Romance Dedicated to Some of the Greatest Heroes...

When you think about real heroes, not the ones with super-powers and capes who fly about compromising the plots of ugly villains but genuine and honest human beings who fight to uphold the values we hold dear, what comes to mind? Some of you might think of the police officers who work in the streets day and night, providing us with a certain measure of security, while others may be reminded of those who respond to emergency situations, like firefighters and paramedics. How many of you are reminded of the men and women who serve as members of the military forces both here and around the world? I suspect that for many of you these are true heroes, valiant and full of courage. These are very real people who risk their own lives to provide us with peace of mind in a violent and uncertain world. And, as most of you know, there is a special sort of hero among the ranks of military soldiers in the American armed forces. They are the Navy SEALs, highly trained and ultimately dedicated to their line of work. But what does it mean to live the life of a Navy SEAL? Now, you can get a taste...
...Not always is romance associated with military service, but believe me when I say that many women would appreciate the opportunity to love a Navy SEAL. After all, it takes passion to stay on such a demanding course, and what woman would ever fail to appreciate that in a man? Now, eighteen popular romance writers are taking on the challenge of writing fiction that gives you a sense of what it means to experience that passion, and many of them know from firsthand experience. The book is SEAL of My Dreams, and many great romance authors have a part to play in this. The authors who contributed to this impressive collection are as follows: Robyn Carr (who provides the foreword), Jami Alden, Stephanie Bond, Kylie Brant, Helen Brenna, Helen Kay Dimon, Cindy Gerard, Tara Janzen, Leslie Kelly, Elle Kennedy, Alison Kent, Jo Leigh, Gennita Low, Marliss Melton, Christie Ridgway, Barbara Samuel, Roxanne St. Claire, Stephanie Tyler, and Loreth Anne White. Many of these romance specialists are award-winning, highly acclaimed writers, and some of them even have family members who have served or currently serve.
These stories, some of which read more like novellas, are exciting and full of energy but come with that characteristic sensuality that so often is the pursuit of romance fanatics. If you happen to be a fan of romance-style fiction with a touch of the patriotic, then this is definitely the collection for you. And, in case you need another reason to invest in SEAL of My Dreams, here it is: all proceeds will go to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit group that provides financial support for veterans medical research. For more information about this collection and the authors who provided their work to it, visit the following web address: http://sealofmydreams.com/wordpress/.

Turbulent Sea Book Trailer

About a month ago, Sheila English asked if I would be interested in directing Christine Feehan's upcoming book trailer for Turbulent Sea.



Without hesitation, I responded I would love to do it. Then she drop the really big news: it would be a music video! I immediately understood what she wanted. Turbulent Sea is based on Joley's life as a famous singer. Sheila wrote the song and when I heard it I was hooked.

My experience in producing and working on music videos matched perfectly with this request. I had worked on several of Gloria Estefan's music videos including "Turn the Beat Around", "I'm Not Giving You Up" and "Reach." I thought about Gloria's performance in the first two and knew that this was the look and feel we would go for.

As it turned out Gloria is one of Christine's favorite music artist and agreed that this was the feel that she wanted for the video. Cecilia, her daughter, would play Joley and I requested that she look at several of Gloria's videos in particular, I'm Not Giving You Up" which I coordinated (Bille Woodruff directing and Jeff Nelson producing).

I was looking for a lot of emotion which can be very hard to capture in music videos. Most of the time the music artist is "selling" to the camera too much or trying to hard, but Gloria, the pro, knows exactly how to bring it. I was a little concerned about Cecilia, because it takes years to perfect the skill of lip syncing and acting. But, Cecilia handled like she had been doing it all her life! She really just came right to it and from the first take I knew we had a natural performer in her.

The song has an emotional climax to it and Cecilia looks right into the camera and lets us see right into her soul. I was shaken when she gave the performance outside the stadium door (she takes the wig off and throws it down.)

She also was a real blast to work with. We had fun doing the explosion scene at the end and were joking and laughing around a lot right before we filmed it. I was concerned that she wasn't going to be in the right state for the scene, but as soon as we rolled camera she dropped the goofy kid act and went right to work, jumping high in the air and throwing herself down on the mat with all her energy. She is one athletic little lady!

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Eric Holter who played Ilya, but I'm going to blog about that another time. Cheers - Victoria Arias Fraasa

Publishers following COS trends

Without a doubt Circle of Seven Productions is the trend setter for book video creation and marketing. COS has been making book trailers since 2002, but started to revolutionize the trend in 2004 when they made a deal with a major movie theater chain and started showing book video in movie theaters.
A year later Harlequin decided to give it a try with a video by Heather Graham. And, today HarperCollins is determined to see if they can utilize movie theaters with the same effectiveness COS has experieneced. You can see the video HarperCollins made - HERE.

The COS Newsletter has many publishers, booksellers and competitors subscribed to it. Often, information newly released by COS is found later in blogs, competitor newsletters or as publisher's press releases as they utilize COS marketing ideas.

So, the question is - What's next?

After COS announced an online tv station for readers last year others found the idea to have merit. Simon and Schuster announced recently that they have started their own online site for book video called bookvideos.tv.

Not only have publishers found book videos to be a great way to engage readers and entice them to buy, but booksellers have embraced the new age of video with Borders now offering book video in their newsletters, on their main Borders Media site and a special page just for romance. Barnes and Noble have their Meet The Writers program and are also taking book trailers to enhance their reader's buying experince as seen on these pages-

Safe Harbor
Lord of the Fading Lands
And many, many more.

Authors are creating their own tv players for their site like Douglas Clegg and Cheryl Holt

Reader's Entertainment TV has lead the way into a new trend to bring readers more dynamic material online. But, there's more!

In 2006 COS worked with author Christine Feehan to start offering online games associated with books. The FOG (Feehan Online Game) attracted over 10,000 people who played the video game all the way through and received a screensaver as a prize!

The future of online marketing both with video and with other opportunities continues to be a main focus for COS Productions. Leading an industry into a new era of opportunity using video and online endeavors, new ideas and creative media is a staple for COS, and having industry giants follow that lead is a sure sign of success.

Reader's Entertainment is LIVE!

Reader's Entertainment Channel online television is live! The all new comedy show The Lonesome Losers is now showing its first episode of the season!

The station is geared toward readers with an emphasis on gaining new readers, while still entertaining traditional readers.

Each week new content goes up on the homepage and the featured content then goes to one of the many Genre-Stations!

Come by and see the new place for readers to be entertained!

COS at the CAMEOS!

Circle of Seven Productions
WINNERS of the 2007 Cameo Awards!
Thank you to the authors who submitted their book video to the Cameo Awards!
Circle of Seven did not personally submit any video this year for the Cameo Awards, so we appreciate those authors who submitted their videos!
The following are WINNERS in the Cameo Awards for Best Book Videos in a given category!

The following list reflects only the COS WINNERS.
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Best Contemporary Romance Winner-
LISA KLEYPAS - SUGAR DADDY


Sugar Daddy - Book Trailer

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Best Romantic Suspense

JOANN ROSS - NO SAFE PLACE




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Best Fantasy Romance WINNER



LUCY MONROE - MOON AWAKENING

Moon Awakening - book video

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Best Science Fiction Romance WINNER

SUSAN KEARNEY - THE QUEST

The Quest Book Trailer

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Best Historical Romance WINNER

SYLVIA DAY - THE STRANGER I MARRIED
The Stranger I Married - Book Trailer

Add to My Profile | More Videos


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Best Paranormal Romance WINNER





COLLEEN GLEASON- THE REST FALLS AWAY





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Viewer's Choice Award - No Safe Place - JoAnn Ross



Cameo for Excellence in Art Direction - The Stranger I
Married - Sylvia Day author - Joe Gruberman producer



Excellence in Score (music)- The Stranger I Married -

Sylvia Day author -
Joe Gruberman producer




Excellence In Writing (script and concept)- No Safe
Place -
JoAnn Ross author-
Sheila English writer -
Mike Miller visual concepts



The Cameo Award for Promotional Excellence (top award
for all trailers) -
No Safe Place - JoAnn Ross


Congrats to ALL the winners of the 2007 Cameo Awards!