Current Project: DeceivedStatus: Chapter 6
For those of you who live under a rock, word around MWV is that I am 'le procrastinator extraordinaire'. That's no big secret. I'm also easily distractable. Take my recent foray into book trailers. Do I watch a lot of book trailers? Not really. But I do think ones done well can be a very cool aspect of promoting a book. They're also a neat element to add to all those guest blog spots one does to promo their upcoming book. But me? Was I planning to put together a trailer for my next release, STOLEN HEAT? Ha! Not. Who has time? I don't even know how movie software works!
Yes...you see where this is going. Rewind to Sunday night. When Kensington pal, Delilah Marvelle, posted the new book trailer for her August book on another loop. Suddenly I was staring at the screen thinking, "Hm...suckopsis or book trailer. Suckopsis or book trailer...I think I HAVE to look into what it takes to make a trailer!"
Zoom ahead a few hours (2am I think it was when I finally went to bed Sunday night...on top of being a procrastinator, I'm also OCD which means once I latch on to something I don't let it go until I perfect it), then the countless (all-day) hours I gave up Monday working on the darn thing. A few (several) eyebrows missing from my frustration and voila...you have the following:
I'm still not done with the suckopsis, but I'm getting close. But of course, since I'm in book trailer mode, I have to ask...what do you think of trailers? Have any ever inspired you to buy a book? Have you seen any really great ones?
9 comments:
This is a topic I've wondered about myself. I've made two book trailers. Well, I made one and updated it. I wonder if it is worth all the time it takes to make one.
I've seen some nice trailers (yours is eye catching) but I didn't go purchase a book by watching one. I've also seen some poorly done ones and wondered if the book was as funky.
I've also seen trailers for books I've read and thought "Huh?"
So, I'm not a huge fan of trailers, and no one has yet to come out with sales figures on whether a trailer is a useful promotion tool or not. I guess it depends on how you get it out to the world.
Interesting post.
I'm with Paty. Book trailers don't impress me much. Yours is lovely, Eli, don't get me wrong, but as far as being a promotional tool, I don't know.
I've only ever seen a couple that had me furiously looking for a pen to write down the name of the book. I think a trailer needs to be professionally produced with a producer's eye for the cinematic because words and pictures on a slide show are rarely enough to make much of an impact.
I'm sure I've shared this trailer with you guys already, but it bears repeating. This was produced by an 18 year old high school girl for a friend of mine. My friend paid her $125. This girl has a lot of author clients. A lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihJ1xy009bk
I love to watch them. Elisabeth, yours gave me goosebumps. lol. I love how the tone changes in the middle. As for the marketing value? Who knows?
Karen, that was great. $125? Wow.
Karen, the trailer you sent a link to is lovely. Eli, yours is lovely, too.
As a marketing tool? I'm on the fence. I know a lot of Intrigue writers are using them. Would it make me want to buy a book? Probably not, but in all fairness, I would have to think about a mystery trailer, a cozy mystery trailer at that, as that is what I mainly read so maybe if it featured one of my favorite characters?
But probably not. Still, I can't see how it can possibly hurt and given that our audiences are younger and younger and search in such different ways to find what they want to read, it seems smart to me to get invested in every new thing that comes along as long as 1.) you enjoy it; 2.) it doesn't swallow up time better spent creating the actual product; and 3.) it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. If I had the skills I would try to make one, why the hell not?
And I agree with Kendra, the way your trailer changes tone and music mid way through is very effective.
Eli, your trailer is wonderful, as is the one that Karen linked to.
Personally, I'm ambivalent about book trailers. I don't go searching them out and I rarely click on them when I see them on author websites. I've seen too many poorly done trailers (even those that look like they were professionally done), to find them interesting in general. But then, I come from what I'd call a "fannish" background which includes a long tradition of music videos -- videos that have only gotten more clever and creative as advanced high tech tools have become available to the average consumer.
I agree with Alice that today's younger audiences use different tools to find/figure out what they want to read. They're more sophisticated (tech-wise) and less likely to be impressed by a schlocky trailer just because it exists. So, I guess I disagree that it can't hurt to do a trailer. I think, at least at this point, that if you can put together a trailer like the one you've just created, then it's a plus--like a bonus for the reader. If, however, your creativity isn't strong in that area, I think it's better not to do a trailer at all than to put one out that's...not so great.
I dunno. That's just my opinion, unbacked by any real research other than gut feeling.
Debbie, you bring up an interesting point, but there is probably a caveat to it and that is it's basically a judgement call. One person's slice of brilliance is another person's yawn. Who's to decide? I think you can only do something that makes you proud and trust that other people will enjoy it, too. And if it makes you cringe, RETREAT!
Alice, that's true. Your comment also reminded me of another benefit of doing something like a trailer. If I'm blocked in my writing, sometimes working in a different medium can help open up my creativity -- get the inspiration flowing again.
LOL, Eli--2:00 a.m.? I thought I was the only one who stayed up half or most of the night. Good to know there are other occasional nightowls in the group.
I think I could get hooked on book trailers in a big way. So I guess it's a good thing that my version of iMovie and the operating system on my Mac aren't compatible at this point. So the trailer I started over a year ago is still undone, while ideas for others are waiting until I get other projects done.
I plan to incorporate book trailers or some kind of video into my nine-book series. Haven't figured out the details yet. I think by the time I get the stories written that the "next new thing" will be taking the internet by storm. Perhaps the video/book combination that was mentioned on one of my loops recently. (Don't remember if that link came from Barbara Ray on our loop?)
Yes, I've seen some good ones--yours is good and so is the one on the link Karen gave us and I've seen other good ones. I've seen ones that weren't necessarily slick, but they made me laugh--so what the heck.
Glad you had fun with yours!
I saw your trailer, Elisabeth, and I'm totally green with envy. Way cool.
Thanks to everyone for hosting me Thursday. I had a ball and managed to be productive along the way, too. Can't do better than that.
Lisa
Post a Comment