Book Trailer

That’s the spooky book video for Ben Marcus‘ new book, The Flame Alphabet. Artist and author Erin Cosgrove created the video, offering this important advice for aspiring book trailer makers: “do it out of enthusiasm, terror and fun, and not as a job.”

This collaboration should inspire more writers, as 99 percent of book trailers could use some help from a professional artist. Cosgrove shared some book trailer advice in a GalleyCat interview–you can read her thoughts below.

Here’s more about Cosgrove’s career: “Cosgrove is an artist and writer who uses video, animation, books, painting, scrolls, timelines, installation, and performance in her artwork … Her art novel, The Baader-Meinhof Affair, was published by Printed Matter, NY, in 2003.”

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Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

The currently free Action Movie FX app will let Apple users add missile explosions and car crashes into your next book trailer.

As you can see by the video embedded above, this GalleyCat editor tested the program with his galley copy of Neil Gaiman‘s upcoming The Annotated Sandman. If you use the app for your next book video, email us the link!

Here are more special effects: “Look like an action star as you evade a massive CAR CRASH! Direct a MISSILE ATTACK at that broken office printer! Post your videos to Facebook & show the world what you got! GET CREATIVE! Shoot your movies at ANY SCALE – from toys to life-size! ADDITIONAL FX FOR PURCHASE: CHOPPER DOWN & TORNADO ACTION BUNDLE Unleash a TORNADO in any weather OR bring an enemy CHOPPER DOWN! AIRSTRIKE & FIRE FIGHT ATTACK BUNDLE CARPET BOMB the bad guys, or RUN FOR COVER as they OPEN FIRE! MORE FX TO COME – STAY TUNED!!!”

To promote the upcoming Muppets movie, the social video service Viddy will help you digitally add a Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie or Gonzo into your next book video. You can see other Muppet-inspired videos at this link.

iPhone and iPad 2 owners can use the free app to record brief videos. Combining the quick information delivery of Twitter with the creative network of Instagram, Viddy gives users 15-seconds to record a video and share it with other friends on the video app’s social network..

Here’s more about the service: “Featuring some of the beloved Muppets brought to life in 15-second video clips, the Muppet Pack offers fans a unique opportunity to create personalized interactive video clips with their favorite characters. Available via the iPhone Viddy app, the easy to use one-click effects and soundtrack give fans the opportunity to interact with the Muppets on film and get creative with producing their own video content.”

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In a new book video, Jersey Shore star Snooki visits Simon & Schuster and delivers tips from Confessions of a Guidette.

What do you think? As you can see, the video brings Jersey Shore-style makeup and mayhem to the major publishing house. The longer director’s cut version has been removed. Above, we’ve embedded the original.

As of this writing, the original version has earned 1,900 views on YouTube, counting 11 likes, 20 dislikes and a few comments. The comments were brief: “I’ve just witnessed the death of Western Civilization.” and “Oh dear God, she should not be allowed near a book.”

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Sometimes all you need for a book trailer is a telephone. For his new set of book trailers, author Shalom Auslander recorded dark and absurd phone calls with his friends.

To support his new novel, Hope: A Tragedy, Auslander staged strange conversations with Ira Glass (embedded above), John Hodgman and Sarah Vowell. What do you think of the series?

Here’s more about the book: “Hope: A Tragedy is a hilarious and haunting examination of the burdens and abuse of history, propelled with unstoppable rhythm and filled with existential musings and mordant wit. It is a comic and compelling story of the hopeless longing to be free of those pasts which haunt our every present.”

Author Mike Edison built a 3D book trailer for Dirty! Dirty! Dirty!: Of Playboys, Pigs, and Penthouse Paupers-An American Tale of Sex and Wonder, a history of  the four major pornographic magazines in the U.S. in the 20th century –Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler and Screw.

Edison explained why he went 3D: “It was one of those eureka moments when my book started telling me what IT wanted… obviously the trailer was inspired by Russ Meyers and great grindhouse trailers of the 70s, but as over-the-top as the video is, it is really a very accurate representation of the book. At the heart of it I’m a journalist, but I want my books to read as if you were listening to a great rock’n'roll or jazz record. It’s high-energy social history for adults.”

Here is a link to the 3D trailer. To see the trailer in all of its glory, you can email your name and address to DDDglasses@gmail.com to get a free pair of 3D glasses (while supplies last). For help on how to make your own book trailer, check out our Five Tips for Making An Author Video post.

Oscar winning actor Timothy Hutton and Riverhead publisher Geoffrey Kloske co-starred in a new book trailer for author Julie Klam. Follow this link to watch the video.

New York Magazine described the trailer: “[Hutton] plays an a**hole version of himself in a book trailer for Julie Klam, an author he knew only from Twitter.”

This is the first time both Hutton and Kloske have appeared in a book trailer. The trailer advertises the paperback version of You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness and the hardcover publication Love at First Bark: How Saving a Dog Can Sometimes Help You Save Yourself.

Today Knopf Doubleday unveiled the book trailer for Haruki Murakami‘s upcoming novel, 1Q84. In addition, you can follow this Facebook link and click “like” to read the first chapter of 1Q84.

Here’s more about the book: “The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —”Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.”

Be sure to check out our Haruki Murakami playlist on Spotify for some musical inspiration. (Via Book Bench)

Could you design a book trailer using just kids’ toys? Romance author Tessa Dare created the book trailer embedded above for fellow romance author Maya Banks–only using props from her daughter’s bedroom. What do you think of the final product?

Dare explained more about this project: “Last year, I’d made an amateur book video using my kids’ toys. People seemed to enjoy it. So when Operation Auction happened, I offered up a similar video as an auction item. To sweeten the deal, a lot of bloggers also promised to post the winner’s video. Maya made a VERY generous bid to win it, and I could not have been more thrilled. Making a video for her Highlander trilogy was a dream come true. Who could resist the chance to dress up Ken dolls in kilts?”

The titles in Banks’ Highlander series include In Bed with the Highlander (August 2011), Seduction of a Highland Lass (September 2011) and Never Love a Highlander (October 2011). The first video Dare created was for her Stud Club trilogy. For both videos, Dare used toys, stock music, low-low-budget special effects, an iPhone and a Macbook computer. (Via Jane L)

Author James Patterson recently released a novel book trailer: promoting his YA novel and his adult thriller in the same television commercial.

In the book trailer embedded above, Patterson shares the spotlight with an animated version of Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life‘s protagonist . As the video explains, Middle School was written for a YA audience while Now You See Her is an adult thriller.

Many authors write for both young readers and adults. Melissa de la Cruz‘s first adult novel, The Witches of East End, included appearances from characters her Blue Bloods YA series. Meg Cabot recently released Overbite, a sequel to her adult vampire story Insatiable. Last April, she also published the first book in her YA trilogy, Abandon. Who else can follow Patterson’s example?