Hi -

I started creating book trailers over a year ago because I do believe that they are becoming a very important part of a larger integrated online marketing strategy. Most authors, particularly first time authors, get close to no publicity help from their publishers and the ones that do are the ones that provide the publishers with marketing tools and show that they are actively working to promote their book. This is actually a shock to many people, most assume there is some sort of standard marketing protocol that every book launch follows.

While I believe trailers can work successfully for all book genres, the two that I have been focusing on lately are Young Adult novels and Inspirational, Personal Growth books. Readers of these particular genres are quite comfortable spending time online, quite used to viewing visuals and videos along with content and will spend time online actually researching these subjects.

That being said – I can’t say that all trailers are created equal. I’ve seen some great ones and some poor ones. I’ve also seen some fun, beautifully produced ones that wouldn’t necessarily prompt me to want to know more…..which is ultimately want you need if they are to be successful.
I also think it is in most cases it is not nesessary to make trailers look like live action movie trailers. These are not cost-effective for most authors, and aren’t true to the medium. Trailers, like book jacket blurbs, need to create intrigue, not define all of the character, locations or present spoilers.

Stills and text combined with the right music can be a highly impactful, cost-effective way to create a trailer that relays a consistency of imagery, relays a primary message and attitude, and evokes emotion. And that is really all a trailer needs to do.

Happy Reading, er….and viewing,
Marianne Nowicki
NoWicki Productions

Wow! That New Zealand Book Council ad is incredible.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book because I saw a trailer. Generally speaking, publishers probably wouldn’t bother doing a trailer for the kinds of books I typically read. Yuk! Yuk!

Marianne,
Thanks for introducing a different perspective on the trailer talk. I think you are absolutely right about how little marketing help first time authors or even second/third book authors get to promote themselves and their materials. And I have to admit I use trailers in my blog posts.
Kitty