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Hank, I Have Some Advice

2018-01-30 · letter vlog · John · 3:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: self promotion

John congratulates Hank on An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, which he calls brilliant, and teasingly advises him to improve his self-promotion: always give the title, publication date and pre-order status, share the premise, and sign some pre-orders; he then announces the first episode of his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greetings from a New York hotel-room floor; congratulations on Hank's brilliant book; no writing advice

  • ★ John greets Hank from the floor of a hotel room in New York City. (playful) — 00:00:01 · New York City
  • ★★★ John congratulates Hank on his book: so brilliant, the best book he has read about what now feels like, and a rip-roaring adventure story. — 00:00:03 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Hank Green
  • ★★ John expected to play big brother advising Hank on writing but can offer only congratulations, partly because their styles differ: Hank's book has a proper plot. (playful) — 00:00:13

00:00:29 — Hank must improve his self-promotion: title, pub date, pre-order; the premise; cover, tour, signed pre-orders; congratulations again

  • ★★★ John says Hank must improve his self-promotion: his video about the book never mentioned its title. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ The book is An Absolutely Remarkable Thing; it comes out September 25th and is available for pre-order now. — 00:00:42 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
  • ★★ John advises that whenever you talk about your new book, even to your spouse or cat, you include the title, the pub date and 'available for pre-order now'. (playful) — 00:00:51
  • ★★★ John gives the premise: a 23-year-old graphic designer names a ten-foot samurai sculpture Carl in a YouTube video and wakes up famous, as 50 other Carls have appeared worldwide. — 00:01:08 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
  • ★★ John calls it the story of one woman's ascent, or descent, into fame and punditry, and an exploration of how humans behave facing big shared challenges. — 00:01:33 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, celebrity
  • ★★ John doesn't want to criticize Hank's promo game too much: Hank is a good person who understandably doesn't want to bombard their audience with marketing. — 00:01:45
  • ★★★ Hank has worked on the book for years and people want to know about it; Vlogbrothers shouldn't become a booktube channel about one book, though. — 00:01:58 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John asks Hank to let them know when there's a cover; he cannot wait for it. — 00:02:05 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
  • ★ John asks whether Hank is going on tour, whether he can come, and whether they can have a bus again. (playful) — 00:02:09
  • ★★★ Answering Hank's 'not all pre-orders will be signed', John grants that only someone with arguably pathological joy in repetition signs 200,000 times, but Hank shouldn't sign zero; they'll figure something out. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:13
  • ★★ John congratulates Hank again and is excited for the world to read the book and for the important conversations that will come from it. — 00:02:35 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

00:02:41 — First episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed: Canada geese and Diet Dr Pepper; sign-off

  • ★★★ The first episode of John's new podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed, reviewing facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale, is out now. — 00:02:41 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
  • ★★ The first episode covers Canada geese, a species that nearly went extinct, and Diet Dr Pepper, a zero-calorie soda popularized by a man named Foots. — 00:02:53
  • ★ It has been really fun to work on something personal and a little weird; John hopes viewers like it. — 00:03:02 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Humor (significant)

  • John cannot advise Hank on writing because their styles are so different — 00:00:24

    “For instance, your book like has a proper plot.”

  • John drills Hank on always giving title, date and pre-order status when talking about the book — 00:00:51

    “Even if you are talking to your spouse or your cat”

  • Saying the book isn't like an ad, John slips into a Squarespace ad read — 00:01:50

    “which by the way is your #1 one stop shop for websites like Hankgreen.com”

  • John explains why Hank needn't match his 200,000 signatures — 00:02:19

    “I get that only someone who finds arguably pathological joy”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Also: Canada goose · Carl · celebrity · Diet Dr Pepper · New York City · Squarespace · Woodrow Wilson Clements

Only in the description or credits: Google Play · iTunes · SoundCloud

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