About the Author

Kathleen Sweeney

Kathleen Sweeney, a multimedia writer, artist and activist, explores the intersections of creativity, video, social media and social change. Founder/Director of The Viral Media Lab, and author of Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age, she blogs and publishes articles on media, pop culture, and technology, with creative nonfiction at Cowbird.

#BEA11: “What’s Next?” A Chance Encounter with Jan Brett

In What's the Buzz by Kathleen Sweeney

By Kathleen Sweeney As a BEA newbie, I hadn’t counted on being starstruck by a children’s book celebrity siting. I was strolling through the Penguin Books pavilion scanning books when there she was, Jan Brett, the author and illustrator extraordinaire, no less than a legend on my daughters’ bookshelves, passing out swag bags emblazoned with her book covers for Home …

#BEA11: Ten Tips for Publishers Producing Videos

In What's the Buzz by Kathleen Sweeney

By Kathleen Sweeney Anyone who has been reading our coverage of BEA knows just how much we enjoy shooting video. As with any medium, practice makes perfect and it always pays to learn from the pros. Steve Stockman should know how to shoot a video that doesn’t suck, which — actually — was the title of his session earlier today. With …

#BEA11: What’s Next for the Book?

In What's the Buzz by Kathleen Sweeney

The biggest challenger to traditional publishing will likely come from someone raising money on Kickstarter.com. By Kathleen Sweeney If publishers could create a crystal ball app for the Future of the Book, it would be a mega-hit. With e-readers competing with mobile devices, the definition of the book is changing along with the marketplace. That much is known. What is …

New York’s New School Takes on the Topic of E-books

In What's the Buzz by Kathleen Sweeney

By Kathleen Sweeney Well, there’s certainly no shortage of opportunities to talk about e-books…So, curious about what is the newest of the new in e-publication trending, I attended the Center for Communication’s recent collaborative event with The New School, “eBooks: New Trends for a New Decade.” Prepping myself for a multimedia presentation with the latest offerings in handheld wizardry, I found …

Eight Million Viral Views Later: In Search of the Ultimate Children’s and YA Book Trailer

In Children's, Digital by Kathleen Sweeney

Book trailers — surveyed here last week — are a complicated art form, half-entertainment, half-promotion. Making them appeal to children and teens can be even more challenging. By Kathleen Sweeney The big screen success of the Dave Eggers/Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are would suggest that producing a book trailer for children would be as …

Hot Eye Pop: Surveying the Good and Bad in Book Trailers

In English Language, Resources by Kathleen Sweeney

The best — and most innovative — book trailers can attract thousands or even millions of viewers. We talk to several experts about what works and why. By Kathleen Sweeney When the term “book trailer” first buzzed out of Los Angeles in 2002, expectations ran high for video promos to become mandatory launch elements. Nine years later, multimedia roll-outs remain ad hoc …