Kelley and Hall

While speaking last week at the Mystery Writers of America meeting, we were asked a very interesting and popular question. Do book trailers work? Are they worth the time and effort and do they result in more attention, increase in sales and brand recognition?  I think if you are going to take the time and effort (and cost) to make a book trailer, you have to create something that people will talk about and pass along to friends and family. It has to deliver a message, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, romance or mystery, there has to be a driving force that makes people want to spend the 2 minutes or 7 minutes watching this video at their computer. Kelly Corrigan is a great example of an author who used the message behind her book to create a trailer that not only allows the viewer to get a quick glimpse of what is offered between the pages of her memoir, but also something that would strike a chord and leave a lasting impression. Below are two examples of Kelly’s book videos. One is a trailer and one is a recording of a speech she gave interspersed with images. Ask yourself, does this make me want to buy her book? If the answer is yes, as I’m sure it will be, then the trailer has done its job. A trailer of static images with text scrolling across may not be worth the time and money, but something that can create a viral buzz and have people talking is worth it.

Last night Kelley & Hall was invited to speak to a wonderful group of writers from the Mystery Writers of America’s New England chapter. This group of insightful  and talented authors had great questions and an eager curiosity to learn as much as they could about the skills and tactics employed when trying to secure publicity. Many of the questions revolved around both an online presence and the social networking outlet of Facebook. The conversation flew by and at the end there were still so many things I wanted to say about the importance of promoting your work to the best of your ability. I would love to open up this blog as a forum for aspiring and published authors to ask questions. Let this blog be the “Dear Abby” of book publicity. Email me directly at jocelyn (at) kelleyandhall (dot) com and we can address your questions right here on this blog. With the constantly changing face of publishing and media and the new opportunities developing at every turn, now is the best time to fully understand how to take complete advantage of these opportunities and let them work for you.

According to The Huffington Post reports are coming out that Google and HTC have been working on a touch-screen tablet for over a year and a half. While word is scant, analysts believe the tablet could hit the market around the same time as the Apple tablet.

The iSlate (the reported name of the Apple Tablet) is said to be launching on January 26, 2010.

The Washington Post tries to explain the allure behind this much talked about product.

Nina Sankovitch, the woman behind Read All Day has some pertinent advice for all of us. READ MORE! It is a great resolution to add to your list or dare to have it be the only item on your list. Either way, it is a positive change we can all make in our daily lives. Sankovitch points out in her Huffington Post essay that if we spent less time on Facebook and Twitter, we could devote more time to reading.

“Reading is a vacation and an education,” says Sankovitch, and honestly, how many things can that be said about?

On December 26th, Amazon announced that, for the first time ever, they had sold  more ebooks than physical books on Christmas Day. In an interview, Jeff Bezos was quoted as saying that he believes that the print book will eventually disappear.

Amazon also announced that the Kindle has become the most gifted item in Amazon’s history. What do you think? Do you think physical books will disappear?

Sports Illustrated is running a Tablet Demo on their site and YouTube. I think it is a great example of projections for the future of magazines.

Publishers Weekly ran a Year in Publishing essay through 140-character tweets. It is a great year end wrap-up and will certainly entertain.

It has been quite a year in publishing! E-books seem to be the talk of the industry but we have yet to really see a tremendous change in the power struggle between the real and the virtual. As Don Draper in Mad Men said, “I have a lot bricks, but I can’t quite see a building yet.”

This year has seen the demise of some great magazines and newspapers and more and more attention is going to online ventures and blogs. Self-publishing is getting mainstream attention and publishing houses are seeing some major restructuring.

All in all it has been a year of change, growth and invention. We are looking forward to the new year with hope and anticipation for what’s to come!

We hope you will join us on this journey in 2010 through the ever-changing world of media, publishing and literature. There are some great new voices on our horizon and we are looking forward to bringing them into your world!

Happy Holidays from all of us Kelley & Hall and have a safe and happy New Year!

When people think about publicity, they think about getting into the big publications and the major outlets; People Magazine, USAToday, The Today Show, Vogue, to name a few. What many authors don’t realize is that it is just as important, if not more, to build a strong online presence. This has lasting power. The more people start “buzzing” about you, your book and your expertise online, the more opportunities you are giving the “BIG” media to come and find you! ..Or at least have your publicist lead them to you.

For example, one of our authors, Megan Kelley Hall, has been traveling around (virtually, of course) to various blogs and websites talking about the role bullying has played in her YA novels, SISTERS OF MISERY and THE LOST SISTER. Both of her books are fiction, what is notoriously the hardest to promote because most news and entertainment outlets want a great non-fiction topic to build a show or article around. What we did with Hall was determine the best, most news-worthy angle that her stories provided. Because both of her books deal with the idea of mean girls, bullying and hazing (topics she researched painstakingly during the writing process) we used her expertise to build a “hook.” The result was that with every online outlet Hall wrote or was interviewed for, it always came back to bullying and the central theme of her novels.

When we were pitching Hall to the major outlets, one of my contacts over at Teen Vogue mentioned that she was working on a piece on bullying but that they typically didn’t cover fiction. Through our previous efforts with platform-building on websites and blogs, I was able to direct this editor to numerous sites where Hall has talked about the research behind the bullying aspect of her novels. Hall had set herself up as an expert and was therefore able to use the previously acquired online coverage to leverage a fantastic appearance in the cover story for the December/January issue of Teen Vogue.

Another example of how small things can lead to BIG exposure.

A few weeks back Arianna Huffington over at The Huffington Post announced the launch of their book club. Their first selection was IN PRAISE OF SLOWNESS: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore. I think the subtitle of this book really says it all and it is fascinating that this was selected to be the inaugural book club selection for a website.

They are having their first *live* discussion about the book today at 3pm (EST). Check it out here.