Designer Peter Mendelsund explains the cover design for Ben Marcus’s The Flame Alphabet.

Writer Alec Wilkinson, author of The Ice Balloon, discusses how writers should ask themselves “Is this true?” whenever they write something. Says Wilkinson, “I think any writer who can put something on the page, and say to himself or to herself “Is this true?” and of course you understand I don’t mean literally true, I mean true to some emotion, true to some thought, true to some circumstance that was involved in the creation of whatever piece of prose or poetry you’re working on, I think that if you can satisfactorily answer that question to yourself, you’ve probably got material that will be interesting to a reader.”

Be sure to check out Brain Picking’s great article by Michelle Legro on Wilkinson’s book The Ice Balloon.

In this Writers on Writing video, author Charles C. Mann encourages writers to write in such a way that readers feel they are engaged in a conversation when they are reading the work. Mann says, “When you write a book, if you’re lucky, your voice — it’s like you’re having a conversation with the reader. The reader feels like they’re having a talk with you. I know when I read a really good book, it’s like the writer’s voice is in my head, and I have this sense of this sort of friendly presence. And that’s, I think, what you want if you’re trying to talk about ideas, is to write in such a way that the person feels like ‘I’m on your side, I’m not trying to talk down to you, I’m not trying to drag you into terrain that you don’t want to go, I’m not this authority who’s lecturing you, I’m more like a guy who’s worked hard and learned some cool things that he wants to talk about.’ And I think that’s really important when you write.”

This video is part of Knopf Doubleday’s Writers on Writing series.

This is an amazing short film/book trailer for Ben Marcus’s new novel The Flame Alphabet. It was created by Erin Cosgrove. Amazing colors and animation and darkness of story. One of the better book trailers, for sure. In fact, I’d rather not call it a book trailer at all. Short film is much more appropriate.

The short film and the book are getting some very nice attention, as they should be.

This is a really great trailer for the book A Monster Calls written by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay. Tells a story, without giving too much away. Makes you want to know more about the book. Original art. Good sound quality — even edging the music with the sound of a needle on a record. The only thing I would do differently is get rid of the blurb at the end. Blurbs are over-used and I wish the publishing industry as a whole would stop relying on them. Stop pushing manufactured praise, and do a better job of encouraging engagement. In place of the blurb, I would have showcased a twitter hashtag, or the url to the facebook page of the author.

But that’s a minor quibble. Less about this great video and more about my issue with blurbs. Overall, fantastic trailer.

(Found via Laughing Squid.)

Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet, provides some great writing advice for writers: “One thing I think that writers can try to do is understand how they read. When you pick up a book and half way through the first page you’re not interested, what is it that’s failing to grab your attention? What is it that’s missing? What is it exactly that bores you? And then in turn when you write, are you doing any of those things yourself?”

(This video is part of the Knopf Doubleday Writers on Writing series.)

My colleagues at Random House are always inspiring me but this is above and beyond — thank you so much for telling your stories and delivering this incredibly important message. I’m grateful for your willingness to share and deeply inspired by your heartfelt words. Thank you — Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Michelle Zaffino does video book reviews at inthestacks.tv. Check out the review of One Day below: