Authors Using Video to Promote Their Books
Submitted by Phil Lanuto on Thu, 2008-04-17 02:09.Writers have long lamented that television and video are killing reading and book. But video now offers a great way to get the word out about your book. It’s relatively inexpensive to create a great looking book trailer that can be distributed across the Internet for free.
If you had a Wordsy account you could comment on this story. Get an account now!
Huh. Am I seriously the only one who watches book trailers and just isn't impressed? They feel 150% overproduced. Possibly I am just fickle. I would rather authors videoblog, actually, like YA author John Green and his brother Hank did with Brotherhood 2.0. Because then they can talk about their book(s), which feels less like slimy marketing and more like, "hey, I wrote this cool story and I want you to check it out." But then there's the whole charisma thing.
Mostly I just think that people who don't read normally are going to be sucked in by a book trailer? I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
Renay - http://bottle-of-shine.livejournal.com
I like the idea of book trailers. However, most of the ones I've seen are pretty lame. Not one has ever gotten me excited enough to purchase the book.
Rat's Reading - http://reading.kingrat.biz/
There's obviously a lot to do here. If you feel like you have a lot to add, you can probably set up a consulting firm around it!
I see your point, bottleofshine. True readers would be much more taken in by an author discussing their book rather than a pile of special effects. However, an author wishes to gain a maximum audience for their book; non-readers included. And, who knows? After seeing the trailer, reading the book, the individual who doesn't usually read may discover the magical worls books open up.
Khadijah
http://www.enchanted-pages.blogspot.com
I guess I'm wary because the problem for me is that these trailers are just straight up bad, almost to the point it embarrasses me to watch them (but then again my embarrassment squick is pretty low). Being in the book blog community, I compare the number of books I've learned of through reviews of others and blog tours and blog interviews to the number of books I've learned of through trailers and the former wins by a MASSIVE margin, 200+ to four and three of the later category were not even trailers per se, just incidental since John Green was already vlogging. Although I guess the reading of his third book with all the Florida footage COULD count as a trailer.
With something like this it's really only going to pay off it the author is able to make it viral and to do that, you really a) have to make the item catch on with the community so b) they'll be the ones spreading it around.
However, I'm a pretty big believer that readers are made by other readers, which is why I'm convinced the current internet book community has to embrace these trailers before the majority of nonreaders will really even take much notice.
Renay - http://bottle-of-shine.livejournal.com
Absolutely! If your going to do it you have to do it right.