newsletter_042006

BookShorts Launches at BEA 2006
BookExpo America and Judith Keenan, Executive Producer of BookShorts are pleased to host the first on-site screening ever undertaken at BookExpo America. BookShorts is an innovative company that produces and broadcasts short films based on books to help publishers market their new releases. Ten large television screens will be mounted in the Autographing Area to broadcast a recurring loop of original book-to-film productions. For the thousands of book industry professionals lining up for autographs, the BookShorts screening will demonstrate not only the possibilities for a retail or literary festival environment, but also show exactly how effective screen media is in introducing new titles to new audiences.

To see the catalogue of films, visit www.BookShorts.com

Television Broadcast and Digital Distribution
Broadcast on specialty and cable television, on the Internet, in retail kiosks, as electronic press kits, and this year on mobile phone networks, BookShorts are short films adapted from books in a highly entertaining 3-minute package, and produced with behind-the-scenes features such as author interviews. They are already becoming an integral part of book marketing in Canada, where the company first launched.

Publishing and the Content Era
BookShorts founder Judith Keenan advocates that “increasingly, the reading market is fragmenting, and we have a very short window to capture the consumer’s attention. Visually, a good short film is memorable, gives instant gratification, and imprints content, atmosphere and title. Combined with review coverage, advertising, and placement, BookShorts has catalyzed many innovative uses for the short films by publishers and can contribute significantly to any book marketing plan.”

Kim McArthur, CEO of McArthur & Company and an early champion of the program states “We feel that it is absolutely essential to explore new arenas for promoting our books and authors-Pauline Couture’s ICE now will be seen by an entirely new audience of readers and we couldn’t be more pleased with the result!”

“Random House of Canada is delighted to work with Judith again. If there’s one book to lend itself to the BookShorts format, it’s Douglas Coupland’s book, JPod. We’re really excited about all the possibilities.” says Sharon Klein, Deputy Publicity Director, Random House of Canada.

Upcoming
The BookShorts program will premiere additional films and titles at BookExpo Canada (June 11 -12, 2006) where the screening program will again be presented as the “BookShorts Lounge”