Some days back, Katherine Center, a writer friend, sent me the link to a book trailer she had created for her new novel, Everyone is Beautiful: http://katherinecenter.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/the-awesomest-thing-ever-ever-ever/, and of course, when I saw it, I wanted one, too--for both Palace of Illusions and for my new children's fantasy novel, to be born in a week: Shadowland.
I wanted to find out what's involved, time, effort and money wise, and so I (what else!) googled the term and came up with all kinds of contradictory advice! Some say book trailers are amazing and attract readers like flies to sticky tape. Others say no one watches them except other writers who are planning to make their own book trailers.
In case you're an author considering making your own book trailer,
here's a good link: http://brendacoulter.blogspot.com/2007/06/promoting-your-novel-how-to-make-book.html
And if, like me, you are short on time and technological talent, here are two companies that I found that make book trailers for a good price:
http://www.cosproductions.com/ (starts at $300)
http://booktrailers.ning.com/profile/GhostwriterExtraordinaire (starts at $150)
Some of the trailers are for books that appear more commercial than literary, but I think if an author requested a more serious treatment, the companies could provide it.
So I wanted to ask you, dear readers: what are your experiences with book trailers? Have you watched any? Did they inspire you to find out more about the book? Do you think they are the up and coming thing for book promotion? Should I go for it?
I'd love to hear your opinion.If you've come across any good book trailers, I'd love to know of them.
Here are 2 book trailers I found on Youtube that I was intrigued by. The second one, particularly, created an atmosphere that I enjoyed.The third is of another writer friend, Abraham Verghese's wonderful new book, Cutting for Stone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43eIV2Kp3bs
http://www.trailerspy.com/trailer/2697/I-Still-Have-A-Suitcase-In-Berlin--Book-Trailer
http://www.amazon.ca/Cutting-Stone-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0307357775
I wanted to find out what's involved, time, effort and money wise, and so I (what else!) googled the term and came up with all kinds of contradictory advice! Some say book trailers are amazing and attract readers like flies to sticky tape. Others say no one watches them except other writers who are planning to make their own book trailers.
In case you're an author considering making your own book trailer,
here's a good link: http://brendacoulter.blogspot.com/2007/06/promoting-your-novel-how-to-make-book.html
And if, like me, you are short on time and technological talent, here are two companies that I found that make book trailers for a good price:
http://www.cosproductions.com/ (starts at $300)
http://booktrailers.ning.com/profile/GhostwriterExtraordinaire (starts at $150)
Some of the trailers are for books that appear more commercial than literary, but I think if an author requested a more serious treatment, the companies could provide it.
So I wanted to ask you, dear readers: what are your experiences with book trailers? Have you watched any? Did they inspire you to find out more about the book? Do you think they are the up and coming thing for book promotion? Should I go for it?
I'd love to hear your opinion.If you've come across any good book trailers, I'd love to know of them.
Here are 2 book trailers I found on Youtube that I was intrigued by. The second one, particularly, created an atmosphere that I enjoyed.The third is of another writer friend, Abraham Verghese's wonderful new book, Cutting for Stone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43eIV2Kp3bs
http://www.trailerspy.com/trailer/2697/I-Still-Have-A-Suitcase-In-Berlin--Book-Trailer
http://www.amazon.ca/Cutting-Stone-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0307357775
I have to admit... I don't watch trailers... I guess it's lack of time, and when it comes to books, I do by WORD OF MOUTH... once I find an author I like, I am more in tune to what she is publishing, but trailers.. I don't bother. However, I bet you can pull in a few fan once in a while.. advertising is advertising..... but I bet MOST readers tend to go by word of mouth!
I think I am one of those people who loves a good book video,, if they are not too long. I've been told we can't call them trailers (copyright issue involved, don't know the specifics). When my publicist Irene Watson of Reader Views suggested one for Saffron Dreams, I was intrigued. After careful research, I decided to dive in and do some of the work myself. I story boarded the entire video in Word, looked for appropriate imagery, and provided directions to the developer. The result was entirely to my satisfaction. Take a look:
http://shailaabdullah.com/preview_SD.html
Some readers have told me that the book video compelled them to buy Saffron Dreams. Reader Views offers the book video service(called PreView) by itself too. See http://readerviews.com/PreViewsServices.html. Rates begin at $625. I'll see if Irene would chime in here and add her two cents.
I think it's a worthwhile investment but as an author, you have to be heavily involved in the development to make sure the book video is a good snapshot of what your book is actually about. We literary authors know how tough it can be to explain our books some times.
Shaila Abdullah
Saffron Dreams/Beyond the Cayenne Wall
Website: www.shailaabdullah.com
Blog: http://cayennelit.blogspot.com/
So here's an added question for everyone: do you think Youtube talks by authors are more interesting than book trailers? Would you rather watch a short talk or a book trailer? What's the optimal length for a talk video? What would be an interesting topic? (You guessed it, I'm considering doing one of them as well, to add to the 2 I have):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAsB5tgNnNo&feature=related (on Mistress of Spices)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPbSw5Yo2TA (On Palace of Illusions)
I'd never heard of or watched a book trailer before I saw your post on facebook. I looked at the 3 trailers you provided links to here and jumped to the conclusion that I don't like book trailers. They look like advertising, and I already feel overwhelmed by advertising; I'm certainly not going to seek it out (and I'm not much of a tv or movie watcher, which may or may not be relevant to my conclusion about book trailers). Like a previous commenter, I'd rather get book recommendations from a wide variety of friends, newspapers, magazines, etc.
I love book traliers. I saw one of a book my kid wanted, "Dowry Bride" I believe, or "Forbidden Daughter", it was called.
What can I say? We bought the books. I can give no higher recommendation.
I love hearing what authors have to say about their work, but I also know that a lot of my friends don't want to hear what the author has to say before they read the book, since they feel it could be a biased persepective. Also, they are concerned that hearing the author's perspective before reading the book might affect their response to it.
But a trailer can offer a glimpse into the text as an entity in its own right. I feel a well-done trailer can only enhance the relationship between a reader and the text, and imperative that should pre-date the author's voice.
So here is what I'd suggest: have a trailer to whet the apetite, and then, as dessert, offer what the author says about the work.
Exciting, these times we live in!
Thanks Shaila for your comments, and yes, I will chime in. Book videos are the current wave in online marketing and many authors feel having one raised their sales. However, it's also important to have a video that is compelling and will entice the potential reader to buy the book. It needs to be short and to the point, with a good call-for-action. Many authors choose to make their own and use Power Point. It's an okay program but often doesn't give the professional appeal. It's also important the video capture the buying styles of your target persona.
Dawn mentioned the videos look like commercials. In a sense they are, however, a good book video is like a movie trailer - it gives you the option of going to the movie or not. A book video will give you the option of buying the book or not. And, it doesn't have to be like a commercial.
By the way, the words "book trailer" is trademarked.
I haven't seen book trailers, but yes, I would watch them. I find the more senses I engage the better my experience. I am getting old, and cannot read with the same ease I once did, many,many books, each gobbled up in one sitting barely punctuated by necessity. My eyes hurt, my back hurts, my mind cannot focus for so long. So, I have begun to explore e-books. Today I requested your Palace of Illusions from Overdrive, accessible to me through my public library. Thank you so much for allowing your work to be 'read' this way. I hope for more of your titles to become e-books. My public library has an audio books section too, where they loan books on tape and CD. But they are not always books I want to read, and they are only available with a medical certificate. I think e-books will have a big future with the normal vision population. One can download the chapters to an MP3 player, or listen while knitting or preparing supper. Did I say thank you? xxxooo Riv
P.S. I also think young people, the 'social media' generation, will take to e-books; and people commuting. I have listened to Namesake read by Sarita Choudhury as an e-book, and loved it. I have listened to some audio books which are not so good, because among other things that bothered me, you need an actor to do the reading, not just a reader. It makes such a difference. And I also found I preferred it be a woman reading a woman's part, a man a man's part. Thank you.
As a reader, I love book trailers because they are fun. Just like movie trailers, some are accurate, some are not. As book publishers, at Bright Sky we are producing very brief video introductions to our authors, rather than trailers. We think they are great ways to hear the author speaking about the work. They are meant to offer more of the author; the copy about the book can provide plenty of information about the book. If I were the witch with the endless fortune, I would make feature films of all my favorite books--ours and others'!
i have not been able to put down the 'palace of illusions'. you mentioned very correctly, that all sagas have a lot of blanks. and this book analysed the emotions and motives so beautifully, it made me feel content...as if, the questions that i had been asking for years, were finally answered.
but it put me in a dilema. over things as we were made to believe as children, and what is depicted in the serial, and the truth.
so i would love to know whether the book is fictional or a fragment of your imagination, or is there truth in all the things that you have said which are completely out of the box....wish i could have a conversation with you. :)