Another Book Trailer: Seth Godin Believes We Can Do Anything

Recently, the creative crew at Mekanism produced a pair of book trailers for Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Chef. When we spoke to Ferriss, he made the case for YouTube book trailers as the future of literary promotion. Given the millions of views accrued by his trailers (which have since been removed from YouTube and replaced with shorter, commercial-length videos), there’s a good chance he has a point.

Now, other creative shops and authors are joining Mekanism and Ferriss in the book-trailer-club. Seth Godin, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker who attempts to help his followers break out of the monotony of their daily lives, has teamed up with Simplifilm to release a trailer for The Icarus Deception, Godin’s new book about individual expression. As with Ferriss’ trailer, Godin’s features plenty of fancy editing, kinetic movement, and jumpy special effects.

Like Ferriss’, Godin’s YouTube effort is only part of his forward-thinking attempts to redefine how books are marketed. Icarus Deception was funded not through the traditional publishing method but instead through a massively successful Kickstarter campaign that ultimately raised over $287,000, making it one of the most funded projects in the site’s history.

Godin’s resourceful and unconventional approach to publishing is similar to Ferriss’, and it’s clear that while the YouTube book trailer might not work for everyone, it is a smart idea for authors who hope to push the envelope (which, of course, is exactly what Godin’s book is about). On the viewer’s end of things, we get to see fancy-schmancy videos with slick production. Sounds like a win-win to me.