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In a rambling two-story loft on the South Side, Paul Fireman is changing the way major publishers sell their books to readers.

Borrowing a marketing tool from the film industry, he began to produce video trailers to promote books a few years ago. He created one for “PostSecret,” which grew out of a project by a writer who had invited people to send him anonymous postcards with a secret they were willing to share. The video is a slideshow of the postcards with their brief messages — “My mom chose my stepdad over me” “Jail isn’t anything like the movies” –with poignant music in the background and narration by the author, Frank Warren, describing the project.

It worked. It has gotten more than 2 million views on YouTube, and the hits are still streaming in.

“What is truly remarkable is that the videos live on, so they continue to market the books,” said Mr. Fireman, head of Fireman Creative, a creative communications and technology firm. “I just read comments left this year for a video posted four years ago.”

Fireman Creative, like other marketing firms, is now producing and promoting trailers for many of its publishing clients. Much like their movie counterparts, these videos function as short teasers designed to hook readers by giving them a dramatic short preview of the story.

The trailers are typically between two and five minutes long and usually are found on YouTube and publishers’ websites. Some trailers feature re-created scenes from the book to tease viewers; others showcase the author reading from his or her work, or depict images associated with the book.

The trailers are one new tool used in conjunction with the traditional methods of print advertising, author tours and bookstore displays.

Publishers of all sizes, including Fireman Creative’s clients, are embracing social media by calling on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote their authors and their books. In addition to trailers, many publishing houses now promote books via social media and live-streaming web events.

“Social media is reshaping the way we communicate and publishers are quickly embracing new tools to engage readers,” said Mr. Fireman, a 46-year-old resident of Squirrel Hill.

Mr. Fireman founded his company in 2001 after working in advertising and marketing in New York City. He and his staff of 14 work with technology companies, real estate developers, museums, community based nonprofits and publishing houses to craft marketing strategies to reach bigger audiences.

Trailers and web events began in an effort to reach more readers and to stave off high marketing expenses. Traditional book promotions can be costly, so trailers often perform the same function at a fraction of the cost.

The trailers, coupled with a strong online media presence, are effective, said Shawn Nicholls, director of online marketing at William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins and a client of Fireman Creative.

“While we are selective in terms of producing and distributing videos, there are opportunities to create original video content for authors with a strong social media platform,” he said.

“These can be interviews or dramatic book trailers. When working with an author with an established fan base, the content not only energizes existing followers, but gets passed around rapidly and views increase exponentially.”

Mr. Fireman agrees.

“We live in a world of images, so it’s hard to grab people’s attention. The impact of using visuals to entice people to read and buy a book makes [trailers] an effective medium,” he said.

For many publishers, promotional videos are a piece of the social media puzzle, but not the focus. Graywolf Press, an independent publisher based in Minneapolis, doesn’t produce book trailers for its authors, but actively promotes ones that authors produce themselves.

Graywolf promotes these book trailers through social media, including Twitter and Facebook.

“Right now we’re focusing on creating a new website and blog [for Graywolf] and once we have that in place, we’re hoping to branch out into other forms of social media, including book trailers,” said Erin Kottke, publicity director for Graywolf.

Algonquin Books’ Online and Paperback marketing director Michael Taeckens believes that social media matters because of the high volume of users.

“It’s where all of the people are; they’re on Facebook, they’re on Twitter and YouTube. These are excellent marketing tools because of this,” he said.

The boom of social media traffic has prompted Algonquin to shift some of its marking focus toward online media, but it’s not moving away from traditional media.

Mr. Taeckens said he views social media as an addition to, not a replacement for, traditional promotions.

Using Fireman’s firm, Algonquin recently began promoting its book club via streaming video events where viewers can watch author interviews, email questions to the authors and buy their books online.

The club features 25 paperback editions from the publisher’s stock, including “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen and “In the Time of Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez.

According to Pamela Spengler-Jaffee, senior director of publicity at Avon Books, these events work.

“We are able to bring hundreds, even thousands, of additional ‘virtual’ attendees to a book signing. If the store has set up the capability for online attendees to order signed copies of the book, we can accrue hundreds of additional book sales from the event. It’s a win-win-win. The author is happy. The fans are happy. The bookstore is ecstatic,” she said.

Fireman Creative designed and implemented Vivo, a web-streaming service for these and other marketing events.

Mr. Fireman stresses that it’s the interactive element of social media that readers — and publishers — love. Fans are able to engage their favorite writers on a more personal level through Twitter, Facebook, and now via interactive live events.

“Social media [results] aren’t always tangible, but you can feel momentum growing around a book on Twitter and other online outlets,” said Graywolf’s Ms. Kottke. “We’ve gotten booksellers and publishers to notice a book and really start a conversation through social media outlets.”

From www.post-gazette.com