wrong, I think artists should be fairly compensated for work. Book video production is an art form. We want to be fairly compensated for our work. But, like many other artists and companies we are feeling the harsh realities of a poor economy. We have discounted our products or added incentives and in some cases we simply lose work because people can't afford a video or can't afford what we charge for book video. The settle for a lesser quality and less distribution because they only have $100 or $200 to spend.
So, I'm not suggesting that publishers settle for less quality, only that they present to illustrators that the problems with the economy make it necessary to get better deals for the current prices or that the prices need to come down. Why not? Everyone else is sacrificing.

What I would like to see publishers do is to alter contracts so that artwork can be used online for video without having to pay extra or seek additional copyright approval. With the evolution of online uses for marketing it only makes sense to evolve the contracts to cover this additional use. The covers are being used for promotion use only. No one is selling their video. Many artists are allowing web use for video already, but some are still holding out.

We had one artist who was already paid $3000 to supply a book cover tell us that we had to pay him another $3000 to use the cover in a video. Obviously we didn't use it. Then, when the author became a huge success that artist tried to contact the author and the publisher to get more work and the author didn't want him because of his previous attitude.

Alter the contracts. Evolve them. Make sure web use for video is included. And be sure to specify that all of the individual elements of the cover should be available for use in a promotional video.

The publishing industry is a big machine, but it tends to shrink the longer you're in it. Everyone seems to know everyone and during a time of economic down turn, instead of cutting back, insist on getting more for what you're already paying. I would think that artists, especially during times like this, would be willing to negotiate.

Being able to use the elements of the book cover helps to tie in the video, the brand, the title and the overall look. Using those elements helps to encourage recall for the book cover.

The same should be done with fonts if possible. It should be included in the license that the fonts can be used in promo material including video.

And if you're looking to show the video off line on TV, movie theaters, Transit TV, etc. you should be sure that you don't limit yourself to "online use" only.

From a producers point of view, we realize that, often, a great deal of thought is put into what the book cover looks like, what the font is, etc. We would like to benefit from all of that careful consideration. If the publisher things those elements represent the story, we would like to use them in our videos.

Book Video Distribution

The technology side of book video includes several factors. Formatting, SEO and distribution are major concerns and hot topics for COS Productions' R&D team. Our research and development team is made up of internal employees as well as contracted specialists.

Last year our major concentration was in book video distribution. We worked on establishing relationships with booksellers and specialty sites, we submit our videos to over 300 booksellers and 5000 libraries. We submit to specialty sites such as Watch the Book, Preview the Book, DigiGirls Library, TerrorFeed, Dark Scribe Magazine, Romance Novel TV, and so on. Most recently we're working with BooksiRead and GoodReads. We're delving into more niche communities while continuing to reach out to additional booksellers and book clubs.

We have a definite plan for distribution in 2009 and we continue to grow in that direction. We've mastered the RSS feed and are able to do more with less time invested. We can even use RSS to get our blogs out to several areas and then monitor comments using Friend Feed.

Our big focus in R&D right now is video SEO. Now that technology has caught up with SEO opportunities for video we plan on taking full advantage of that. Our team is currently working on a tutorial video and guide for our network partners that will help our videos have greater SEO.

We have reached out to publishers who are now embracing social media and we're sharing our experience and resources with them. This also helps us get greater distribution since we can deliver client video to publishers in those areas online.

We are always asked about our list of distribution sites. And, since we have a list of over 400 sites that we can distribute to online we feel confident that we're on top of the book video distribution game for social media. We've showed the list to publishers who ask to see it, but we do not make it available to the public because it is proprietary.

But, I will share a list of sites that shows our most basic distribution. We have other distribution packages that are much larger than this one, but this is the least amount of distribution that a video, produced by COS, will get.

1) 5min (when applicable)

2) Addicting Clips

3) AOL

4) AtomUploads

5) Backflip

6) Blinklist

7) Blinx

8) Blip TV

9) Bluedot

10) Break

11) ClipBlast

12) Crackle

13) DailyMotion

14) Del.icio.us

15) Digg

16) Diigo

17) Flickr

18) Flurl

19) Folkd

20) Furl

21) GoFish

22) Google Video

23) Internet Archieve

24) iTunes

25) Lycos

26) Magnolia

27) Meebo

28) MeeVee

29) Mefeedia

30) Mixx

31) Myjeeves

32) MySPace

33) Pando

34) Photobucket

35) Propeller

36) PureVideo

37) Putfile

38) REAL

39) REC TV

40) REC TV Blog

41) Reddit

42) SearchforVideo

43) Sevenload

44) Spash Cast

45) Spurl

46) StumbleUpon

47) Sumo

48) Technoratti

49) TotalVid

50) Twitter

51) Veoh

52) Viddler

53) VidPow

54) Vimeo

55) VSocial

56) Yahoo Video

57) YouTube

58) Borders

59) BN.com

60) Powells.com

61) Southern Independent Bookseller’s Association- all bookstores

62) Watch the Book

63) Preview the Book

64) DigiGirls

65) Dark Scribe Magazine

66) TerrorFeed (Horror only)

67) Romance Novel TV (Romance only)

68) GoodReads

69) BooksiRead

70) Ebookisle

71) Night Owl Romance

72) Romance Designs Theater

73) COS Productions website and newsletter

74) Find Me an Author

75) Kim's Wonderful World of Books

76) OverDrive (sends to 5000 libraries)

As you can see there are some sites that are very specific to genre and we do try to match genres up to the best possible audience. So, if you have an Inspirational we won't send that to TerrorFeed, and so on.

To me that is an impressive list of distribution for a very low price. Our Cover Story videos ($250) and our Level 1 Mini Teasers ($750) get that distribution as part of the package when they purchase their video from us.

We have additional distribution such as Transit TV which is extremely inexpensive and gets your video 11 million impressions in one week. We can format for TV, movie theater and other out-of-home ads.

We now guarantee at least 50,000 impressions for our top distribution packages. That's new. This is a guarantee for impressions not views, I like to be clear on that. We now place ads on MySpace, Facebook and Bebo with our top distribution packages. The ads show the author and book name and sends people to see the video.

Recently I had one of our publisher clients look at our list of 400 sites. I told her to choose any 10 on the list. I told her that I would show her where COS has a presence on any of the 10 she chose. I've shared a generic list, one without our specific book sites on it, with the tech world and will discuss it with Robert Scoble in July on his show. Our next step is creating a software program that we input the 400 sites into. We then input specific details about each site. The final product will give us a software program that we input details about a video to and it will then tell us what the top sites are for that book and it will even tell us WHY those sites are good for the book. That will go live in 2009.

It's exciting to see book video on the same playing field as video game trailers and movie trailers. 2009 promises to be an exciting year for book video!