I’m A Failed Writer #4: Failed Book Trailer (& Literary Agents)

By
Jul 23 5

I have two short videos for you this time. First of all, I made a book trailer for the novel that I was struggling to sell. Instead of talking about the high points, it emphasizes all the rejections. It requires just one minute of your life! Check it out before you get too annoyed with me and my gratuitous and ineffective use of exclamation marks! (WARNING: This one minute video has two occurrences of a neurotic Jew in his underwear.)

And related to this trailer, I created another “I’m a Failed Writer” episode, this time about the balance between the writing and the marketing of the writing, where I tell my own story about re-balancing things to de-emphasize the marketing and focus again on the writing.


Thanks for watching. Good luck with your writing and marketing.

Click here to view other “I’m a failed writer” videos.

Click here to view all my videos.

UPDATE (08/10/2011): It’s official. I sold my book!

Tags: , , , , , Categories: videos
5 comments
  Livefyre
Newest | Oldest
Kit Dunsmore
Kit Dunsmore

Your trailer for your (no longer) rejected book made me laugh until I cried. Great job turning your pain into laughter. Thanks for being willing to share it.

deborah lott
deborah lott

I love it. Glad you didn't jump. My book is getting rejected for the neurotic too Jewish thing too, among other reasons. So is it the trailer that sold the book or did the book finally just land on the right editor's desk? I could do a trailer but I'm not sure I'm ready to do it in my underwear -- maybe I will if I hit the 20+ rejections mark. Mazel Tov on the sale! I will definitely buy the book!!!

yuvi
yuvi

Deborah -- Thanks for the feedback. So glad you like it. And yes, I should probably explain a bit more. It wasn't the trailer that sold the book -- it was just a coincidence that it happened at the same time. An editor at MP Publishing had originally seen my manuscript a year prior when he was with another publisher. This other publisher was having financial troubles and so things didn't work out back then. Now that he's ramping up the US division of MP Publishing, he thought of my book and contacted me.

It was sure tricky to know how to interpret feedback and rejection over those 29 rejections though... One time I'll talk about what feedback I took in and what feedback I ignored. Because some really sharp agents had given me some very helpful feedback that affected subsequent drafts of the book. Other feedback I knew to ignore (e.g. the neurotic Jewish thing "has been done"). Actually, one of my MFA mentor wrote up a nice post on rejection just this past week...

Good luck with your book! Keep at it!

Shad Boots
Shad Boots

Congratulations. That is very good news, whether it comes to fruition or not.

Marketing, for any writer, is unimaginably difficult. I think it goes against a writers countenance. More often than not, they find it easier to "market" when it's other writers doing the marketing for them. This can come in the form of mentioning you to their audience, commending your accomplishments publicly, etc.. Likewise, you will find it far easier to market someone else's writing.

It's a nice give-and-take, isn't it? Word of mouth works infinitely better for writers than self-promotion.

I hope it all works out for you.

yuvi
yuvi

Nice points. I do think it is far easier to market someone else's work. I feel slimy so quickly when self-promoting more than just on occasion... I like your blog, you've got a nice blogging/writing voice... Take care!