Book Trailers - Bringing the blurb to life!

Hey Guys! So it is becoming very clear that with the internet becoming faster with easier access, user friendly cameras, more editing software readily available within a reasonable price range, and the popularity of YouTube, that the chance to provide your novel with a well produced video to tantalise readers is easily within an author’s reach. From videos resembling mini movies to simple and elegant indie trailers, the choice on offer is endless. It’s a whole new epic way to show a novel!

 

  This tailor made trailer by Mira Ink Publishers for Julie Kagawa’s novel “The Immortal Rules" is a perfect example of what I mean. The goosebumps; the tingling feeling in your stomach, the moment you scream at the screen "I WANT THIS BOOK" made me think. Could this be a way of promoting books to get people who don’t read at all to pick one up and give it a go? I think it’s already happening!

The amount of hits book trailers get on Youtube is astonishing. For example, an unofficial fan video for Cassandra Clare’s City Of Bones had over 238,588 views. That wasn’t even the official trailer! Yet the producer excited everyone enough to watch it, And it is actually one of the best fan made trailers I have seen!

People want life to be more visual now - with the growth of Ipads, E-book readers and internet on the phone. And with life becoming constantly more demanding, most people haven’t got time to sit and read the blurb about the book, they want to be shown what it is all about, plus I think its more fun. Independent authors especially have realized the potential in advertising their works through short film versions of their plots showcasing their characters on video sharing websites. I believe so strongly in the future of book trailers that I make them for fun myself. Let me tell you why: being able to portray your love for a book through a video I think is special. To put your own interpretation on what you see in your head while you’re snuggled in bed reading a book at night is endearing. Here is an example of an OFFICIAL book trailer I created for Bloomsbury UK for the book All Our Yesterdays By Cristin Terril. AMAZING novel:
 

When you’re in the cinema you don’t expect to see a book trailer on the big screen before your movie starts, but it’s happening. Soon it’ll be on your TV’s and everywhere else. Thousands are spent on these trailers. The whole premise is if your trailer is spectacular then your book must be, and I HAVE to buy it. Whether using a book trailer to promote your upcoming novel or to pay homage to a favourite book or series, making trailers for books is a trendy new pastime on YouTube.

- Casey :)

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Book Review: Witchfall By Victoria Lamb

Name: Witchfall
Author: Victoria Lamb
Publisher: Random House

Summary: London, 1554. At the court of Mary Tudor, life is safe for no one. The jealous, embittered queen sees enemies all around her, and the infamous Spanish Inquisition holds the court in its merciless grip. But Meg Lytton has more reason to be afraid than most - for Meg is a witch, and exposure would mean certain death. Even more perilous, Meg is secretly betrothed to the young priest Alejandro de Castillo; a relationship which they must hide at all costs.

In the service of the queen's sister, Princess Elizabeth, Meg tries to use her powers to foretell her mistress's future. But when a spell goes terribly wrong, and Meg begins to have horrifying dreams, she fears she has released a dark spirit into the world, intent on harming her and those around her.

Review: I devoured Witchstruck last May thanks to the lovely guys at Random House, I was truly sucked into this story and begging for more. It feels like I have been waiting a lifetime for the next instalment in Meg's tale as I read Witchstruck about two months before it's general release. Sometimes reading them early is NOT the best idea.
It's sooo good to have Meg and Alejandro back in my life, I feel like their friends of mine.
Witchfall is so much more intense and dark. Blanche Parry is not one of my favourite characters but I felt for her so much after her time with the inquisition as for Meg my heart was in my mouth for her whole ordeal. I shant say anymore on these matters as I do not wish to ruin the story. But yet again Victoria has given us an absolute gem of a second story in this bewitching series.

It's funny most people dread reading the second or third in a series as they are not always as good as the first book. I completely loved Witchfall it was dark and empowering...I won't ruin it but there was a part in the second half of the book where I was sat thinking how can the series continue. And then bam another awesome twist that tells you what you needed to know. Meg and Alejandro's relationship is put to the test in the most intense way. I was not ready for or expecting the love triangle although when it happened, I was like aww now that makes complete sense. I was completely blown away again, this book had the perfect imagery and sometimes that was hard to imagine as it was sooo gruesome at times.

Victoria Lamb you have well and truly done it again!!!! LOVED IT!!! Want the next book NOW!!!! If you haven't already read Witchstruck then check out my review of that here

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Brair Rose Blog Tour: GET THE MAKE UP LOOK

Hey guys Casey here. So welcome to the first stop on Briar Rose Blog tour! and we have an awesome post for you indeed. SO we teamed up with Miss Sporty the makeup brand and did two awesome makeup looks inspired by the amazing novel. So without further or do check them out:

 

 

Summary: For Briar Rose, life is anything but a fairy tale. She's stuck in a small town in deepest Georgia with parents who won't let her out of their sight, a bunch of small-minded, gossiping neighbours and an evil ex who's spreading nasty rumours about what she may or may not have done in the back of his car. She's tired of it all, so when, on her sixteenth birthday, her parents tell her that she is cursed and will go to sleep for a hundred years when the clock strikes midnight, she's actually kind of glad to leave it all behind. She says her goodbyes, lies down, and closes her eyes . . . And then she wakes up. Cold, alone and in the middle of the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever have dreamed of. Now Briar must fight her way out of the story that has been created for her, but she can't do it alone. She never believed in handsome princes, but now she's met one her only chance is to put her life in his hands, or there will be no happy ever after and no waking up

 

The Briar Rose look

 

 

 Make Up You will need:

 

1. Miss Sporty So Matte Perfect Stay Foundation (Light)

2. Miss Sporty Cat's Eyes Palette (Denim Storm)

3. Miss Sporty So Matte Perfect Stay press powder (Medium)

4. Miss Sporty Perfect colour lipstick (Dream)

5. Miss Sporty Pump Up Lash (Black)

6. Miss Sporty Liquid Liner (Black)

 

 

1. Apply The foundation and Set Powder

 

2. Then apply the beige colour from the Cats eye Palette to the base of your eye.

 

3. Then apply some mascara. If you want to add some eyelashes to make your eyes pop even more then go ahead!

 

4. Once that's all done get your black liquid liner. From the waterline drag the brush down your cheek in a swirl effect. Make it look like vines from trees are pouring out your eyes instead of tears. Make sure to add some leaves and spikes onto the sides of the vines. You can have 3 vines like me or go crazy and add more.

5. Once that is all done add some Dream Red lipstick and you are done!

 

THE FATA LOOK

(Meet the Fata by reading Briar Rose)

 

 

Makeup you will need:

 

1. Miss Sporty So matte Perfect Stay Foundation (Light)

2. Miss Sporty So Matte Perfect Stay press powder (Medium)

3. Miss Sporty Pump Up Lash (Black)

4. Miss Sporty Studio Colour Mono Eye Shadow (Star)

5. Fake eye lashes

6. Orange and Navy Blue face paint

7. Purple face diamond stickers

8. Miss Sporty Liquid Liner (GOLD & SILVER)

 

 

1. Apply The foundation and Set Powder.

 

2. Apply the Star eye shadow to the base of your lids.

 

3. Then get a paint brush and the blue face paint and start to create the angler eye shadow shape as seen in the picture. Make sure it reaches to the top of your eyebrow. Once you've done that add some purple diamond stickers to the tip of each point.

 

 

4. Get your blue face paint and a paint brush. With you paint brush place it at the edge of your eye then start to do a flick type effect to the top of your eye and do the same to the bottom of your cheek. Carry on doing that a few times with the blue and then the orange. Leave to dry for a second then do the same flick effect with the gold and silver liquid liners. Then add some purple diamonds in the middle of the design. You can do it to both sides of your face but I just did it to one side.

 

5. Get your fake eyelashes and instead of sticking them to your upper lid, stick them just below your waterline.

 

6. Then add some blue face paint to your lips and then you have the look!

 

 

Guys Briar Rose By Jana Oliver is OUT NOW in the UK! its such a beautiful tale. Make sure you get your hands on it!!! Also make sure you go to Sister Spookys Blog on the 14th for an awesome post on the tour.

 

 

 

 

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR HOLLY BLACK AND GIVEAWAY: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown

Hey guys Casey here! Today I have an awesome interview with author Holly Black. She has a novel called The Coldest Girl In Coldtown. I have read the book and its AMAZING you can read my review HERE. Vampires Galore! The book is NOW out in the UK AND US, so go get your hands on this bad boy. Welcome Holly Black to DARK READERS

 

 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is about some pretty hot scary vampires... Why Vampires? 

 

Right. I get that question a lot, because yeah, there have been some pretty popular vampire books and there are several popular vampire TV shows. Several times, while I was writing The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I wondered if I was a little bit nuts to throw my proverbial hat into the ring. But in all the time I've been a reader, vampires have either been so huge that you'd be crazy to publish a book about them or so over that you'd have to be crazy to publish a book about them. I finally decided that there was no good time or bad time to write a vampire book, so I might as well just write what I wanted to write. I've loved vampires since I was a kid and Coldtown is a love letter to those vampires -- and hopefully, with this book, I added a bit to what it already a vast and impressive conversation.

 

Are there any vampire genre books that inspired you when you wrote this one?  

 

I thought a lot about the vampire books I'd read and loved growing up -- Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Tanith Lee's Sabella, Suzy Mckee Charnas's The Vampire Tapestry, Poppy Z. Brite's Lost Souls, and Nancy Collins's Sunglasses After Dark. There were a few non-vampire books that inspired me too -- some aspects of the world are inspired by Steve Berman's short fiction set in the Fallen area and the Bordertown anthology series.Basically, this book is a grab bag of all the things I love

 

I love Coldtown how did you come up with the idea?

 

I wanted to tell a story that was at least in part about infection. And in a plague narrative, we get the possibility of quarantined areas -- walled cities where the rules are different and vampires cal walk around freely: Coldtowns. And once I had that, I started to think about the way the people outside would interact with the people inside -- watching their livestreams, following their blogs, and treating them as though they were characters in a blood-soaked play.

 

Gavriel isn't your typical lead vampire character... He's quite scary and makes you feel on edge a lot talk to us a bit about him:

 

I'm so pleased you think so! Gavriel's half mad from hunger, and pain and trauma. He's also kind of a dangerous psychopath. But he has an inner core of kindness that bubbles up at odd times and he honestly wants to be a better person, if only he can remember how. A psychopath with a heart of gold, if you will.

 

 I loved your concept of social media in this story. It felt like a very cool modern vampire tale. Talk to us a bit about that: 

 

I thought a lot about the way that we interact with social media. Last year, a tornado came through the Pioneer Valley. People kept going outside to take photos and videos with their phones, putting themselves in danger to get good pictures. If we saw a real vampire really sucking someone's blood, we'd take a picture and upload it to our Twitter, to Tumblr and Instagram. We'd friend vampires on Facebook and watch videos of people being bitten. We love danger -- especially when its at a remove. We love to read about serial killers. The most watched videos on YouTube are videos of people being hurt. Reality television documents hunting down bail jumpers and other dangerous occupations. If there were vampires, we would totally have shows about them.

 

Would you like to be friends with the main character Tana? What is something you can picture the two of you doing together? 

 

I feel a bit like I'm close with her already, but yes, I think Tana would be a great friend. She's loyal, supportive, an excellent listener, and getting better at stabbing a vampire square in the chest. What I'd like to do is take her out for coffee and explain to her that she's seriously underestimating herself and that she's capable of so many things she doesn't think are possible for her. 

 

Do you have any more amazing vampire tales in the future? Or any other projects we should be looking out for? 

I am currently working on a new faerie book for teens, another stand-alone, called The Darkest Part of the Forest, which is coming out in early 2015 I'm also collaborating with Cassandra Clare on a middle grade series. The first book, The Iron Trial, will be out next fall.

 

THANKS HOLLY!!!.

Now its your chance to win a copy of her amazing book. UK AND IRELAND ONLY. All you need to do it enter the raffle below:

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Book Review: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown By Holly Black

Name: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
UK Publisher: Orion
UK Release Date: OUT NOW
Summary: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
Review: So I know "vampire" is like an annoying word for readers in YA lately. And it's a shame because there is some good stuff out there and The coldest girl on cold town is one of them.This book was different to the YA vampire genre books I read. Why? Well there is a few reasons. 1. These vampires are scary as hell but are so seductive at the same time. They have no mercy. 2. Everyone knows they exists .  They're on social Media, on Facebook, twitter and YouTube. I think that was on awesome take on it.

Cold town as much as it is freaky. I would love to live there. The place is full of weird things. Unnatural things. I think holly made that concept of the book so interesting. This book made me feel all sorts of emotions it was fantastic. I think its descriptive and effective. Holly has created word images so vivid that it is almost like watching a movie. She takes you for a romp through Coldtown and find yourself in a action packed suspenseful event with the evil Vampires that had my heart facing and had me excited from beginning to end.

The characters in this book made me feel on edge which I thought Holly did amazingly.  I didn't know what they were going to do next. Especially Gavriel. He  isn't your typical lead vampire  character... He's quite scary and makes you feel on edge.Tana is a very strong lead heroine. I really enjoyed her character. As much as the world shes in is crazy, you can still relate to her. Holly has written Gravriel and Tanas scenes so beautifully scary and sexy that I had myself swooning through out. So much detail has been put into these two characters and you can defiantly see that while reading.

This book is going to set the YA world on fire this autumn. And the vampire genre has never seen anything like this. It's very exciting! Read or guys!

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