The Weekly Catch Up
The anatomy of an unboxing video.
The UPS driver carried two giant boxes up to my doorstep last week, setting them down on the brick front steps. I saw him through the glass door and knew exactly what they were. Finished copies of Our Last Vineyard Summer.
I wanted to tear open the box immediately and set my eyes on the cover, the blurbs, the energy of the girls jumping off the boat, but outside, it was rainy and gloomy. I couldn’t possibly film an unboxing video in my dreary old house.
I would need to wait to see my books. You only get one shot with an unboxing video—whatever my 10-year-old films on the first take is what I post on social media, no matter what. A genuine reaction needs to be captured or what’s the point? My second requirement for an unboxing video: Sunshine. I write summer books and I feel my best when I’m sitting in a bright patch of sunlight, so I wait for a beautiful day even if my patience with the weather wears thin.
Authors either love the unboxing video or they dread it, but like it or not, it’s become a rite of passage in the life cycle of a novel. Readers love seeing them, even if they feel contrived. Some writers get dressed up for their video. Others add fancy music or speed up the video. Some have stopped making them altogether. The thinking is how can you possibly show any true emotion when you’re filming yourself for social media? Writers are a pretty authentic bunch, so it’s not surprising that if it doesn’t feel real, they don’t want to post it on social media.
But here’s the rub: I absolutely LOVE watching other authors see their books for the first time. All of us were once little girls who dreamed of writing a novel, and now we’re women who are sitting there holding our books. Stories that we created from our very own imaginations. Seeing those videos feels like the kind of empowerment my mother talked to me about when I was little.
Writers also have a special connection with our words and to hold all of that work in our hands for the very first time is similar to the instant love you feel when holding your baby for the first time. A slight exaggeration, but you see my point. The shot of joy that you see in these videos is very, very real. So I make unboxing videos for all of my friends, readers and author pals who want to share in my sacred moment of holding my book for the first time.
Finally, the sun came out last week. After she got home from school, I wrangled my 10-year-old after her playdate to my back deck near my favorite flowering plants. We practiced where I should sit so that you didn’t see the playset, the barbecue and badminton net. I threw my hair up in a ponytail since it was 90 degrees and I could care less that I didn’t have makeup on. This is about the books! I set my giant box of novels in front of me and gave my daughter a thumbs up. She pressed record.
I freaked! As always. You can even hear her laughing at my reaction, the way kids always laugh at their parents when they’re embarrassed with the way they’re acting. I could have been clever and talked about my characters. I could have looked much better in my video. But what mattered is that it felt real. That the video felt like me.
Media Diary
What I’ve Been Watching: We finished Season 48 of Survivor! Go Kyle! In all honesty though I was rooting for Eva. :)
What I’ve Been Reading: Kristin Harmel’s The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. You’ll hear more on this one next week!
An Article Worth Sharing: “What Are Your Dad’s Rules For Life?” by Joanna Goddard. Someone sent me this sweet article this week in which the Cup of Jo writer interview her dad. I loved it.
Podcast I’m enjoying: “Jeanine Cummins, Speak to Me of Home” talking to Zibby Owens on the Totally Booked podcast. It was a great interview.
Congratulations!💕
Loved how the video came out!