I know many authors are making them. I know people like them. I must admit I haven’t thought much about them and have only looked at one or two. Those seemed cool enough but, in general, this is not a promo idea that’s sparked with me. But, one came via email yesterday from Authors After Dark and got me thinking. Could be they’re more effective than I first thought.
The trailer was for a book by Vince Liaguno called The Literary Six from Outskirts Press. Here’s what happened: I got the email, liked the title, clicked on the link, watched the trailer and then went searching out this author and the the publisher just because I got nosy. It looks as if Outskirts Press is a a self-publishing group. Never heard of them but I’m not a proponent of self-publishing for mainstream fiction. The whole the-publisher-pays-you-and-not-vice-versa thing is big deal with me. But, the guy did get my attention with his trailer.
While it’s true I won’t be buying this book, more than likely it would not have hit on my radar screen at all without seeing the trailer. The plot appears to be one where a group of kids did something bad in college and twenty years later are stuck together in a remote location due to a bad storm and whatever they did comes back to haunt them. Seems a bit too familiar. Also, the trapped-by-a-storm thing is a hard sell for me. Despite all that, the trailer got my attention. I’ve now checked out the author, publisher and Amazon. Seems to me the trailer worked on some level.
You can see the trailer at the author’s site if you’re interested.
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I’ve been charged with making less expensively produced versions of the same thing, and I’m no fan of them.
To me, they’re pretty boring and have a tendency to be over done. Simple flash movies can be effective, but anything that lasts more than 30 seconds is really treading on shaky ground — the attention span is gone.
In this vid, we have the incredibly long countdown with a montage of pictures that mean little to nothing in the sceme of the book, and to me, don’t represent much of the book itself.
For example, the video gives the setup – about the same as a long book blurb. Yet there’s zero information in that trailer that leads anyone to care about any of the characters. So, which book blurb have you read recently that didn’t try to personalize any of the characters? Perhaps this is a true ensemble mystery — hard to say. But most advertisements for movies and or books at least point to a protagonist, not just a set of potential victims. What this trailer ends up looking like is a simple “Ten Little Indians” plot, and if that’s what the book is about, I want no part in it. There’s no indication of any twist off of the “Ten Little Indians” concept, and if all this is is a rehash of that with a lot of literary references and the obvious disgruntled fomer literary competitor, we have no indication that this author has done anything special.
by Walt November 29th, 2006 at 11:15 amAren’t you the lucky one? Did Mica stick you with that task?
I agree this trailer didn’t actually say much about the book, but the lack of information may have been what intrigued me enough to search out the book and author. Not sure. Something (possibly only pure nosiness) got me goggling the author. I ended up spending about 10 minutes on a book I never would have known about. So, the question is whether the trailer got my attention or the way it was presented – ie through an email from a group I normally receive emails – got my attention. Seems to me you we can come up with all the book trailers we want but if we don’t have a way to disseminate them to new audiences (ie folks that don’t already visit our blogs and sites and plan to buy us) then we’re probably just wasting time and money…right?
by HelenKay November 29th, 2006 at 11:30 amLittle ones work. I’m pretty sure about that. Good flash is basically your souped up animated graphics, but you have to be careful not to overdo things.
When I do those little ones, I just ask for a series of pages as to how you want it to look like. I’m pretty convinced that much more than that puts too much emphasis on the “movie” aspect to it, and not enough to the “book” aspect.
Last year about this time, I heard several radio commercials for books. Sheesh! Do people really think that works? I dunno, maybe it does. I just don’t see it that way.
by Walt November 29th, 2006 at 3:49 pmI’m going to put at least one mini-trailer together (possibly three) for my new series next year. That and a web designed area specifically for the series will be my main form of online advertisement.
by Jordan November 29th, 2006 at 4:18 pmI am no fan of trailers because I have slow dial up and they are hard to download and play.
by Estella November 29th, 2006 at 5:21 pmI’m personally not a huge fan. I’m not a visual person at all.
But I do think it might work for some people. I just don’t think it’s worth the cost of making one, despite Sheila Clover trying to talk me around in the interview I did with her.
by May November 30th, 2006 at 10:03 amI’m thrilled I grabbed your attention with the book trailer for “The Literary Six”. I absolutely love the discussion that has ensued here and elsewhere. I’d say that the video was successful in that it got several of you looking up the book and the author (me). Unfortunately, we now live in a highly visualized society. And while it may seem contradictory, some readers need to be sold on a visual image before they’ll read your words. It’s like an extension of the book cover art – which is what initially gets potential readers to pick up your book. If only putting words to paper were the real challenge of writing! Unfortunately, in today’s crowded marketplace, marketing has taken a bigger portion of an author’s time. And author’s have to accept and acknowledge that if they want their words read ~ especially emerging writers who don’t have the street cred of a Stephen King.
My very inexpensively produced book trailer has done wonders in the few weeks it’s been out. In addition to going out in the Authors After Dark mailing, it’s been posted to my author website, YouTube, numerous discussion forums, and MySpace ~ all for free. Viewed now in the thousands with very little effort beyond the production. As a result, my Amazon sales figures have seen decent spikes. Do book trailers work? Mine got you fine folks talking!
BTW…In terms of the video itself, the images represented in the countdown montage have everything to do with the book itself ~ they were not randomly placed for no reason. Quite the contrary, actually. The book is actually an homage to the childhood slasher movies I enjoyed growing up with bits of Agatha Christie and bits of “The Big Chill” thrown in. As a horror/suspense book, the tone of the book trailer was meant to convey suspense, isolation, and a struglle for survival.
It was great finding your little chat ~ thanks for watching (and reading, hopefully!).
Best to you all
Vince Liaguno/Author of “The Literary Six”
by Vince Liaguno December 3rd, 2006 at 5:50 pmVince – Thanks for stopping by. Your trailer worked as did your choice to have it sent out in the Authors After Dark email. It got my attention. I went and checked out your book and I rarely check out book trailers. Grabbing readers is the goal and on that alone it’s a success.
Good luck with your book release!
by HelenKay December 4th, 2006 at 4:42 pmGotta jump in on this one. Visual DOES sell. I think what’s happening here, though, is that some authors can afford to have one done professionally, and others can’t. I chose to do my own because I have access to the software, plus I have an eye for what works and doesn’t, or at least I hope so. If you want to see the one I made myself, put “The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost” in YouTube. Granted, it’s the first one I’ve ever done in my whole life, but I think it really does convey what the book is about. And that’s the reason for these trailers. You want to tell the reader what the book is about without it coming off unprofessional. I’ve not watched Vince’s trailer yet, but any effort in promotion is great as long as it’s done right.
by Dorothy February 3rd, 2007 at 4:39 pmWhat an interesting way to get people interested in reading! Book trailers are like movie trailers, but for books! You can find them all over the internet now, but here is a site that’s featuring them on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/booktrailers
by Thushara March 15th, 2008 at 6:46 pm