Your YouTube Video: Turn it into a video game!

I was watching a John Green Truth or Fail video yesterday, for the first time, and was amazed when I found I could interact with the video! "What strange new world is this," I thought. (Really! I sometimes think in Shakespeare quotes, it's strange, I know.)

If you have no idea what I'm rambling on about, play this video:



The wizardry behind this technological innovation are YouTube Annotations. What is a YouTube annotation, you ask. Good question! Let's let the talented folks over at YouTube explain it:

Video Annotations is a new way for you to add interactive commentary to your videos! Use it to:

- Add background information about the video
- Create stories with multiple possibilities (viewers click to choose the next scene)
- Link to related YouTube videos, channels, or search results from within a video
- All of the above!

You control what the annotations say, where they appear on the video, and when they appear and disappear.
- Read More

You might be thinking: Okay, that's fine, but how do I DO all this cool stuff? How do I transform my crusty, boring, video into an interactive masterpiece? I'm glad you asked! If you click here, the Folks at YouTube will show you how to create or edit your annotations. And, I ask, what could be more fun than that? Can't you see yourself Saturday night, alone, at home, furiously editing annotation after annotation? Oh, wait, that's me. :p

Hope you have fun with your annotations!

Related Articles:
- Why YouTube Annotations Can Make the Difference Between Viral and Lame
- Penny C. Sansevieri: Six Simple Ways to Promote Your YouTube Channel!

John Green: Unpublished book hits #1 on Amazon

I wanted to title this blog, "Nice work if you can get it," but -- although true -- that wouldn't have been informative.

From The Wall Street Journal:

In a feat that even the best-selling writers might envy, young-adult author John Green's latest novel is No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com even though he's still working on it from his comfy La-Z-Boy in Indianapolis.

Here's how it happened:

Mr. Green's runaway train started like this: On Tuesday afternoon, he posted the title of his new book on Twitter, Tumblr and the community forum YourPants.org. An hour later, he upped the stakes by promising to sign all pre-orders and the entire first-print run, while also launching a YouTube live show. Mr. Green discussed his plans for signing the book and also read a section to give viewers a sense of what "The Fault in Our Stars" would be about. (It's a story of two young cancer survivors.)

The announcement then assumed a life of its own. Fans began to make and post hundreds of potential dust jackets for the book, which doesn't have one yet. They also turned to Twitter and Tumblr to discuss pre-ordering the books. The book then began a steady climb up the charts, says Mr. Green. It hit No. 1 on Amazon before 9 p.m., and No. 1 on Barnes & Noble.com an hour or so later.

John Green has over a million Twitter followers and over half a million people watch his YouTube videos. Very nice.

Link:
Tweeting from a La-Z-Boy, An Unfinished Book Hits No. 1