How to make a Book Trailer

[owly]

Thought this might be of interest :-)

http://brendacoulter.blogspot.com/20...make-book.html

[VydorScope]

Her advice is basically what I did with mine. Dunno if they are worth anything, but I had fun making it.

[swhibs123]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Her advice is basically what I did with mine. Dunno if they are worth anything, but I had fun making it.

I'm the same. I really don't know who watches book trailers. I ask the kids i know who read lots of books and most of them hadn't even heard of book trailers. Maybe they're just not big for the MG or YA audience, and better suited for books for adults?? Still, if you can do it for not a lot of money, it's another piece of promotion that probably won't hurt.

[HarryT]

Seems completely pointless to me, I'm afraid.

[Lazer]

My 1st book is a how-to manual on firearms evidence for officers at crime scenes and the book trailer draws them in -and appears to have generated significant interest. My second book is a non-fiction novel based on an investigation I did twenty years ago and I'll have three supporting videos of undercover footage available on Youtube. One of those videos has been there for a couple of years and has generated over 7,000 views...

So I guess it depends on the book!

Tony Latham

[Lazer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Seems completely pointless to me, I'm afraid.

We all struggle with marketing our books. Am I wrong? The author's cited trailer has received over 6500 views. I think that says it all.

TL

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Lazer

My 1st book is a how-to manual on firearms evidence for officers at crime scenes and the book trailer draws them in -and appears to have generated significant interest. My second book is a non-fiction novel based on an investigation I did twenty years ago and I'll have three supporting videos of undercover footage available on Youtube. One of those videos has been there for a couple of years and has generated over 7,000 views...

So I guess it depends on the book!

Tony Latham

As a firearms enthusiast, I was interested in checking your book out. I went to your profile here on MR, and found a link to a YouTube video, but the video said it had been removed. So a fail on the marketing value there. ;-)
Seriously though, even if the video worked, I'd have preferred a more direct link to the book.

(Heck, I'd have preferred an actual link to a free copy of the book, but ...)

[Lazer]

Originally Posted by ApK

As a firearms enthusiast, I was interested in checking your book out. I went to your profile here on MR, and found a link to a YouTube video, but the video said it had been removed. So a fail on the marketing value there. ;-)
Seriously though, even if the video worked, I'd have preferred a more direct link to the book.

(Heck, I'd have preferred an actual link to a free copy of the book, but ...)

Sorry about that! I changed the trailer when I created a print version of the book recently.

Your direct link IS a point well taken.

Tony H. Latham

[owly]

I've started watching trailers I come across on Amazon and some of them did make me more inclined to want to buy a book than before I watched. So yes, a good trailer can probably be a good tipping factor.

[VydorScope]

They way I see it is...

1) They do not HURT you
2) They are fun and easy to make
3) They are low cost to free to make
4) They might have an impact

So why not? Even if I never get 1 additional reader... was still fun to make.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

3) They are low cost to free to make

Only if you place no value on your time. The OP said that she's spent 60 hours producing hers. That's 60h that could have been spent writing. Which will have more an impact on your sales: 60h productive writing, or 60h producing a video that perhaps will not generate one sale?

What's needed, in order to answer that question, is a method of asking the purchaser what led them to the book.

Is there any way that could be done, using current sales channels?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Only if you place no value on your time. The OP said that she's spent 60 hours producing hers. That's 60h that could have been spent writing. Which will have more an impact on your sales: 60h productive writing, or 60h producing a video that perhaps will not generate one sale?

What's needed, in order to answer that question, is a method of asking the purchaser what led them to the book.

Is there any way that could be done, using current sales channels?

One of my "real" jobs is as a consultant. I bill by the hour for that work, so I definitely place value on my time.

However, my trailer took less then 2h to make. Had it taken 60 I would not have done it.

[MrPLD]

We had a trailer done up for our first book - it was fun and exciting at the time - cost a small sum of money (thankfully we do have video/movie production people in the family) but in hindsight I'd say the money would have been better off spent on other marketing - but each case is likely to be different.

[HarryT]

Perhaps you could put in large letters at the start of the video something like: "If this video made you decide to buy my book, please send an e-mail to <whatever address> and let me know". That would let you see how effective the video was in generating sales.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps you could put in large letters at the start of the video something like: "If this video made you decide to buy my book, please send an e-mail to <whatever address> and let me know". That would let you see how effective the video was in generating sales.

I'd bet that correlating video views with sales over a period of time would also give a reasonable indication.