New York, NY (Top40 Charts) BookReels Confidential Host Dan Rosen interviews Daily Show Star and Author Aasif Mandvi
"I wanted to do a book trailer because I saw BJ Novak's book trailer, and I wanted to beat that," joked Mandvi.
When "Daily Show" Correspondent and HBO "The Brink" actor/writer/producer Aasif Mandvi finished his memoir, "No Land's Man" (Chronicle Books), there was no question he would produce a book trailer. He knew it was a powerful marketing tool, and wildly growing in popularity with book lovers and video lovers alike. But how would he make his stand out?
Mandvi discussed his book trailer strategy with Dan Rosen, host of the new interview show "BookReels Confidential," which can be found on BookReels.com. The secret weapon, Mandvi told Rosen, was his rolodex.
He enlisted celebrity friends Jack Black, John
Oliver and Connie Britton to appear in his book trailer, resulting in the hilarity you'd expect from the comedy superstars.
"I wanted to do a book trailer because I saw BJ Novak's book trailer, and I wanted to beat that," joked Mandvi. Actor and comedian Novak's book of tales, "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories," was published in 2014.
"And you did beat him," Rosen shot back. Mandvi's trailer was recently selected as a winner in the inaugural BookReels Awards this summer. The "No Land's Man" trailer has also racked up nearly 20,000 views on YouTube, an extraordinary number for a marketing practice still in its infancy in the book world.
"Actually, we should have gotten the award for most miles traveled to shoot a book trailer," laughed Mandvi. He made three cross-country trips over four months to accommodate everyone's busy schedules.
Mandvi shot his segment with Jack
Black during their lunch break while filming their new show "The Brink" on HBO. He had one hour to film John Oliver's segment before the 9 a.m. daily meeting of Oliver's hit HBO show "Last Week
Tonight with John Oliver." And there were only a few minutes to shoot his segment with the busy "Nashville" star Connie Britton on the streets of New York City, while she was in the city for just one day.
In the end, Mandvi believes it was worth it. "I was thinking about my book trailer before I wrote the book."
There are thousands of book trailers on BookReels.com, a testament to their growing popularity among authors of all genres.
"BookReels Confidential" is a web series that focuses on the art and craft of making book trailers. In future episodes, Dan Rosen interviews Ben Tripp, author of "The Fifth House of the Heart,"
Peter Harmon, author of "The Happenstances at the Yellow County Community Swim and Racquet Club the Summer Before Last,"
Aaron Cooley, "Four Seats," and
Leslie Zemeckis, "Goddess of Love Incarnate."
For the full "BookReels Confidential" interview with Aasif Mandvi, click https://www.bookreels.com/aasif-mandvi. And check out the hilarious trailers for "No Land's Man" at https://www.bookreels.com/genre/no-lands-man and Novak's "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories" at https://www.bookreels.com/genre/one-more-thing-stories-and-other-stories.
BookReels.com is the web's number one website for book trailers and also features other original programming such as "This Week in BookReels", also hosted by Dan Rosen with
Laura Orr, and the children's book review show "Mommy Knows Books" with comedy writer Kristine Kimmel.
