I promised in Tuesday's post that today's film-ette would be an low or no-budget author promo that's gotten two hundred thousand-plus hits on YouTube. Well, here it is: romance author Diana Holquist's trailer for her book The Sexiest Man Alive.

A few things to notice about this brilliant feat of fearless and funny author self-promotion.

First, you'll notice that Holquist exploited both what she had and what she didn't have with extreme, almost fiendish cleverness. She had a webcam, a cat, a brain, a sense of humor, and a book cover that allowed both sex and humor to shine. She didn't (presumably) have a big budget, a high-end camera, a music composer, a make-up artist, or James Cameron to direct. She found a form that built on both. The informality, the intimacy, the amateurishness, and the silliness intrinsic to home webcam use are exactly what makes the trailer so effective.

Second, her trailer connects with viewers. It's not just about her book. And it's not just about selling that book. It's about her, and the fact that she is very much like you, me, and most of her readers. She lives in an ordinary house, she has a cat, she isn't perfectly coifed or made up: no Jackie Collins or Barbara Cartland here. She's down to earth, she's funny, and—even better—she's willing to be funny about herself and her work. You probably don't go to the site address given at the end of the piece—and I'm absolutely confident that many, many viewers have done just that—because you want to know more about the book. You go because she seems like she would be a fun, funny, and interesting person to know.

Third, and closely related to second (not sure why I'm in such a numerically precise mood today), this video does not sell the book the way romance covers and ads sell the book. I hope you're listening, because this is very important. In case you're not listening, let me say it louder: IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. Romance novels and romance ads speak to romance readers. Most YouTube viewers are not romance readers. Holquist's trailer succeeded because she was willing to meet the YouTube "tribe," to use Seth Godin's word, where they are. She paid attention to the fact that they are probably younger, probably hipper, probably not interested in reading romance, and certainly more gender-divided than the romance market. She didn't violate the integrity of herself or her book to do this, by the way. She just found an aspect of her book and brand that worked for YouTube, exactly as she found aspects of her book and brand that work for her web site.

And finally, you'll notice the most obvious thing of all: Diana Holquist ventured into the brave new world of YouTube and tried it.Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Holquist's earlier YouTube promo for this book and the one that preceded it is also very clever, and even more minimal: no live action, in fact no movement of any kind, at all.

I could have made that. You could have made that. But we didn't. Something to think about.

WRITING CRITIQUES: big pictures and piddling little points

Seth Godin's work on marketing isn't directed specifically at writers, but if you're a writer who wants help with book marketing and career building in the age of new media, you can't find a better source. His thoughts are concise and provocative. His books (the latest is Linchpin) are not just useful but also entertaining. And you've just got to love a guy whose web site tells you to click on his bald head to visit his blog.

Seth's recent Sentences, Paragraphs and Chapters post addresses a business issue, but his comments apply perfectly to writers and writing critiques as well. Too many workshops and critique groups focus on piddling little corrections rather than big questions. There's less risk of hurting the writer that way, and maybe less fear that raising those big questions will make us sound arrogant or presumptuous.

You'll notice I said big questions, not once but twice. I'm not necessarily talking about big criticisms, though sometimes they may be needed.

I'm talking about helping each other look at the totality of a book, a career, and a writer's gifts and goals as effectively as we help each other tweak the specifics of a scene, a line, or even just a word.

I also don't mean to suggest that copy-editing and proofing and general manuscript polishing aren't important. They are. But they're tasks separate from manuscript critique and revision...or at least they should be.

Let's not sit around making writerly small talk while we rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's hard enough to keep little lifeboats like the S.S. First Novel afloat in these choppy seas.