Writers Are Shameless!

Posted on by scott

The other day I went into the offices of Simon & Schuster to shoot some video about Leviathan, and they cleverly had me doing double duty on this pre-Xmas video. It is slavishly devoted to the notion that Books Make Good Gifts (aka Publishing Is Recession Proof, Right? RIGHT?), but still pretty cool.

The amazing thing is the company I’m keeping. Just try to imagine the after-shoot party with me, Bill O’Reilly, Maya Angelou, and Dan Brown all hanging out. The mind boggles.


Click for the actual video.

By the way, my 50s college professor shirt is by D.L. Cerny, my new fave place for dapper. Because shirts make great gifts!

114 thoughts on “Writers Are Shameless!”

  12. Daaaaaang… You know you’ve made it big as an author when…

    Good job scott, and you should have figured out by now that nothing can prevent people from reading! Not censorship, book banning, blindness, or now recession! I must also add that the effect the recession has on publishing is better than the effect it has had on fashion (Actual Headline: “The Best Way To Dress without breaking the bank in the new recession? Wear no clothes at all!”) 😉

  13. Kate-la: totally, he would make a great Zane(he doesn’t even need 2 b made pretty on the computer cause he already is)hehehe!!! SHAY?……she is okay, but 2 jealous of Tally all the time!!!=D bye

  14. Must…buy…books!
    Hehe. Good job Scott-la! Although I must say my favorite was Julie Andrews: books are everyone’s favorite things. 🙂

  15. I love books. And yes, they do make great gifts. But I’m so picky about books that I rarely ask for them as gifts, unless the next book in a series I’ve read for years comes out right before Chistmas or my birthday.

    Click my name. Read my blog. Vote in the poll. Leave a comment. 😀

  16. Hah, nice.
    (I only watched part of the video, but I love the line about how books make a great escape from reality. True, but still. Can you smell the Depression fear?)

    Love is Hell is the only book on my Christmas list, I just plan to split any gifts of cash I get (which I’m sure to, because relatives do not understand that weird child) between books and CDs.

  18. I loved this. Ha, and my family even asked for books . . . some not so great, but totally fun (okay that makes them great!).

  19. Since when was Julie Andrews an author?

    “Books make great gifts!” I love how everyone says it pretty much the exact same way, like they’re *trying* to get the phrase stuck in your head.

    Which, you know, they would totally never do.

  21. That so cool! The only problem I have with giving people books is that I don’t know what they would want without asking and that just ruins the surprise. (Which is why I buy them gift certificates for the local bookstore here.)

  23. I wonder how many of the lines were scripted? (Cue me wincing at Rachael Ray.) I do think Frank McCourt’s reason is my favourite. I love him. I want him to be my Irish grandpa and tell me stories about his depressing poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland.

    I will also say I asked for Uglies for Christmas. 🙂

  24. Cool! I’ve actually met Maya Angelou and talked to her at my boarding school camp thingy over the summer in New York! She was pretty cool!

  26. “like giving someone an adventure” exactly!!!!!!

    Nice cameo Scott-la

    &I love Julie Andrews, she’s one of my fav actors!

  27. OMG!!!!!!*screams & jumps up&down quietly* SNOW DAY!!!! finally, but 2day my chrismas break starts……..i screamed quietly cause my mom,dad,brother&sister r still sleeping@7:52am(what losers) Jay-wa: did u get a snowday because there was like 200 schools that got snowdays 2day???=D

  31. I luv elmo. Oh, and by the way Maya or whoever said that one thing about books being your friends, i don’t usually tell secrets to my books. lol

  36. i luv snow days(like 2day)=D 2day would b my last day of school, but now its the 1st day of winter break!!!!=D

  37. i just went outside& had a snowball fight w/ my sister, now i m inside eating chocolate chip cookies& hot chocolate w/ marahmallows(not sure how 2 spell that)mmmmmm!!!! Ehmagawd!!!! i just remembered 2morrow is my grandma’s christmas party!!!!! i m excited because i m getting HTDYF, Love is Hell, Peeps, and Extras(haven’t read it yet) *excitment* i m sooooo excited 2 read extras, i have been waiting since thanksgiving when i finished specials!!!!!(i couldn’t buy it cause i m broke……i have about $6 right now& extras is like $16!!!!!

  38. Awesome, two posts that were like BAM BAM. Awesome

    SNOW DAY!!! I almost started crying because we had a snow day..so..happy..*sniff*

    I want to watch that video! It seems pretty Hilarious. WOO WINTER BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    (Scott-la is in Australia, right?)
    Ashley-wa: The snow keeps falling, and you can’t even see more than a mile! A lot less than a mile! It’s insane!! Yay!!!!!

    Yay! Books! Books! I love books! I asked for Bogus to Bubbly, So Yesterday, The Last Days and How to Ditch Your Fairy! It’s going to be so phat.

    Happy Friday! (more than likely. Or Happy Whatever-Day-It-Is!!)

  39. “books make great gifts because after you make love, you can reach for one, its always there.”

    HAHAHAHAH!

    after taking a final i’m pretty sure i failed,
    this sure did brighten up my day.

  40. we had an early dismissal
    the hs went from 7:45 to 10:45
    just three hours of school
    it’s so ridiculous we even went at all
    now it’s snowing like mad!!!
    lovely nor’easter.<

    &I’ve asked for books for Christmas
    but my relatives always get me clothes 🙁
    I hope I at least get some money so I can then buy myself books

  42. Scott Westerfeld sounds so awesome when he talks!

    Liset: I’m sorry you’re pretty sure you failed your exam! But that was hilarious!

  51. Ok. So, I finally (and sadly) just finnished reading all Scott’s books. My last one, happened to be peeps, so I’m still in the parasite-zone. So, to sum up, I love Scott westerfeld. His books are simply amazing! I sooo wish they all become movies so that EVERYONE will see them. Anyways, Books ARE great gifts. And now I have that phrase stuck in my head.

  52. Oh my gosh, Elmo!! XD Good job, Scott-la, books do make great gifts. I want some books for Christmas 😀 !!!

  54. Gah, I have such a huge crush on Jon Stewart~

    Er, anyways… That was really cute! I’m actually giving away several books for Christmas and getting some! I know what books they are but not allowed to touch them until Christmas… *sad sigh*

  58. Some of those were so funny. I liked Christopher Paolini’s reason- ‘Because you can travel to places far away, and it costs less than a tank of gas’.

    I was actually surprised that I’d read most of the people on that video. I guess I’m well read and never knew it. 😕

  61. Totally, Jenny-la!!!!!!!!(!!!!!!!)

    Alba-wa: Is it sad because you haven’t read all his books? And Peeps is amazing. It totally one-ups other vampire books. Biting is so…1980’s!

    That video was like subliminal messages. Buy books…mehhh zombies…mehh.

    Austin: Went to your site, and was like ‘RAW??!!!’ ’cause I thought you were eating raw meat..but okay raw fruits and stuff. It looks good though…*reads the rest of the posts*

    Yay! Snow! I wish I had a hover board, that’d be awesome to hover board in the snow…SNOW!!!

  65. No Sparkles for Peeps (Westerfeld’s vampires!)!!

    Hoverboards would be so…I’ve gone word-missing. That’s how great. I want to invent a hoverboard, and I’d make them ultra-cheap so everyone could have one.

    Bad thing about Hoverboards/cars: School wouldn’t be canceled because of snow. You’d just fly over it. (I’d get over it so fast!)

  67. that would b a bummer if there couldn’t b snowdays, but u could get up 4 school l8er than u usually do cause it would take like 2 minutes 2 get 2 school!!! u know what they should invent……heated jackets, we need those up here!!!=D

  69. Cool video, although I have to say, what was with Elmo? And after the first minute of it, I was rolling my eyes everytime someone said “books make great gifts because…” or one of those awefully scripted things that just advertise themselves (check out Jim Cramer and Rachael Ray *wince*).
    They do make fawesome gifts, though. I got them for my four close friends. And I know some people don’t like to because they think it’s hard to figure out what a person likes, but it’s not really that bad. I knew one of my friends had wanted to start a certain series I had said was awesome, another one of mine had all of her fave authors books except one, another refused to finish this awesome series (so now she has to XD), and…well actually, the fourth friend I got a prettyful blank drawing book lol. Ironically, three out of the four gifts were Scott’s books.
    You guys got snow days? Lucky! It wasn’t snowing in the morning so we had school, but by third period it was practically a blizzard. And after a lot of begging I got to go to one of my friend’s houses afterwards for a while, and my friend, her little sister, another friend, her little sister, another friend, and moi all had an epic snowball fight. One of the little sisters actually took a gigantic clump of snow and just mushed it on my head–but I got her back good :0).

  70. Oh, and scott, yours was one of the least lame answers, but it was still deliciously corny in a way. My favorite, though, was “they never go out of style. Unlike that thing you’re wearing…” I looked down at my soccer sweatshirt and pajama pants when she said that.

    And I was about to make a joke about Christopher Paolini, but then I remembered which books he wrote…

    😉

  74. Yay! Christmas is almost here! I didn’t get to see the video cause it wont work on my computer… but I will see it in a second hopefully… I am just soo happy it’s christmas break finnally…

  77. Books make awesome gifts! Anytime and anywhere. Most of the stuff I request for are books anyway. Bogus to bubbly = *squeeel!*

    Distract the minds from realities? Well, we now know who is in denial.

  78. 2day is my grandma’s christmas party!!! yyyaaayyyy!!! the only thing is in some ways my grandma’s christmas party always relates 2 a Pretty party in the way that its no fun until everybody’s drunk…….which is fine w/ me because i think its fun 2 mess w/ drunk people!! besides, drunk people r the only ones who will listen 2 me talk about books(besides u people)!!=D

  79. its Satuday!!! happy saturday!!! do u know what that means?? probably not, so i’ll tell u: this means a whole day of having no life& going on the computer all day!!! except 2day is that party(which after presents i won’t b @ in my mind, cause i will b exploring w/ Aya& whoever else is in that book) yay!!!

  80. lol so adorable. i nvr realised how old marry higgins clark is. her books are amazing tho…….and i hope the same goes for birhtday presents heeheee..

    the vid. was adorable!

  92. MY B-DAY IS IN THREE DAYS AND I’M SO HAPPIFUL!
    sigh. and i’m on winter break! life is good!
    but my older sis got ALL OF LAST WEEK OF cuz of the power-outages in MA, and her school got hit hard. my school didn’t get hit at all…grrrr…but i lost power from thurs night to like tuesday afternoon…misery cubed. we stayed w/out grandparents, tho, and that was fun!
    i <3 the song ‘chicken fried’ by zac brown–so funny!

    i made muffins!

  95. me too! i love books! i don’t think i’m getting any for x-mas this year tho. 🙁 i got my camera which is my only present… but that’s okay with me, cuz i LOVE it!

  100. i want 2 know why we r bubbleheads & fashion missing also?? maybe i need a social lfe, but i’ll get 1 l8er!=D

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  103. yesterday @my grandma’s party i got Extras, Peeps, and a shirt that said Team David(which i wore the whole time)!!! i was soooo happy!! i also got a gold neclace w/a heart locket on the end (which reminded me of the one Tally had @the Smoke)and a few Target gift cards!!! it was awesome!!!=D

  111. All I got from my close family this year was books. well, books and a gift certificate to a local book store. even better for me 😀

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