⇒You've seen me complain about book trailers that string a bunch of photographs and captions together—but I've also explained how that format can be successful if you apply a consistent visual aesthetic towards telling your story. In the three-and-a-half-minute promotional film for Rock and Roll Never Forgets, the first in a new series of mystery novels featuring a superstar rock guitarist, Deborah Grabien uses still photos and film footage, along with expository captions and voice-over dialogue, to create an inexpensive alternative to actually going out and staging a concert at Madison Square Garden and an interrogation by an NYPD detective. (Why a New York police officer has a Southern accent, I'm not quite sure, but maybe that doesn't jar non-local ears so much.)

(UPDATE: Grabien emails that the character in question is originally from the South, an ex-DEA agent from Miami. "So the accent? Authentic." I should have known!)

⇒Ace publicist (and you have no idea how long I've waited to use that gag) Valerie Cortes has turned the fall frontlist from the science fiction imprint and its fantasy-driven counterpart, Roc, into a five-minute music video. The format probably won't completely replace meeting with sales reps for a while, but it's catchier than PowerPoint, that's for sure.

⇒Impetus Press is another independent publisher that's been using Twitter as a promotional tool, but they've added a twist: Ultra-abridged versions of their novels that fit within the 140-character constraints of the micro-blog.( Here, for example, is Jennifer Banash's Hollywoodland: "Doe eyes. Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Blue. This face. My face. White hot. Dallas smiles, eyes narrowing. A glass eye. Wolf eyes. My face...") It's an interesting creative challenge, when you stop to think about it. Any other authors want to take a shot at condensing their novels into a white-hot dot?