Homemade trailers for promoting your book

[WordlyVision]

I seem to have some distant and perhaps false memory of finding a topic like this somewhere else, but Search failed to turn up anything.

One of my close friends who is a writer has made a sort of "theatrrical trailer" if you will promoting her novel (she's not published, nor does she plan to be)... and I'm starting to see it's not that uncommon.

What are your two cents on something like this, both for someone who is looking to publish that particular story and for someone who does it just general "non-serious" promotion?

Personally, like any good marketing tool, they can be good -- if used effectively; the chances of me finding relevant media to include (anything besides my own drawings and/or music which are of "lesser" quality) and to seamlessly integrate that into a well-formed video are quite slim, though not impossible; unless I was very experienced (more than I am now) in the "theory" of good video editing and production, and if I had material such as images, animation sequences, etc. that flowed well, it would probably at the most take away from the actual desired effect.

On the other hand, if you're just looking to deliver a short and quick message that does have fairly decent stuff, it can actually be better. It all depends on what you're trying to get across, and the way you do so.

[grrrrrshon]

I've always disliked seeing them. A movie is a graphic media that translates well into a 'trailer'. A book almost always does not. I can scan and understand the information laid out to me much faster in a well written synopsis. Adding dramatic music only makes me frustrated when the information is coming so much more slowly than I can read.

[mirrorkisses]

I love book trailers!
And usually they're made by fans, so that makes them doubly awesome--the fact that someone liked your novel so much they took the time to make a trailer.

I think it's great.

[aka eraser]

I know nothing about book trailers. (But I gotta say it just sounds wrong.)

But why the heck would someone promote a novel they had no plans of publishing? If you want an audience (which seems likely, or why promote at all?) why not write a good book and let the publisher not only pay you, but do the promotion for you?

[WordlyVision]

Book trailers and theatrical film trailers are exactly alike in concept -- they give you a taste of what's to come using a major hook -- except unlike in a written query letter, the hook is aided by visuals as well as the main text. The way I view them is kind of as a very very rough "concept" of what the book would be like in a film (images suggesting general themes and maybe character sketches/drawings), or trying to capture the feeling of the book as film. In terms of its potential, it is EXTREMELY rare for this kind of thing to do a good job.

I realize now I've neglected to mention the side of those who are not pursuing publishing and creating such videos. Yes, the logic seems backwards... why don't they just publish it and have a publisher promote it for them? If I had to think of a reason, it'd be the mindset of a contract commitment being involved, and the idea that your writing is now a profession and not necessarily a hobby. Well, they don't want the commitment of a contract, they want to write just for pleasure -- they do it as a pastime -- to take it easy for only a part of the day or week -- as a leisurely and unstructured thing, and in terms of promotion, self-publishing just costs them money. So what to do? Use free alternative methods of promotion... and in this case, one of them being video.

The word "promote" in the previous context is indeed somewhat inaccurate. "Notify" or something similar would be more applicable. In a way, they're "broadcasting" their literary work to the world using video as a medium, which is kind of like promotion.

In short: They don't want the worries -- the time crunches and "professionalism" of pursuing publishing... just to write at your own pace, your own style, just as a thing to do in your spare time. As for the book trailers themselves: It's just another medium of getting your work out there. Whether it's a good medium is up to people's own personal opinion. That's how I see it.

[Willowmound]

What are your two cents on something like this

They're stupid. Hey, you asked.

(And, I would imagine, unless you're quite good, you run the risk of shooting yourself in the foot. Not everyone can write. Likewise, not everyone can make video.)

[Soccer Mom]

I quite like book trailers, but I"ve only seen them for something published and mostly for epubs as a promotional tool.

I can't imagine putting the work in for something I didn't want published. It's...er...odd.

[IdiotsRUs]

I saw a trailer for a new Nora Roberts on the Telly the other day, which was a little disconcerting. ( Actually to start with I thought it was going to be one of those crappy perfume ads). As trailers go it was singularly uninformative of what the book was, you know, about. No hook, no voiceover blurb, nada.

I'm not sure why watching some woman run through the woods is going to make me buy a book.

[Soccer Mom]

I saw a really kick ass one with Janet Evanovich when "Ten Big Ones" came out.

[veinglory]

I am not a fan of them.

[BenPanced]

I quite like book trailers, but I"ve only seen them for something published and mostly for epubs as a promotional tool.

I can't imagine putting the work in for something I didn't want published. It's...er...odd.
During NaNoWriMo, many participants create banners for their sig lines, advertising that year's work. Some have even gone so far to create trailers. I agree, though: you need to advertise when you have an actual product in hand and ready to offer the public. Otherwise, you're just showing off and wasting your time.

[Blondchen]

I don't mind hearing them on the radio, but whenever I come across one on TV it makes me laugh. They always come off like a Dianetics ad.

Here's the question though: why is your friend making the trailer? For friends and family? Self-gratification?

I wonder how an agent or publisher would feel if they got a book trailer in the mail instead of a query letter. Amusement followed by pity?

[WordlyVision]

My friend made the video mostly for friends to answer your question; it was just a for-fun thing to do.

[Danger Jane]

I think they're pretty cheesy, but when made by fans of a published book, cheesy gets tempered a bit with "aww". Obviously somebody loved that book.