ANDREW Crofts is an old friend of Freelancewritingtips.com so I was chuffed to see news of his novel set to be published this autumn.
I haven't got the longest attention span in the world and am averse to some of the drivel that passes for trailers connected to so-called 'chick-lit' (PS I Love You, anyone?) so was much relieved to find that I thought his video was cracking. (Even as good, if not better than this one.)
Filmed to promote Andrew's new book, The Overnight Fame of Steffi McBride, the YouTube trailer stars his daughter Olivia Grodd.
Andrew tells me: "I've been thinking for years that publishers and authors need to find a way to promote books visually, just like MTV provided the recording industry with a whole new way of reaching potential fans, a whole new way of bringing songs and music to life.
"It seems to me that the internet and sites such as YouTube can do just as much for authors as they can for pop groups. It's also the same principle as creating trailers for feature films, whetting the potential audience's appetite."
Of the novel itself, Andrew says: "One of the central themes is the mother daughter relationship and the dynamics of a woman who gives up her child in a pursuit of fame and fortune."
With this in mind, watching the trailer and seeing such a self-composed and attractive woman talking about her big-break, I found it hard not to draw parallels with the unfolding tragedy of Britney Spears.
Andrew agrees there may be comparisons to be made, but says that the plot of the book is quite different to the shocking reality of Britney's situation.
He adds: "Olivia is my step daughter (although I have brought her up since she was one year old), one of four children (three girls and one boy).
"She's 20, and in the middle of her second year at Arts Educational drama school in London. Not only does she act like a dream, she also sings like an angel, and many of the characteristics of Steffi are based on having lived with her and observed the world she moves and thrives in.
"The book is written as the memoir of a young soap star who becomes a national icon.
"All Steffi’s dreams come true when she lands a starring part in the country’s biggest soap opera, has a number one Christmas single and wins a Bafta. The whole country falls in love with her, including the pop star she had a crush on all through her teenage years.
"But someone out there knows a secret about Steffi’s past and heartless media revelations blow apart everything she ever believed to be true about her family and about herself."
As someone who has only just kicked her Heat habit and still has the odd fix of OK! (I can't help it, erm, okay?) it sounds like my sort of book!
And as someone who harbours a dream of one day having a work of fiction in bookshops, it's intriguing to see how established authors are harnessing the power of an online 'buzz' to get word of mouth out there. Go Andrew!
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