# What is Your Opinion of Book Trailers?



## AllenMitchum (Jan 12, 2012)

I'm wondering what people think of book trailers, both from a reader's perspective and an author's perspective. For readers, would they persuade you to purchase or try out a new book? For authors, are they worth the investment of time and/or money? Any success stories with trailers?


I'm interested in your thoughts. Thanks!


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

I have no interest in them myself. I just don't get why anyone would want to watch a trailer for a book?


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## Eliza Baum (Jul 16, 2011)

I've watched a few out of curiosity, but I've found the majority of them to be pretty boring. I've even watched a couple _after_ reading the book and thought, "Wow, glad that wasn't the first thing I saw about this, or I might never have read it." There's only been one I can think of that really enticed me into reading the book:



I think there were two reasons for this. 1) I was already interested, but just not convinced yet to spend the money. 2) The book was loosely based on a series of vintage photographs, so the visual medium was appropriate.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Previous threads here (among several):

Would you be more likely to read a book because it has a book video trailer?

Has a Book Trailer ever made you buy the book?

The search page can be your friend.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

As a reader I avoid them like the plague.  As an author, I hate it when my author friends ask me to check out their book trailer.  I do not associate visual trailer type things with 'reading.'  They do nothing for me.  Even if they are vaguely funny (have yet to see one, but I avoid them) I don't see how this is supposed to make me want the book.  I've seen two from trad books that were so God-awful I felt very sorry for the authors, the publishers and everyone involved.  I was embarrassed for them and I'm not known for my empathy.  In any circle.

I've seen one from an indie author that was actually okay for what it was.  (Mostly words, no silliness.)  But those same words could have been in the blurb (and may have been; I don't recall.)  

In short...well, too late for that.  In long, I don't like them and don't use them myself. They are probably effective for some, but I can't find it in me to even consider doing one.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

As a reader, I avoid book trailers. Books just don't translate well into that medium and on most occasions the trailers actually turn me off checking out the books, since most seem sloppy and poorly done.

So I basically view trailers as an author indulgence, something that probably won't interest anyone else but is fun for the author to make and show friends.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Reminder that this thread is in the Book Corner. . . .so answers should only be from the point of view as a reader.  If you wish to discuss trailers with your author hats on, you may do so in the Cafe.  Thanks.


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## Aenea (Dec 24, 2011)

I pay absolutely no attention to book trailers. Never seen one, never will.


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

I wouldn't buy a book just because I saw its trailer, but I think that book trailers have their value in getting the author a bit more exposure.  Any advertisement is useful, if it gets the word out.

Thanks,

Ethan


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## Darlene Jones (Nov 1, 2011)

I don't like them. I want to use my own imagination to picture the characters and the action. I read books to get away from someone else's ideas of what it should all look like.


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## sammykay (Jan 14, 2012)

i've never watched them.


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## Jeff Shelby (Oct 2, 2011)

I can't say I've ever watched one that made me want to buy the book.  The cover, the jacket copy and the first page are what get me to buy a book.


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## Borislava Borissova (Sep 9, 2011)

I have watched a few ones about book-thrillers and I liked them much. I even sent an e-copy of one of them as a Christmas gift to a friend and she wrote me recently the story is as good as the trailer.


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## AllenMitchum (Jan 12, 2012)

All interesting thoughts. I think that in the age of the internet the trailers might have a bit more benefit than in the past. The internet is a medium particularly suited for viewing rather than reading. I consider the trailer diversifying marketing tactics. 

I think good tips are (1) don't spend a lot of time or money on doing a trailer and (2) if you make a trailer, ensure that it is of high quality, otherwise it can actually harm the perception of your novel. I realize those points may be in conflict with each other.


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## Guest (Jan 22, 2012)

As a reader, I like watching them if they're good lol. I've seen a few that made me even more excited about a book.


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## leep (Aug 25, 2011)

I've watched a couple out of curiosity and I've never seen one that was any good.  Not that any would be probably sway me to buy a book.  I think authors/publishers are better off spending the time trying to garner reviews and word of mouth.


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## Ryan Harvey (May 18, 2011)

A close friend just did a book trailer on which he spent a good chunk of time. He's a composer, so he wrote and recorded his own music, and a skilled photographer, so his video came across fantastic. His book takes place in contemporary L.A., so it was easy for him to get great relevant shots.

The results were superb. I was impressed with how great it looked when I finally saw it.

And . . . so far it seems to have done nothing to affect his sales. They're still as slow moving as they were the first month.


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## JBennett (Dec 13, 2011)

Book trailers are still a relatively new trend in the literary world; one that is still trying to find its feet.  There's a lot of experimentation going on, much of it not very successful (as far as quality and ROI for the author). Many readers and authors on this thread are unimpressed with book trailers or flat out ignore them. I think this reflects the views of the general reading public as well. However, I suspect that as this marketing tactic matures, the results will get better. Publishers and authors will figure out what intrigues readers and find better channels for reaching them. I think readers will also get used to the idea of trailers and start looking forward to them, particularly for the next book in a well-liked series.

One relevant example is the video game world. A while back, video game trailers were unheard of. Now they are a staple of any marketing plan for a AAA title. In fact, most video games have multiple trailers (a cinematic trailer and an in-game trailer). Trailers to popular or highly anticipated games go viral all the time and get millions of views.

Is that what's next for books? Maybe not to the same degree, but I think book trailers are here to stay and I think (hope) that they'll get better.

Jessica


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2012)

I made one because I love dorking around on my computer, and because I kept seeing articles saying they were magical.

1. Don't think they are magical.
2. It was fun.  *shrug*


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

I found them exciting at first, if short and well produced. Doubt they help anyone sell product and rarely watch them now.


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## SylviaLucas (Sep 14, 2011)

As a reader, the only trailers I pay attention to are the ones on TV that probably cost $1 million for the author to get the time for. The last two I saw: 1. a Dean Koontz book put out by a major publisher, and 2. a self-published book (iUniverse) obviously written by a very rich person.

These trailers let me know that "Ooh! New Dean Koontz book!" and "Wow, it pays to be a rich self-published author." (But neither trailer led to my purchase of either of their books.)


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## jcpilley (Jan 18, 2012)

I've admired some book trailers that were for graphic novels and upcoming comic books, mainly because they actually have a visual aspect to them.

Watching a trailer for a purely written book doesn't seem to work for me. In my mind I have this thought that what I'm watching won't necessarily be in the book since it's video vs. text. Sure, it will be in the book in written capacity, but then why show it to me in a video if I'm supposed to have leeway as a reader to interpret the book as I see fit?


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Not much interest in them personally.  My method for picking books is usually.

1.  Blurb
2.  Review (sometimes this comes first if I find out about a book in a newspaper review or website review).
3.  Read the Kindle sample.
4.  Buy the book if I like it and the price is right.


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## 4eyesbooks (Jan 9, 2012)

I must be completely out of the loop because I didn't even know there were trailers for books, but it seems a little silly to me.  A trailer for a book is not going to influence me to buy the book.  I rely on word of mouth and reviews from other readers.


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## LisaBlackwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Not a fan. Seems like a waste of time. I've clicked on a few and usually stop before I get to the end. Maybe I'm the odd one out, though.


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## RobertLCollins (Feb 1, 2011)

There's not a good place for readers to find book trailers; I wonder if that's part of the problem. Authors can put them onto their pages at Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords, and Facebook. But it seems if you're not a fan or a friend of said author you're not likely to come across them. You can upload them to YouTube, but are readers going there to look at book trailers? I've done them and posted them, but it doesn't seem like they've helped me.


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## BRONZEAGE (Jun 25, 2011)

NogDog said:


> Previous threads here (among several):
> 
> Would you be more likely to read a book because it has a book video trailer?
> 
> ...


Good points, NogDog.

As a reader, for me the trailers usually do little or nothing to add appeal to that title or persuade me to purchase it. Few are unique or inherently interesting, so it appears the trailer has gone the route of most covers: play it safe.


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2012)

Personally I don't like them. Reason; Media Maker picture slideshows with some text is not a true trailer. Stock pictures, bad music mix, text fade in and outs... a trailer used to be something else. I've made some CGI trailer and additional 2D and 3D promo material in the past and maybe I've turned to a damned snob, but I wouldn't release most of the book trailers at all. In my opinion they're just causing much more harm than any good. Of course the friends of the creator will support the author who took the time to put the trailer together, they will put plenty likes under the video, but good words, likes and friends won't make a trailer good. But unfortunately honesty is out of fashion these days.


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## DH_Sayer (Dec 20, 2011)

I'm pretty baffled by them, but could see how they'd incite excitement for the book if done right. The only way to do it right, however, would seem to require more of a budget than most books have.

...I just remembered that I was pretty pumped for a book trailer once: the one for Inherent Vice. But that's only after learning the not-so-secret info that Pynchon was the one narrating it.


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## flipside (Dec 7, 2011)

My problem with book trailers is that conceptually, they're hard to pull-off (i.e. create a convincing book trailer), and in addition to that, have (relatively) high production costs compared to other methods of marketing.

While book trailers are more uncommon than others (i.e. not every author has a book trailer, although most might have a blurb, review, etc.), few actually impress me.

Here's one video that I liked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPP7f5DoaGg

But obviously, book is a bit unique so it warranted that kind of video, and the appeal can't quite be replicated.


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## Michael Horton (Aug 4, 2011)

The trailer posted above is an example of one that's done well, though it's an obvious exception. There's very little most book trailers do that a simple blurb can't do on its own, which makes them feel unnecessary. It has to be unique in some way, or else it just looks like every other slideshow set to public domain music.

I'm neutral on them overall. A bad book trailer won't discourage a purchase from me if I'm already interested, but I've never bought a book based on one either, however tempting. And I watch an embarrassing number of the things.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

Ooohhhh. I thought book trailers were little red wagons that you use to haul books around--before ebooks, of course.


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## Guest (Jan 25, 2012)

I can never get through them. They just seem pointless to me.


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## Steverino (Jan 5, 2011)

I've never bought a book based on a trailer.  Most of the ones I see are ineffective, if not a little sad.

If I was going to make one or have one made, I'd go great guns on it so that it kicked tail.  Otherwise, pass.


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

I like them if they're short and to the point: they can give me a good idea of what the book is about (I know the blurb will do that, but it's different. Trailers give me more of a feeling, an atmosphere).


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## Darlene Jones (Nov 1, 2011)

Trailers are for movies. I'd rather read the book synopsis or a review.


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## MadCityWriter (Dec 8, 2011)

As a reader: I like them if they are done well.  I don't like photos of real people (I like to create my own mental images) or live action. I'm okay with excerpts of text, since I'm a reader, after all.  But just as I like movie trailers when they are done well, a book trailer can entice me to read a particular book.


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## Jeroen Steenbeeke (Feb 3, 2012)

I must admit I have seen only three or so, but they just feel wrong to me. In one particular case it was a trailer for a book I had already read, and the trailer in no way reflected the actual story. It did not feature any of the characters or the struggle going in the book. It was at best a failed attempt to capture the gloomy atmosphere of the book.


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

Unless they are very, very, very well done, AND offer something more than the synopsis of the book (which I can read in 10 seconds on Amazon), then I don't think they're worth the time - the reader's or the author's. A book trailer can be an excellent marketing tool when done well and used correctly, but the only ones that I've seen that have done this are for big name authors with sizable advertising budgets.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Personally, I don't think books and book trailers go hand-in-hand.  They're two totally different media.  A trailer for a movie being made from a book, yeah.  But just a book?  Not so much.  I kinda think authors in general are just thinking "Internet...video...shiny..." and going with it, without really *thinking* about whether it's really a good concept.

Someone upthread seemed to compare it to trailers for video games.  Well, yeah, video games are VIDEO, so trailers for those make sense. You can do outtakes and whatever, just like with movies.  But as others have said, books play out in our minds, not on video (notwithstanding the aforesaid movies-from-books), and trailers just don't make sense.


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## Wren Emerson (Jan 15, 2011)

I've seen exactly one because someone asked me to look at theirs. To be honest, I didn't even know such a thing existed before then. I don't see how it would help convince me to buy a book. I'd prefer to come up with my own mental images for the characters and settings rather than whatever actors or pictures they choose to use to represent their book.


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