book trailer-- yay or nay?

[Harper Kingsley]

Hey, I was checking out Ruth Ann Nordin's advice stuff and looked at her website. Has anyone else made book trailers? I mean, hers were pretty funny and I ended up being like "I want some of those."

If you have made trailers, have they perked up a lot of interest? Would it be worth it to get a YouTube channel for my book trailers?

[William F]

I want some of those.

I think you answered your own question. If it worked on you no reason it shouldn't work on other people.

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by William F

I think you answered your own question. If it worked on you no reason it shouldn't work on other people.

I don't mean I wanted her books (she writes different stuff than my preference), no, I meant I wanted some trailers of my own. The only thing is, if I spend a bunch of time putting pictures and music and everything together... would it be a viable marketing tool, or just a really fun waste of time?

[Eisengoth]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I don't mean I wanted her books (she writes different stuff than my preference), no, I meant I wanted some trailers of my own. The only thing is, if I spend a bunch of time putting pictures and music and everything together... would it be a viable marketing tool, or just a really fun waste of time?

You know, I had much the same reaction as you the other day, checking out some book trailers on YouTube. I also have some video editing experience, so I decided to go ahead and do one for my indie book.

You can check out my results here, if you want. This was about three evenings worth of work, including composing the background music. I had fun doing it... I don't know if it will be worthwhile for marketing or not, but it was definitely fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk7NOrHsAAo

[William F]

Oh my bad Harper. For the record I think it's a good idea. I don't know that I'd spend money to have a trailer done, but if you have the ability to put something up why not?
Exposure is exposure and for us indie's that's the name of the game.
Thanks for bringing this up by the way, it's something I wouldn't have thought of doing.

And nice job Eisengoth!

[Eisengoth]

Originally Posted by William F

And nice job Eisengoth!

Thanks! It was quite a bit of work, but I was pretty happy with how it ended up! Video editing is tricky, but it's really a lot of fun when a project finishes with the kind of impact you wanted!

[Penforhire]

Nicely done! Needs more music.

[alehel]

A Norwegian publisher did some movie-like trailers for books not long ago. Here is one of them, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07wRNEKhKtk. When I first saw it I thought it was rather stupid, but I ended up buying and reading the book, so I guess it had the desired effect.

[caleb72]

Personally, I can't stand book trailers and I can't recall any trailer that didn't actually put me off reading the book. Now I don't watch them at all.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by Eisengoth

You know, I had much the same reaction as you the other day, checking out some book trailers on YouTube. I also have some video editing experience, so I decided to go ahead and do one for my indie book.

You can check out my results here, if you want. This was about three evenings worth of work, including composing the background music. I had fun doing it... I don't know if it will be worthwhile for marketing or not, but it was definitely fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk7NOrHsAAo

Super video, Christopher! But you obviously know something about av imagery. Definitely not something I'd want to tackle myself without outside help.

[Eisengoth]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Super video, Christopher! But you obviously know something about av imagery. Definitely not something I'd want to tackle myself without outside help.

Thank you!

It's true; I took a class on video editing a few years back as part of my IT degree, and because of that I've done a few corporate and hobby projects and such, which required my digging into the available programs and learning how they work. Most of what I learned, I learned on my own (except for the small amount that the 6-week class taught me), but I definitely wouldn't recommend going it completely alone unless you already have at least some minor experience... non-linear video editing can be quite overwhelming at first.

[Frida Fantastic]

I don't watch book trailers and I don't care about them at all. I've seen one and it only had stock photos and said nothing about the book (which I liked). If you're having fun making one, go ahead because what's the harm in extra exposure? But actually paying money and treating it as a promotion that'll work? I doubt it. Better promotion is having a blog that gets linked to, or writing a guest post for authors or bloggers in your niche.

[RoxyJ]

Regardless of whether or not the trailer would entice buyers, a youtube video really helps with getting your book good placement on google searches. Youtube will help with your search engine ranking, and anything that helps readers to find your book, is worth at least trying.

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by RoxyJ

Regardless of whether or not the trailer would entice buyers, a youtube video really helps with getting your book good placement on google searches. Youtube will help with your search engine ranking, and anything that helps readers to find your book, is worth at least trying.

Very good point.

[Giggleton]

nay..