Top Viral Videos are just like Great Books!

Many literary types criticise the rise and rise of YouTube and other video sharing sites, claiming that they dumb down youth and will rot your brain. Granted, much of the video is silly nonsense, but in a review of the Top 10 viral videos of the last year, you can see that people want the same in their videos as they do in their books.

Character. Emotion. Story. Human connection. Meaning.

No 1 is the brilliant surprise that is Susan Boyle. Initially ridiculed, she is the underdog heroine who triumphs! (she is rumoured to be going on Oprah soon).

This is followed by several videos that have been made into bestselling books.

The inspirational Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. Dying of pancreatic cancer, Randy gave this amazing speech about following your childhood dreams. If you haven’t watched this or read the book The Last Lecture, it is a must read. (I video-reviewed it here)

A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond between Two Friends and a Lion is on the shelves right now and zooming up the Amazon charts branded as “the YouTube hit”. It is a brilliant video and the books seem to be everywhere. It is essentially a book trailer, and is obviously working very well. The story itself is emotional and cat lovers will be teary!

There is also “Yes we can, the Obama song” which mobilised the youth of America and still brings shivers to the spine (and I am not even American!)

Where the hell is Matt? might seem trivial but it is a celebration of cultures and dancing and happiness – the stuff of many

Finally, if you think you could never make a viral video out of your book, then consider this – the Hadron Collider rap is no. 19 on the list – yes, particle physics goes viral! (is your book as dry as that?!)

I have been reviewing book trailers as part of the Author 2.0 program – Using web 2.0 to write, publish, sell and promote your book.
Coming soon!

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