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A video of Bloomsbury staff dancing along to the "Glee" version of "Don't Stop Believin'" has become a viral hit online among the trade today. The video was loaded onto YouTube as "unlisted", meaning it is a private video that can only be accessed if you know the link.
But this has not stopped the trade's Twitterati commenting on and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YcGgImhIA" target="_blank" title="linking">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YcGgImhIA">linking to the arresting performances from Bloomsbury staff: "every computer I've walked past in the 4th Estate office is now watching the Bloomsbury video," tweeted FourthEstateUK at 3.30pm this afternoon (23rd September).
The footage features Bloomsbury executive director Richard Charkin expressing himself robustly on the subject of agents and retailers, while marketing director Kathleen Farrar exhorts staff to stop whinging about "pesky" authors and go and sell some books.
Since it was linked on Twitter, views of the video have surged from about 25 to more than 300 in just over an hour. Responses from publishers and authors ranged from "Overcome by mixture of admiration/full-body cringe" to "I can hardly bear to watch but hats off to Bloomsbury" and "Does anyone at Bloomsbury *ever* do any work? (secretly impressed)". Meanwhile, author Marie Phillips claimed she "WILL NOT REST until Cape/Vintage do a song and dance routine for me".
Publicity director Katie Bond said the video was uploaded so Bloomsbury staff who worked outside the company's Soho Square office could see it "one more time." She said: "It was for their benefit and amusement...I'm very pleased it's causing people this much hilarity. Don't you think that's what we all need on a rainy Thursday afternoon?"
It is not the first time that Glee has inspired the book trade. In June, Headline">http://www.thebookseller.com/news/121219-headline-gleeks-seal-deal.html"... adapted its own version of "Don't Stop Believin'" as part of the pitch for rights to the official tie-in to the Channel 4 US drama. It won the rights.