Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Brad Meltzer, Super Genius


Yes, I admit it. Brad Meltzer is my hero. Brad has written some serious best sellers. Before that, he wrote some of the best comics in history, including the “Identity Crisis” storyline in Justice League of America. I also learned at the Virginia Festival of the Book’s Crime Wave Luncheon that Brad is the best keynote speaker I’ve ever heard. But beyond all that, Brad is my hero because he’s at the cutting edge of book promotion.


Ten years ago Brad had what some say was the very first professional author web site. He set that up for his first published novel, Tenth Justice. He posted a lot of the things I’ve tried to emulate, like sample chapters and character interviews. It wasn’t super high tech at the time, but since no one else was doing it, it was pretty spectacular.


Over the years he has stayed at the leading edge of book promotion. He made not one, not two but three videos for his latest thriller, The Book of Lies. One of them has Christopher Hitchens and Joss Whedon in the cast (yes, the guy who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) The video itself is a fine piece of writing, about a theoretical missing book of the Bible.


Of course my book trailer for Russian Roulette will be produced by Circle of Seven Productions, the company that invented the things back in 2002, and I’ll be debuting it soon. It won’t be nearly as impressive as any of Brad’s but I’m starting small like he did and following in the great man’s footsteps. It’s good to have such a great and successful example to follow.

2 comments:

Juanita Rose Violini said...

I'm impressed. Looking forward to seeing your trailer Austin.

Cheryl Tardif said...

Great post on this author. I've heard of Brad, seen his books, but haven't read any yet. I never seem to have time to read any more (whine, whine). :-)

One correction though:
Kunati Books claims to have invented the first book trailer. I think it was back in the 80s or 90s. I hope Circle of Seven Productions isn't making that claim; I wouldn't want to see them warring with Kunati.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif