In May, HarperCollins will publish Make Good Art, a Chip Kidd-designed book version of a Neil Gaiman commencement address. Gaiman’s speech at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia went viral last year, sharing “secret freelancer knowledge” that all kinds of writers, editors and freelance workers can use.

We’ve embedded a video of his speech above–it also contains the best advice he ever received, delivered by the great novelist Stephen King. Here is Gaiman’s secret freelancer knowledge:

You get work however you get work, but keep people keep working in a freelance world (and more and more of today’s world is freelance), because their work is good, because they are easy to get along with and because they deliver the work on time. And you don’t even need all three! Two out of three is fine. People will tolerate how unpleasant you are if your work is good and you deliver it on time. People will forgive the lateness of your work if it is good and they like you. And you don’t have to be as good as everyone else if you’re on time and it’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

The Avengers director Joss Whedon adapted William Shakespeare‘s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, as a modern-day retelling. The trailer is embedded above–what do you think?

A limited release date has been set for June 07, 2013. The film has already screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Glasgow Film Festival. As we previously reported, Whedon shot the entire movie at his own home in 12 days. Here’s more about the film from NPR:

As I watched Much Ado About Nothing, I had the distinct thought, “I wonder whether this is the future.” Not the future, of course — I don’t believe we’re anywhere close to the end of the blockbuster, nor do I believe we’re necessarily entering a new age of Shakespeare — but a big piece of the future. Big films have gotten so big, expensive films so expensive, that all of the risk has to be drained out of them, which often leaves behind a dried-out version of whatever was originally intended.

Novelist John Green is among the people “who regularly discuss important issues of the day online” picked to ask President Barack Obama questions in a Google+ “Fireside” Hangout tomorrow (February 14) at 4:50 pm EST. Above, we’ve embedded Green’s video about this virtual event.

Along with the other participants, Green will ask the President both his own questions and queries submitted by readers. Google outlined the event in a blog post:

the President will turn to Google+ to continue a more recent tradition, by taking questions online after his speech … Much like the Fireside Hangouts held by Vice President Biden and Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Munoz over the past few weeks, the President’s Fireside Hangout will include a group of people who regularly discuss important issues of the day online.

The Harlem Shake meme exploded online last week, as a video maker named Filthy Frank took an infectious beat created by a producer named Baauer and invented a kooky dance sequence.

UPDATE: The Epic Reads team at HarperCollins posted a publisher edition of the Harlem Shake today, bringing the dance craze to a major publishing house (embedded above).

Videomakers around the globe took the same 30-second clip from the song, choreographing surreal dances in everyday locations, including firemen, office workers and an entire news team. 

Below, we’ve collected a few other literary video takes on the viral video phenomenon. We would love to see more literary participation, perhaps in a large-scale library performance, a big bookstore dance or even an Amazon warehouse ballet.

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This week a documentary about the legendary poet and bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti will hit theaters. We’ve embedded the trailer for Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder above–are you excited?

Check the film’s homepage for release dates. Over at The Huffington Post, filmmaker Matt Kohn described the documentary:

If you don’t know Ferlinghetti’s rich story, Felver’s film may seem to investigate multiple, divergent storylines, including a stint on J.P. Morgan’s yacht, Ferlinghetti’s search for his Italian parents, his wonderment with Catholicism, the place of the Beats in American history, and the power of counter-culture which created “The Human Be-In.” But the film does a great job of using expert witnesses and friends, like Dennis Hopper, who describe how Ferlinghetti’s poetry, paintings and politics were intertwined in their lives and the value of the art they made. There is footage of Ferlinghetti making paintings, doing readings, and speaking out about public issues.

(Via Jeff Gordinier)

Twitter introduced Vine last week, a way to quickly shoot, save and share six-second videos with your friends on Twitter.

Washington Post Book World fiction editor Ron Charles used Vine to create six-second book reviews, by far my favorite use of Twitter’s new tool.

Below, we’ve embedded vines that show how editors, authors and readers used the new tool. The official Vine blog also shares other innovative uses of the service.

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Oreo cookies destroyed an entire library for its Super Bowl ad this year.

We’ve emebedded the complete commercial above–what do you think? Hilarious or horrific? In general, Twitter viewers seemed enthusiastic about the ad.

In 2010, a Bud Light ad mocked book clubs, male readers, female readers, and book reading in general. The ad shows a couple fun-loving beer drinkers crashing a book club, playing with all sorts of stereotypes about American readers.

After wrapping his work on the final book of Robert Jordan‘s Wheel of Time series, fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson will let his fans watch him write a chapter of his new book online.

Using the Camtasia screen recording software, the novelist has begun to videotape his entire writing process for a chapter, starting with his initial notes (video embedded above). Would you do this for your readers?

Here is more about the process: “New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson writes a chapter from the sequel to The Way of Kings, to be published in late 2013 (hopefully) or early 2014. This is the real-time version. After all of the videos have been uploaded we’ll make a high-speed version of the chapter.” (Link via)

Author and Indiana University communication and culture assistant professor Ilana Gershon wrote a fascinating essay looking at the Manti Te’o hoax through her fieldwork with Samoan migrants.

Gershon wrote The Break-Up 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media, and spent many hours studying stories passed between Samoan migrants. She found some fascinating roots to the hoax about the football player’s imaginary girlfriend. Check it out:

Reading Jeremy Schaap’s interview with Manti Te’o on ESPN, what strikes me as particularly Samoan about this story? Manti Te’o opens with a very familiar Samoan worry – it is not his own shame he is concerned about, he is worried about the shame this will bring to his whole family, all those who share his last name … So much of this news story is hauntingly familiar to me from fieldwork with Samoan migrants: the role of family, the half-hearted attempts to verify a person’s identity that fail, the strong spiritual connection Te’o thought he felt with Kekua, and the hoax itself.

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The Internet is filled with suggestions of what books you should read. But what books would you add to the “Do Not Read” list?

Talk show host Jimmy Fallon (pictured, via) launched a ”Do Not Read List” segment on his show. The video embedded below features the latest installment.

Some of the titles he spotlighted include Ruthlessly Bedded by the Italian Billionaire by Emma Darcy, The Art & Science of Cooking with Cannabis by Adam Gottlieb. (via The Huffington Post)

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