I recently got caught up in a ‘discussion’ on Twitter about book trailers. Not that you can really discuss anything on Twitter. I’m not a 100% one way or the other type of guy on most things and that’s hard to do on Twitter. Plus, it’s hard to convey sarcasm or irony in 140 characters, and once in a while I slide into both.
I call my book on writing a Toolkit because I don’t think there are any rules to writing. There are guidelines and suggestions, but if you use the wrong tool, it’s you who are wrong, not the tool. In fact, in Warrior Writer, I end the book and presentation pointing out that you have to break rules to succeed give and the paradoxical three rules of rule breaking.
Some people swear by book trailers. These are usually: people who’ve made one; more so, people who make money making them.
One comment several people made who’d done them was that they were ‘fun’. That’s fine. I’m not a Grinch. But I’m also a professional writer. I recently posted on the PAN loop of RWA a link to the Harlan Ellison video about Pay The Writer in response to a lot of writers talking about how they never charged speaking fees. I was surprised at how many people suddenly spoke up after I posted that and said they agreed that we all needed to act more like professionals as writers. (Ok, I’ll do another blog later about paying the writer) Hmm, interesting, I’m talking about book trailers and linking to a video. So videos have a place. Yes, they do. I teach part-time at the University of Washington. I try to show a video, usually from YouTube, every class to emphasize a teaching point.
But are videos useful for selling books?
Overall: NO.
Why?
It’s a different media. Check out professional promoters and advertisers. How many promote across media? How many book advertisements have you seen over the years on TV? Very few. Do you think the publicity departments at the big publishers were stupid? They’ve tried it. Rarely does it translate.
Someone sent me links to trailers they thought were well done. And they were. Except the number of hits was in the hundreds. I’ve had over 52,000 hits on my video regarding Special Forces, which is excerpted from my appearance on the Discovery Channel. I’ve seen zero cross-over from that to either my books or my Who Dares Wins consulting business.
To argue the other side: you’ve got to do something different to break out. If I knew what that different thing was, I’d be doing it. If I had an idea for a really weird and unique video I thought would go viral, I’d do it. But if we knew the formula to make things go viral, we’d all be doing it and thus it wouldn’t work.
The Wall Street Journal weighed in on trailers and overall, the consensus was a waste of time and money.
Here’s something writers have to realize: when you read blogs, articles, etc. often you hear about the 1% of people who did something and succeeded. Rarely do they write articles or do people blog about failure.
I’ve got nothing against making them for fun. But also consider the time, money and energy you put into them and think what else you could be doing to achieve whatever your strategic writing goal is.
So, the forum is open regarding book trailers? Love ‘em, hate ‘em, could care less?
If well done, I think it can loan an air of professionalism to a writer’s website or blog. I wouldn’t be there if they hadn’t done something already to intrigue me, mind, but once they’ve pulled me in, it adds to a sense of polish. Also, the author might get a creative zing from the process that translates into their writing. Zing’s can’t be underestimated.
That said, I have never bought a book on the basis of the trailer, nor do I know anyone who has.
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I had one done recently. I see it as a bonus item to add to my website and Facebook page. Something a little extra for a reader to view who is already at my website.
I straddle the fence when it comes to book trailers from a writer’s perspective. I have never done one, and not sure my thought process is where I think it would be beneficial to my overall writing career either financially or time-wise.
In the sea of youtube videos, I think most book trailers are hard to find, unless you’re looking for a specific one, which means you already know the book and author.
A good, professional trailer on your website might be easier to find, or on facebook, and I do think this is a good place for it where your readers can see and be excited about your next book release. But the question always comes into play–what did cost? how much time from your writing did it take? I battle this kind of question every day as I juggle writing (fiction and non-fiction), WDWPUB, blogging, tweeting, facebooking, creating an on-line community, commenting on other blogs, and being wife and mother.
This next comment is strictly my take on it as a reader who reads at least 2 or 3 books a week, who is impatient, and suffers from serious attention issues. I won’t sit and watch a trailer that goes slowly from picture to picture with a written commentary when I can read the blurb on Amazon twice as fast or get an email from a friend which says “just read… great book” or “just watched…it sucked.” I’m ducking as the darts come flying. This is me, and I’m not the average reader to begin with, and others may totally enjoy watching book trailers and who knows, perhaps they become the next best marketing tool. Hey, we’re discussing them, they have something.
It’s funny that this topic came up this week. I write YA/MG in addition to several freelance contracts including being The Mortal Instruments Examiner at Examiner.com TMI is an Internationally bestselling YA series by Cassandra Clare that is in pre-production for the big screen. This weekend they’ve been filming the book trailer for the next book and Twitter has been a buzz with the #CoFAshoot hastag. Fans are going crazy over seeing behind the scenes footage. So I feel that given the demo in this case (teenagers who spend a lot of time online) then a book trailer is essential. I know that when my YA is published I want one so teenagers can share it and it’ll go viral. Like most everything you have to examine the demo and context.
I’m not sure footage of film production really qualifies as a ‘book’ trailer. That’s a special case in which book and movie are apparently being marketed in an integrated way – which is great. But most book trailers are nothing like that.
I have never purchased a book due to seeing a book trailer.
Book trailers make me feel like someone is trying to pretend their book isn’t made up of words on a page, because we can’t have that! That would be boring, right? If we want to make movies, then let’s become filmmakers. If we’re going to write books, let’s write books and be unapologetic about the fact that they have words in them.
I haven’t given trailers much thought, but I find the comments interesting. I would never go to youtube to find a good book to read, but certainly a trailer done well would spike the interest of teens and young adults which would likely result in greater book sales.
For most of us, however, I agree that it would not be worth the effort.
I think book trailers appeal to readers who are already fans of the author or series, so essentially they’re preaching to the choir. But it never hurts to do something nice for your fans (as long as you’re selling enough to be able to afford it), so there might be some value in that. I can’t imagine–based on the grand total of two book trailers I’ve seen–that it would convince me to buy a book I wasn’t already going to buy anyway. In fact, even though those two trailers seemed to be well done, they convinced me I wouldn’t like the books.
But I wonder about it for kids, who are so used to receiving information in a visual/non-print format. My kids are far more wired for this than I am. I get sick of sitting in front of a screen after awhile, but they never do. It would be interesting to see if a youTube trailer for children’s or YA novels made a difference in sales. My guess is that it might work for kids who are already readers, but wouldn’t convert any reluctant readers.
I’m producing my own on a shoestring, well it’s more like on a rubber band. Why? For fun. And because, hey, I went to art school.
Probably much of the usefulness of a trailer depends on the target audience. Many adults who are in their middle years wouldn’t bother with watching a trailer, they’d be more motivated by a well-written synopsis. If a book is aimed at that audience, it may be a waste.
Trailers may be more effective for YA books. These are the people who spend more time on YouTube.
Like anything else, I think trailers work when they have a unique angle. Also, good points about the audience. A younger audience is more visual, so a trailer might be much more worthwhile in YA.
I’ve done a few book trailers for myself and other authors, and while they are certainly not to the “professional” standards you’d get if you hired a production company, they also cost a heckuva lot less (I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $15 for the images I’ve used). I don’t believe they sell mny books, which is why I won’t spring for the expense of professional prudction, but I do see them as worthwhile additional content to provide people who are already at your website.
And I have seen a couple of trailers that interested me in books I’d previously never heard of. I didn’t buy based on the trailer, but the trailer did induce me to go to the author’s website and read the blurb/excerpt. But then, I’ve never bought ANY book based solely on an advertisement–I always do that research. So if a trailer gets someone to check out the book further, that’s a win, IMO, even if it doesn’t result in a sale.
Hi,
I’ve been wondering if a book trailer will be in my future someday down the line and all the comments have given me much to think about. When book trailers first came on the scene one of my writer friends who’s very tech savvy, works with video media in her day job and is great at promoting herself tried to start a business making book trailers for a very reasonable price for other authors. She landed a couple of great well- known clients and even though they promoted her and her business through their website it didn’t take off and she shut it down after a year or so of little or no interest.
On a writers loop where I was allowed to promote I mentioned my friend’s business and someone angrily told me in no uncertain terms that I could not use the term book trailer because it belonged to Circle of Seven Productions. I thought this was really interesting and to this day I don’t know if it’s true. She said my friend and I could use the term “video trailer” LOL! Boy, that would confuse people trying to buy our books!
Ooops I’m sorry. I should have said in my earlier post that Circle of Seven (big book trailer production company) owns the rights to the word “book trailer” and I had to refer to my friend’s product as “book videos.”
Talk about confusion whew!
How do they own the rights to that term? I find that a bit ludicrous. I suppose they can stop by and tell me to cease and desist then. It’s a company dedicated to making money off book trailers, so I suppose they would be in favor of them. There are a lot of people who want to make money off writers. Some are worthwhile to writers, most are worthwhile to the people making the money.
It is a registered mark in the US (registration # 2868140), filed in 2002. You can search for it in the Trademark Electronic Search System using that registration number. Given the common use of the term “trailer” for movies, “book trailer” seems like an obvious and generic term, usage of which could have easily preceded the filing of that trademark (but I have no evidence of that at the moment, I’m just suggesting the possibility).
Also, if they’re not actively defending the trademark, they could presumably lose it. I have to wonder how active they are doing so; even the KDP Help section, which is not an obscure site, seems to use the term generically in the merchandising tips (“7. Upload videos and book trailers. Self-publishing authors are increasingly creating video trailers to advertise their books online…”).
I’m not a trademark lawyer, though, so I’d say the safest bet at this point is to avoid use of the term “book trailer” unless you’re motivated, or at least have the will and means, to fight the trademark in court.
I find it interesting that someone says the “own” the term Book Trailers. I know EC coined the term Romantica and I just checked the website and it appears it is a trademarked term but that is talking about a specific romance line published by EC. Kind of like a Blaze or a SuperRomance by HQN. But book trailer as a trademark? really?
Gee Bob, way to go… I think we all might be in trouble. I found it interesting about the term Romantica (thanks Jenni) so I checked Circle of Seven Productions website. If you scroll down to the bottom of the screen the words ‘book trailers’ and ‘book teasers’ are trademarks of COS Productions. Isn’t that strange? It’s such a part of our writer language it’s almost like finding out someone has trademarked the word manuscript.
http://cosproductions.com/booktrailer
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First, I like your approach of guidelines not dictates. Although I wouldn’t rule one out in all cases, I decided not to do a book trailer for a couple of reasons. 1. Promotional video is generally best suited to raising awareness (as opposed to furthering consideration, prompting purchase, or inspiring loyalty) but in order to find the video you need to already be aware of the book. Either that,, or it has to go viral and then it’s competing against every agency-produced ad and internet piano cat fluke. 2. Most books have small marketing budgets, which was better spent on a web site, nice ARCS, point of sale materials, a simple banner ad on a local web site, and book-related thank yous for the circle of people who have really gotten behind the book. When I add in the time to do one well, the opportunity cost is too high for me.
“which is better spent . . .” Sorry.
I’ve done them myself and I’ve had them professionally done. In both cases the video teasers were submitted to dozens of websites. I did see a spike in website hits as well as a spike in the Amazon and B&N numbers. Based on that I can say that the video teasers translation into hits and sales. Did the ROI translate into sufficiently larger sales or hits? I’m not sure that it did, but then there is the other point that someone mentioned: Giving your fans something different. My readers enjoyed seeing the videos and took the time to comment on them. In today’s crowded marketplace you need to give your readers something more and video teasers are just one of those things. My one piece of advice: Don’t spend a lot of money on them because of the return on investment issue.
A good point that sales are not the be all and end all. Good feelings among readers count for a lot. There’s a lot that goes into success and a lot of it can’t be counted up in numbers.
Have seen a couple of well made book trailers but they didn’t influence my purchase of the book.
Just found your blog and I’m browsing. [wave]
I’ve been saying for a while now that book trailers are pointless, and the “cross media” problem is exactly why. [nod] Trailers work for movies because they give us a sample of the experience we’ll get when we watch a movie — we see some of the scenes, hear some of the dialogue (explosions, whatever) and get some idea about the characters and plot. If we like the trailer, the movie will give us more of the same. Hopefully.
But that’s the idea.
With a book trailer, sound and video have nothing whatsoever to do with the experience you’ll get reading the book. No matter how much money is spent, no matter how good the acting or animation or whatever, no matter how perfect the music selection, no matter how rivetting or intriguing the trailer as a whole might be, when I read the actual book I’ll be getting a completely different experience. I have no idea whether I’ll like or dislike the book, regardless of whether I liked or disliked the trailer.
I know some writers love them — I’ve had writers who’ve had them done and people who get paid to do them come marching up to tell me how wrong I am whenever I’ve given my opinion on the subject — but no one’s managed to come up with a convincing argument yet.
Nice to see someone else pointing out the obvious.
Angie
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I like book trailers that are well done. Well done is a matter of opinion. The only book traler I’ve watched that positively influenced my decision to buy the book was, James Rollins trailer for Devil Colony. The way he presented it gave the creepy/cool feeling I imagined you’d get by reading the book itself. It was an excellent trailer, in my opinion. One trailer would have convinced me not to buy the book had I seen it first. That was the trailer for Sarah Blake’s The Postmistress. The blurb on the book cover caught my interest, but the book failed to hold me there. The trailer would have turned me away from the book because of the careless way the author presented herself (ie messy hair) though the photos representing the setting of the book intrigued me. (I write historical fiction and am drawn to anything about the 20th century) James Rolins’ trailer http://youtu.be/7TEvH86pbQo Sarah Blake’s trailer http://youtu.be/deGewVlP92Q —Overall, I agree that for the debut author trying to expand and appeal to her target audience shouldn’t waste time or money, as I don’t believe a trailer will help sales, except in the rarest exception when the trailer is exceptional.
Honestly, I think that a well-done book trailer airing on TV or before a movie would convince me to at least go out to the library and pick up a copy. I’m a reader as well as a cineaste, so cross-platform advertising would work well on me.
I’m an odd duck, however, and I don’t see book trailers in general upping sales and/or readership. That said, I may end up doing one at some point. You never know what’s going to go viral, after all, and if it’s fun and gives me some creative energy there’s no harm in it.
Interesting post – which I enjoyed esp since I just released a trailer for my YA book TELESA:The Covenant Keeper, lol. My first experience with book trailers and in five days since release this is what I have found: ( learning heaps on this journey by the way)
* People who are already fans of the book are using it to ‘sell’ the book to their friends/family. ‘I love this book, check out ths trailer, see what I mean?! wow…’ Visual medium far more direct than a blow by blow synopsis.
*Have I sold hundreds more books in the last 5 days since trailer release? No. But I have sold more this week than I sold last month before the trailer came out.
* In 48hrs, the trailer had over 1000 views. Why? Because readers and non readers alike were sharing it on FB, Twitter, etc. Also, because of my ‘niche market’ – Pacific readers/audiences worldwide – the trailer has been featured on several online newspaper and radio sites as well as NZ library websites. In another week the book will launch in Samoa and AmSamoa and the trailer will be shown on local tv stations there as well as in the local cinemas, like a movie preview. I was very fortunate to have a talented artist/designer produce my trailer and also involve a Pacific ‘celebrity model’ for my main character – all who gave of their time and talents without payment because they were eager to support a new dev in Pacific fiction as well as have the opp to showcase their talents to a wider audience.
*Because of the trailer, I have since been contacted by 5 radio stations in Australia and NZ for author interviews about the book. A Pacific fashion design label would like to be involved in the NZ/Samoa launches with a book themed fashion show and photoshoot. And a New York agency has expressed their interest in discussing the book’s film potential. Does any of this automatically translate to sales? No. But certainly more publicity and more exposure for the book is helpful.
Im very new to this and its still too early for me to know if book trailers are super amazing book selling tools or not., But so far, after only a few days with a book trailer out – I would say that YES trailers are worth it. BUT only if they are very very good trailers. And only if you already have a supportive network that will feature it and share it.
I’m sorry. But I only got as far as 1:08 and shut it off. It bored me to tears. The stock photography is so over done. It really could be anywhere water flows..There isn’t anything eye catching or exciting in this trailer. I hope you didn’t pay a lot to have it made. Rethink. Redo. If you’d like to draw in a wide net full of new readers.
Just my honest assessment.