BookVideos.tv and now includes titles from, Bantam Dell, Chronicle, Hachette Book Group, MacMillan, Thomas Nelson and W.W. Norton as well as the original publisher Simon & Schuster.
Its interesting in the day of the widget to see where the video is today and how the YouTube effect is moving the opportunity forward. Other contenders such as Meet the Author and Bookwrap have been around for some time and although the former has built a healthy collection of takesthey look clunky and ‘Book TV’ish.
What is clear is that the video can promote books but that merely sitting the author in front of a camera and expecting sizzle can often lead to disappointment. Some of the meet the author videos certainly lack sizzle and look clunky. BookVideo.tv certainly puts effort into the visual experience and also shows complimentary footage and stills with background music where applicable. We certainly enjoyed the clip on Sports Illustrated: The Basketball Book. If we were basketball folk we would certainly buy it.
The new videos engage with the audience the sell the book - they introduce sizzle. They must look at movie and music promotions and recognise the need to fully use the medium. We all want to know why the author wrote what they did but lets make it exciting and less dull and BookVideo is moving in the right direction.
