NPR MUSIC's 50 Favorite Albums of 2011

nprfreshair:

From NPR Music:

They’re the albums that made us hand our headphones over a cubicle wall and say, “You have to listen to this.” We’re thrilled now to be able to hand them to you with the hope that you fall just as deeply for something you discover on these pages.

Oh yeah, and there are sample tracks from each one. And a printable list. Happy listening!

Check out our newest video!

Photographs of some of the most iconic actors, artists, fashion designers, and performers, from the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Joni Mitchell, Ralph Lauren, and Andy Warhol

A unique photo portfolio of celebrated icons containing many images now published for the first time, this stunningly produced book showcases 150 unforgettable photographs selected from the vast archive of 150,000 that make up an extraordinary body of work. The roll-call of subjects Robinson photographed in his career reads like a definitive who’s who of the period. Robinson photographed not only actors and entertainers but the writers, artists, fashion designers and politicians who shaped the cultural landscape of the sixties and early seventies. His compelling portraits show a remarkable rapport: rarely have his subjects—some of the most photographed individuals in the world—appeared so unguarded and at ease in front of the lens. A favorite of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, Robinson’s photographs appeared over 500 times in the magazine. This unique showcase of images returns Jack Robinson to his rightful place as a master photographer of one of the twentieth-century’s defining periods.

Source: theglossary.com

Matt Freidell, a video editor/producer who created a company called The Glossary to produce short trailers for books, wrote to say, “I read the novella included in your newest release The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow and between the nostalgia of the actual Disney ride and all the great futuristic elements, it really conjured up some fantastic visuals. I noticed you didn’t have any kind of videos promoting it, so I decided to put together a little something in my spare time.”

That ‘little something’ is this tremendous video. I’m immensely gratified and grateful for Matt’s work, not to mention excited and delighted!

-Cory Doctorow

Click here for the link to the original article on Cory Doctorow’s website.  Needless to say, we’re more than a little excited about this.  Nothing like creating something for one of our favorite authors and having them love it!

Source: craphound.com

Has it really been a week since the website launched?  We’re so OLD now!  ;)

We’ve been hustling to get our name out there and get some feedback.  We knew when we set out to create The Glossary that it couldn’t be just a stagnant, black and white thing.  After all, that’s the exact problem with book trailers, isn’t it?  Stagnant… Simple… With no creativity or anything new.  

If we wanted to change all that, we know we’re going to need your help and your feedback.  And thanks to you, we’ve gotten some in the past week.  We wanted to take a minute to address some of the questions that have been popping up.

Q:  Where’s all your work?  I only see a few videos…

A:  You’re right.  Not a lot of videos to look at yet, is there?  While we’ve been making book “trailers” for years, they were all made for those “other guys” who always had the creative control.  With The Glossary, we want to ensure we’re showcasing our original content that hopefully showcases our desire to redefine what a book video can be.  You can take a look at the videos we do have at portfolio.theglossary.com

Q:  Do you only have the two products for sale?

A:  Yes and no.  Having just launched, we wanted to have pricing and products that were accessible and clearly defined.  But from the start, one of our goals at The Glossary was to make creative videos that would fit the needs of any author; from those working with publishers that have a dedicated marketing budget, to independent or self-published authors who have little to no budget set aside for a video. We’re not a one-size-fits-all company, so give us a call and we will work to customize our services to fit your needs.  

We’ve been excited to get the ball rolling over the past week and can’t wait to see where we go from here.  We’re looking forward to working with all of you to create unique and dynamic videos to showcase your work.  In the meantime, we want to answer any additional questions you may have.  Leave a comment, email us at info@theglossary.com, or call us at (213) 537-0715.  We’d love to chat!

The Ultimate Duel Book Trailer Contest

Next month, as part of its Art of the Novella series, Melville House is publishing five classic novellas all with the same name: THE DUEL.

Now all we need is… one great video trailer.

Okay, so we’re a little, ahem, critical of the videos made by the system, most of which are terrible and also not any good. So we’ve decided to try something else: Make you do it.

That’s right, we challenge YOU to make the most awesome book trailer of all time. The winner will receive a full set of all 42 titles in our Art of the Novellas series (a value of $420). Also: underground fame and glory.

The rules:

1. Must be under 3:00 minutes long. It can be hilarious or deadly serious. It can be shot in 3D or drawn in crayon. Sensuround welcome.
2. Include at least one cover from one of The Duels in your video.
3. Must end with the Melville House logo. (Download our logo here.)
4. Copy and paste this text in the YouTube video description:

Five great books, five great writers, one great title. The Duel by Giacomo Casanova, Anton Chekhov, Joseph Conrad, Heinrich Von Kleist, and Aleksandr Kuprin. Available now from Melville House Publishing. For more information visit: http://mhpbooks.com/book.php?id=575

5. Once it’s up, submit the URL to contact@mhpbooks.com so we can embed it on our website. Or leave it in the comments section below.
6. The winner will be whomever gets the most YouTube views.
7. The prize will be awarded September 1st.

Naturally, we want to play too. So here’s our first entry:

Bring it on!

Love,

Melville House Publishing

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!