A book trailer is a short video of the book. It is a commercial just like the preview of a movie is a commercial.
It usually runs to up to three minutes and it includes text, images, and music. Trailers can be fun, sad, mysterious or frightening, depending on the genre and tone of the book.
There are many people designing book trailers online, with prices ranging from about $100 to the thousands. However, there are few good places where authors may post their book trailers specifically for promotion online. Sure, there's always sites like YouTube, Yahoo, etc., but these are designed primarily for fun videos and not for book promotion, and a trailer place here may get buried amidst thousands of others. So how to make your trailer stand out?
Blazing Trailers is a new site where authors may submit their trailers especially to promote their books. Visitors who want to find books can watch a trailer, read an excerpt and review and buy the book, all in one page.
Here to discuss book trailers is Kim McDougall, founder of Blazing Trailers. Besides being an author, Kim is also a professional photographer and a book trailer designer.
The Interview
What makes a great book trailer?
Trailers need to reflect the mood of the book, give enough information to entice a customer to buy (without giving away the whole plot) and above all catch the viewers attention. I rarely make a trailer over 2 minutes long. If you think of a trailer as a commercial, this is already longer than any TV ad. I see many trailers that are 4-5 minutes of image after image that make no sense to someone who hasn’t read the book.
I try to use fewer images, but select those that will make a big impact. Adding movement, either in live video or zooms on still images can also engage the viewer. Finally, music can make or break a trailer. It’s important to find music that sets the mood, doesn’t irritate and works with the beat of the images.
Do trailers sell books?
This is the big question and there isn’t really a way to test this. The only evidence I’ve had is anecdotal. Author, Mary Deal commented that after I posted each of her trailers to YouTube and other sites, she noticed a jump in her Amazon rankings (which comes from sales).
I’ve had several niche stores contact me to say they saw my trailer on YouTube and asked how they could stock my book. Will this translate to sales? Only time will tell.
However, considering the relatively low cost of making a trailer compared to other online promotions, I think it’s a good risk to take. Not all promotion is about sales. As authors we need to think of name branding too. Just as Sony, Nike or McDonalds use different promotions to get people to become familiar with their company, so should authors work to get name recognition. Buyers are more likely to buy a book from an author’s who’s name they recognize.
How can an author use a trailer for promotion?
I had one author ask me why some trailers on YouTube get more viewers than others. I told him that’s because some authors promote their trailers better than others. He said, “What? I have to promote my trailer too? I thought the trailer was supposed to promote me!” I had to laugh. He’s right in one way, but wrong in another.
Like I said before, YouTube is a huge site. You need to tell people how to find you in that din. You wouldn’t create a great TV commercial and then put it on at 3am when no one’s watching!
The advantage to a video sharing site (I keep saying YouTube because it’s the best known, but there are many others), is that strangers surfing the net will stumble across your trailer. People who might never otherwise see your website or your book will get a glimpse of it. And it may only be a glimpse if your trailer doesn’t catch their attention.
But what if you have a newsletter and you want to invite people to see your trailer? Or if you participate in a chat group and want to show off your trailer? You shouldn’t send them to a video sharing site. Send them instead to a site like Blazing Trailers or your own website, where they can watch the trailer and then immediately learn more about you and your books. This is the kind of promotion you need for your books.
Another way to use trailers is at book signings. You can bring a computer and have a series of trailers running. CD’s are relatively inexpensive. If you have a lot of trailers, you can put them all on one CD or DVD and hand them out to people at signings.
Thanks for the tips, Kim!
Mayra Calvani - Multi-genre author and reviewer Mayra Calvani has penned 10 books for children and adults. She's a regular contributor to Blogcritics ...
