Setting words to music in a totally different way

Looks like it’s not enough just to read the book when you can listen to soundtrack, as the WSJ’s John Jurgensen found out over the weekend. Having seen the power of songs to promote TV shows, movies and even videogames, publishers and authors are increasingly experimenting with soundtracks for books. Writers like James Patterson, Michael Connelly and Lemony Snicket are giving out CDs with copies of their novels. Others, like Bret Easton Ellis, are posting music suggestions on Web sites, blogs such as Largehearted Boy (and his weekly “Book Notes” feature) or MySpace pages. In many cases, the soundtracks are aimed at appealing to younger readers.

“Publishers are really struggling with the idea of, ‘How are we going to get 16-year-old kids to read, when it’s tough to get them to even watch TV,’” says Chuck Klosterman, who has posted a playlist on the Web for his recent book, “Killing Yourself to Live.” To accompany the book about his pilgrimage to the sites of famous music-related deaths, he chose songs by the Sex Pistols and Nirvana.

Sometimes these cross promotions have their pitfalls. Take St. Martin’s attempt to tie Sarah Miller‘s YA novel INSIDE THE MIND OF GIDEON RAYBURN to a teen singer. Teddy Geiger said no (too racy for him), but then Canadian singer Fefe Dobson said yes – and then her music label dropped her and the touted album never arrived in stores. She’s now shopping it to other labels. Despite these setbacks, SMP said the promotion was completed and that music tie-ins offer entry points to books for young readers.

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