Web Map to Social Media, Part 7: As Seen on YouTube
November 9, 2007
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by Matthew Patin
There isn't much to say about YouTube that hasn't already been said, but it would be careless to exclude this mammoth of social media from our series. And "mammoth" is no exaggeration: YouTube is big, hairy, and, er, tusk-wielding. Well, at least it's the first of those three, unless we were to explore some extended metaphor. Get this: YouTube has the eighth largest audience on the Internet, pulling in 55 million unique visitors each month, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. Read: YouTube's no fad. Google doesn't pay $1.65 billion for fads. And fads don't hold this much book marketing and publicity potential.
So, what exactly does YouTube---or at least the technology it employs---mean for book publishing?
Well, duh, book trailers for one. (But that's not all. More later.) In an interview with Publishers Weekly blogger Barbara Vey, Sheila Clover English, CEO of book trailer producer Circle of Seven Production, said she "expect[s] to see book video become a main element in most authors' marketing campaigns." Whether trailers become the "main" element remains to be seen, but there's little doubt that online marketing and publicity efforts---including YouTube and other social media---will become standard in book launches.
This year Simon & Schuster partnered with the New York Film Academy to create the "Reel Reads Book Sizzle Contest," in which 400 students were invited to create a three minute trailer for one of S&S's titles. The contest itself hasn't much to do with YouTube, but another S&S project does: BookVideosTV. BookVideosTV is a channel on YouTube that exhibits book marketing and publicity possibilities other than book trailers. It features author profiles and even some behind-the-scene looks at the book in the developmental stage. It's like VH1's "Behind the Music," but twice as sordid! (No, not really. Not at all.)
So, bottom line, YouTube can be way more than just trailers for books. Even Oprah and Harpo Studios announced this month the launch of the "Oprah on YouTube" channel. Neither the press release nor Oprah's welcome video mentioned Oprah's Book Club specifically, but who knows? Perhaps the juggernaut that is Oprah's Book Club will eventually find a second home on YouTube.
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Web Map to Social Media, Part 6: Widgets
September 27, 2007
by Matthew Patin
According to a recent article in the New York Times, 48 percent of Internet users--about 87 million people--use widgets. Widgets were first introduced to the World Wide Web in 2001, but they have recently joined the ranks of the hot new Web 2.0 tools that can help push your message to the masses.
The technical definition of a widget is a chunk of code that can be embedded within a page of HTML. For those of us who aren't technologically savvy, a widget is basically a small application that you can add to your blog, social networking page, or your book's web page to help increase its interactivity.
Now, you may be thinking that widgets don't really fall into the realm of social media, but I would like to think that they do. Increasing your interactive presence online will enhance a visitor's personal experience on your Web site, and widgets can enhance the social media programs you are already utilizing to increase your visibility online.
Here are a few widgets you can add to your web page to dress it up a bit:
- Google's Book Bar Wizard is a simple and customizable shelf that is extremely easy to set up. Enter the information about your book and Web site, and Google will generate the code for you. The Book Bar will allow your visitors to click on your book and preview it using Google Book Search.
- Twitter Widget keeps your fellow Twitterers and your other web followers constantly updated on your travel schedule. Add this widget to your MySpace profile page and combine two of your social media efforts.
- The Flickr Slideshow is highly customizable and allows you to post a slide show of all the wonderful pictures you took on your book tour onto your Web site.
- You can browse for more widgets at WidgetBox.com.
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