4 posts tagged “book”
A few weeks ago, the creator of CSI released a book on paper where every 20 pages or so, the reader can go to a website, put in a password, and see a video that supposedly enhances the story. I just watched the "trailer" for it, expecting it to be horribly cheesy, as most book trailers are...but it appears that book trailers are starting to come into their own. Somebody spent real money on this trailer. Lots of set-ups, recognizable actors, a custom costume, text effects, props, foley, DOF, set design... Of course, it helps that the creator of CSI can probably just use the resources of CSI.
I'm not saying it's not silly, 'cause, the major conflict is Sqweegel vs. Dark. No joke. He must have gotten the character names out of a Saturday morning cartoon, although the content doesn't look made for children and the publisher is Dutton Adult. I wanted to experience this book/film since creating that kind of hybrid would be perfect for me, but the reviews made the book sound like total dreck. It sounds like people may be open to the concept of the hybrid, but that this particular execution didn't work so well. Several reviewers said it felt more like an interruption than an enhancement. A couple mentioned that they didn't like having to give out their email addresses to access the videos. Sounds like the clips on the website are a mixed bag, ranging from "well done" to "terrible." Some people liked the experience of the hybrid, others hated it.
It seems there is a much better executed book/film: Skeleton Creek. For one thing, the premise incorporates video clips into the story rather than just being a gimmick. For another, it's a kid's story. Kid's books have pictures, adult books generally don't. I think kids may be a more receptive and natural audience for this kind of storytelling, at least for now, until the genre matures.
Very intriguing for those of us who enjoy writing prose as well as filmmaking...
The NY Times has an interesting article today about games being used to market books. I checked out one of the games mentioned -- man, the author put a fair chunk of change into his game. Based on what I've seen of book trailers on YouTube, I was expecting it to look cheesy. But the look and feel is like a video game, not like a cheesy promo of a book. The artwork looks professional. The player can only continue to play if s/he answers questions from the book.
I did a little digging around and found out that the author/game maker (PJ Haarsma) has a small production company, has made a film, and makes a living shooting corporate spots. Ah-ha! I sensed a visual creative when I looked at his game and now I know why. He also designed the van remote on Dr. Horrible. :-)
He's a real pro when it comes to marketing. His site is gorgeous. He sells messenger bags in his store, along with his books. And he has a packed schedule of events. I'd love to know the results of his marketing. Amazon ranks his books at #385,237 and #124,807. His forum (of course he has one) has 744 users registered with over 35,000 posts. His third book is coming out soon and the NYT article sure couldn't hurt. But he's obviously made a big investment on his marketing and I'd love to know if and when it pays off. Based on his rankings and number of registered users on his forum, I'm guessing it hasn't yet. Games can take a lot of money to publish. I believe it's comparable to making a film. If nothing else, it sure raises the bar for the rest of us.
It's interesting to compare his numbers to another author's game. Random House also commissioned a game for the “Inheritance” fantasy series by Christopher Paolini (which I hate -- I couldn't find a single aspect about his first novel that wasn't regurgitated from every other dragon fantasy book out there). About 51,000 people have signed up since June. But his books are bestsellers and his latest book is #1 on Amazon right now. So it's hard to say how much the game has helped his sales. Also, Random House paid for the game. I'm sure that in the vast majority of cases, it would be the author who commissions his/her own game. That makes the economics a whole lot tougher.
Part of my interest is that the premise of Haarsma's book is very close to mine -- a pre-teen novel about a gamer who fights aliens in a computer game. Beyond that, the execution of the story seems quite different. (Confession time: this whole blog entry is just a way to avoid pinging agents again... I might be too indie to go through agents and publishers, but that's another blog entry...)
Susan Ee
http://feraldream.com
When I mentioned to a friend that I thought The Historian, a vampire novel, was bought for a million dollars by its publisher, my friend had a hard time believing me. Well, he was right not to believe me. Little, Brown & Company actually paid $2 million for it, according to the NY Times.
The Gargoyle, a more recent speculative fiction novel, was bought for $1.25 million by Doubleday, according to Entertainment Weekly.
I haven't read The Gargoyle but I read The Historian. What did I think of it?
Dude, I could TOTALLY write that for $2 mil. Where do I sign up?
Susan Ee
http://feraldream.com
We have some fascinating people in our workshop. One of them is Joshua Casteel, who was an army interrogator at the infamous Abu Ghraib. He ended up leaving the army as a conscientious objector. I'd tell you more about him except he's been advised that someone or some group is after him so I'll keep the personal info to a minimum. His book, Letters from Abu Ghraib, just came out. It's a collection of his actual emails to friends and family from Abu Ghraib. He assures me that none of the content was changed from his original emails. He came in as part of the clean-up crew after the scandal. It's a peek into his personal journey from a dedicated soldier to a conscientious objector. It sold out from the local bookstore within 2 hours. I'm waiting for the bookstore to restock it, but my friend, who did manage to buy it, has finished it already and says it's quite good.
Amazon currently says it's temporarily out of stock but if you order it anyway, they'll restock it. Check it out: Letters from Abu Ghraib by Joshua Casteel.
For those of you who have any doubts about Bush lying when he says we don't torture, check out more photos of Abu Ghraib.
Susan Ee
feraldream.com
