PaulLev's Comments (4)

“Count my wife and me among Jackson's fans - here's my review of This Is It, which we saw yesterday, and an interview Francesca Maxime conducted with me about the wellsprings of MJ's popularity, this past July http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2009/10/michael-jackson-and-this-is-it-this-is.html”

“The odds against any book becoming successful are huge - which means authors need all the help they can get, including whatever marketing and promotion, however little or much, a publisher can provide. That's why I was happy to have all of my books, including my latest, New New Media, published by the best I could find. In the case of New New Media (Penguin/Pearson, 2009) that may seem ironic, since the book argues that consumers and amateurs are becoming increasingly the same as professional producers (on YouTube, Twitter, etc). But that revolution is still not complete - especially regarding books - and, until it is, the wise choice for any author is to go with a professional publisher. More about the state of this revolution at http://newnewmediabook.com”

“Thoughtful article, which I mostly agree with - especially the part that emphasizes the oxymoronic quality of contriving to go viral - or, as I put it in http://newnewmediabook.com - New New Media - you can't fake being nonprofessional.

That said, I also think that video trailers for books could go minor viral - not millions of views, but enough views to help make the book sell well (by whatever standard). With the 15 books I've published - half media theory, half science fiction - I've found that every little bit helps.

In any case - you saw this coming - here's the publisher's book trailier for New New Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWc-ZEVvw4w”

“Thanks for posting this, Twanna - I'm using it in my latest book as an example of the slowness of some older media to understand and come to terms with blogging and its possibilities. http://newnewmediabook.com”