Thursday 23 September 2010

IF EVER A SWIZ THERE WAS

Never having previously had a book of mine announced with a film commercial, I was understandably excited when my forthcoming volume, Harry Potter Film Wizardry, was accorded this treatment...



Two minutes of ecstatic marketing wizardry and yet, evidently, no time to mention the writer! Still, there's no mention of J K Rowling either!

Never mind: at the time of posting, the 'trailer' has already clocked up more than 22,000 viewings on YouTube, so let's just hope – at some not-too-distant point – that a few magical royalty cheques will serve as compensation for my anonymity!

Incidentally, I'm not being a spoilsport, but – whilst I haven't yet seen a copy of the finished book – I don't think the pictures move about as much as they do in the advert!

15 comments:

Suzanne said...

Now that would be true magic if the pictures moved around! Why do they have to have an American accent on the trailer? As far as I know, both you & J.K. Rowling are British! When are you coming to Belgium for a signing?

Unknown said...

Such is the "cult of celebrity" world we live in that the names of those who "wrote the foreward" is publicised and promoted, but the main author isn't. Umbelievable, except this is Hollywood after all :-(

Jason Tammemägi said...

Pictures in books rarely do. Give it a couple of years though...

Congrats on the book, Mr. S!

SharonM said...

Looking forward to getting my copy - and having it signed by the AUTHOR - BRIAN SIBLEY.

The trailer narrator sounds a bit like Leonard Nimoy, by the way.

Brian Sibley said...

Suzanne & Jason - On the subject of moving pictures in books: they certainly move in books at Hogwarts! And, incidentally, Ian (he of the next comment), has a version of Alice in Wonderland on his iPad that really does have moving pictures!! :)

Ian - Not only that, but there is, as has been pointed out to me in the past, a world of difference between a 'writer' (moi) and an 'author'...

Sharon & Suzanne - Why the American accent ("Hairy Potter")? This is an ad for the US edition of the book. The British edition, by the way, doesn't have the collectible collectibles –– or moving pictures!

Jason – PS: Love the Fluffy Gardens site – hope Paolo & Co will cross the Irish sea soon... :)

Jason Tammemägi said...

Thanks Mr.S! The show is actually on ITV on a Sunday morning at the moment. If you're up at 6.35am, that is.

Which nobody in their right mind is!

Brian Sibley said...

Well, as a noted insomniac, you never know... :)

But, more likely, I'll send for the DVD!

Geno said...

Congrats on the book promotion! I have never been a fan of the movies, but I will check out the book when i get the chance.

Brian Sibley said...

Save your pennies, Geno!

Steven Hartley said...

I remember reading the first three Harry Potter books and I thought they were great and while I started reading the forth one - I thought the personalities had changed and I thought the characters got cockier and it put me off a bit.

Although, I'm looking forward to see the feature films coming SOON.

scb said...

Fantastic presentation of the book, but they certainly could have spared the two seconds it would have taken to mention the AUTHOR! *glares in the commercial-makers' general direction*

P.S. I've just tagged you in a self-made meme on my blog... a bookish meme.

Arts and Crafts said...

About Harry Potter...sorry, but I don't like very much this young "hero".

About Brian Sibley, the author... I have some news... After 2 or 3 years making constants requests to the Regional Library of Murcia (my town) I obtained it: your book Shadowlands is now in the library.

If you put your name here

http://www.bibliotecaregional.carm.es/Biblioteca/faces/catalogo


in Autor (author) you can verify it.

JK said...

Marcus du Sautoy describes the iPad Alice and how technology can transform the idea of a book.

Snow White Archive said...

I can't believe they didn't mention you as the author! It's an ad for the book for Christ's sake, not the films. Typical corporates!

Nonetheless, it's a killer promo. Hope you sell boatloads of books.

Brian Sibley said...

Steven – Interesting reaction. Most of the HP fans I've come across have become more devoted as the series has gone on...

SCB – Thanks (NOT) for the tagging!! ;) My list will appear later this week...

Eudora – Thank you!! I hope someone reads it!

James – Fascinating article! Much appreciated.

Snow White Sanctum – We'll see... I've yet to earn any royalties from my books – even when they appear to have sold boatloads!