Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Does anybody have experience with book trailers?

Have you ever bought a book based on a trailer? For example, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY AND SEA MONSTERS has a cool trailer, but I don't read Jane Austen, so I'm still not going to buy the book.

How do you go about finding a reputable company that makes them, and what can you expect to pay? Are they worth the investment?

I don't know how long book trailers have been around as I have only discovered them in the last couple of weeks. My feeling is that they are something faily new because for the most part what I have seen so far hasn't really (IMHO) done much to promote the book. Most in fact have turned me off... either just a bunch of useless pictures or some really bad acting. Look at the trailer for Twilight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgci5Z2ukOU) for instance ... that would have totally turned me off the book (unless it was a fan made trailer), I mean James with a mowhawk??? One that did grab my attention was Prophecy of the Sisters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GolRwFoco20).

Ok I went on youtube to have a look and seems I didn't look at enough. There some really good trailers out there. I've already read Stephen King's Duma Key and loved it. So when the trailer popped up I just had to have a look. Not a lot too it but I just love Reba the rehab doll. Or is that chucky? Lol.

Sorry, I don't know how to turn a word into a URL :-(

I think the popularity of the Nook--and everything multi-media--will drive a publishing revolution so that all books will soon have trailers, links to websites, interactive blogs....

I predict the ebooks will lead the way and the first adapters will be sci-fi and young adult.... Many non-fiction books already include disks on "how-to." Plus after a generation of readers have seen the books on Harry Potter come alive, who can be satisfied with just print?

Book trailers bother me. Whether or not they are effective (or affective, I'm never quite sure) in the publishing world, they are, first of all, exceptionally cheesy. Second, like well-targeted covers, (speaking of which, have you seen the new printing of Wuthering Heights? It looks just like the Twilight books. Sorry--tangent.) they rob the potential reader of the right to use her own thoughts when deciding whether or not to read the book. Books are the only genre of media in which the unadulterated use of your imagination is the whole point! These silly trailers, no matter how short/(dumb)/limited they are, take a little piece of that privilege away.

If I ever hear someone say; "Well, the trailer didn't look that good, so I don't think I'm going to read it", I think I'll hurl.

Okay. Your turn. Here's the soapbox...

A friend of mine did a trailer for her self-published book, Follow the Cowherd Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0n5dlGPz0k. It's actually very beautiful and if I hadn't been planning on purchasing the book anyway, I would have been tempted to do so based on the trailer alone.

I think they can be done well and be very effective. That Twilight trailer was just awful, but I would have to think that that kind of cheesiness is the exception.

I checked out the link. It was a pretty video (better than Fallen's)--nice art and music--but I felt it dragged too much. I was waiting for the next word to appear and it seemed to take forever. However, you are right that the story is intriguing...but I could have just read the description--faster--and still been intrigued.

I don't mean to bash trailers--I understand that they can be useful in promotion. Especially self-publishing because you're running all your own marketing. And I'm not so opposed that I'd never use one (or dream of having a reason to use one), I am just sad that books have to "resort" to them. Maybe it's not so bad, maybe I'm just an old fart. I did turn 34 yesterday...

PS: Last thought and then I'll shut up. I love, love, LOVE, movie trailers. Why? Because I know I'm getting a glimpse of what I'm going to WATCH. But book trailers? My attention is lost because I know the images are someone else's and I'm never going to see them again, so I don't care. I'm not buying a picture-book. Does that make sense?

Holly wrote:
How do you go about finding a reputable company that makes them, and what can you expect to pay? Are they worth the investment?

Okay, I'm going to answer myself here.

I Googled "video book trailers" and came up with http://community.livejournal.com/booktrailers This website has tons of info about video book trailer awards and statistics. The website also lists production companies like Circle of Seven Productions http://www.cosproductions.com/, which says it is the leader in book trailer production in the U.S. Circle of Seven Productions invites people to sign up for their monthly newsletter to find out about current trends, etc. COS Productions says it has budget packages that start at $800 (which, to me, isn't bad at all) and go up into the thousands. See samples at http://www.cosproductions.com/servicesVideoProducts.php

http://www.squidoo.com/booktrailers Here is a good link that includes names and website links for 27 book trailer production companies. The site also talks about how to make your own trailers, what you can expect from professionals, the costs, trailer examples, and reviews.

This was many months ago, so I can't remember all the pertinent details, but I went to see a movie with my husband one night, and, mixed in with the movie trailers, was a book trailer. I can't remember the movie or the book - just that it was well known and the subject matter of both meshed well. But I thougt it was really cool!

I have mixed feelings about book trailers. I've seen some nice ones, but I don't really like what are essentially movie-like commercials for books. It's almost like saying that reading alone is not tantalizing enough, you have to make it look like t.v. or the movies. I'm sure that it works for some people though.

I've had quite a few trailers made for my books, but don't actually know how many books were sold as a result of the trailers because I've had many different kinds of book promotions going at the same time. My book trailers can be viewed on my website. My favorite trailer made for my books is a quirky Sci Fi B-movie style trailer made with real actors for the TWISTED TAILS anthologies in which I have short stories published:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWHfII_beq4

marilyn peake wrote:I've had quite a few trailers made for my books, but don't actually know how many books were sold as a result of the trailers because I've had many different kinds of book promotions going at the same time. My book trailers can be viewed on my website. My favorite trailer made for my books is a quirky Sci Fi B-movie style trailer made with real actors for the TWISTED TAILS anthologies in which I have short stories published:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWHfII_beq4

Hello, Marilyn. Thanks for your comments. I'm going to check out your trailers and your books. I would think that trailers on YouTube that come up under common searches would generate a lot of views. Question: did you finance the trailers yourself?

Personally I've never much liked or seen the point in book trailers. Mostly they're very poor WTF things like the Twilight trailer posted earlier in this thread, or I saw one the other day that was just a bunch of praises for it being flashed across the screen followed by "XYZ book by ABC author, in stores on R date!" Or, the one trailer I hate above all else, I saw an actually really well-done blend of live-action and CG. Whole thing is a guy talking about taking out the President and his family from the inside, as a hit job. And I was ecstatic. I thought it was a TV spot for a new video game or movie or something. And then...it was a book. As great a premise as that is and much as I want to read it (if only I could remember the title or the author!) it agitated me, to no end, and moreover it was just a massive let-down. So when it comes to book trailers, you pretty much have craptastic ventures that put you off the book, or you have epic ventures that put you off to book because it seems like they're promising something so much more awesome. On the whole I'd just say stay away from them. I've never known anyone to be influenced by either style, honestly. But it's whatever the publishers want to do, I guess.

I like short videos where the real flesh and blood author reads an excerpt (unless the author is grumpy and dumpy and mumbles...). Maybe videos like this aren't considered book trailers, don't know. It seems like a great way to promote your work.

Thanks so much, Holly! I really appreciate your checking out my trailers and books! To answer your question, I paid for most of the trailers myself, most of them costing around $25 to $80. The TWISTED TAILS trailer with live actors was more expensive, but I shared the cost with a group of authors in the TWISTED TAILS anthologies.