Book Trailers Next Hot Thing for Publishing
The latest marketing and promotional tool for authors and publishers is the book trailer–like a movie preview trailer, but for books:
In recent years, publishers, authors, teachers and students have been using the book trailer, a promotional video, to develop buzz and cultivate readers for a book. Some book trailers are similar to the familiar movie preview while others look like something you will see on MTV.
Some trailers focus on the story (many even tell you the whole story, like an overwrought PowerPoint book report!) some interview the author, and many more just confound me with their incomprehensibility. Of course, like anything, there’s a lot of DIY going on in book trailer production; with predictably dreary (dare I say crappy) results. For every compelling, well-produced trailer, you get about one hundred trailers slapped together with bad clip art, stock photos, bland music and cheesy graphics. Yeah, that makes me want to read the book. Not.
I don’t mean to be nasty, but if you’re going to represent your product–especially one I presume you spent years writing–do it right.
That said, I wrote a mystery thriller novel. Long story short, after a couple of near-misses with being signed by an agent over a two-year period I decided I could stick the book in a drawer forever or publish it as an independent ebook with Smashwords. I’m glad I did. Pilate’s Cross has sold more than a few copies (on iBooks, BarnesandNoble.com, Kobo and Smashwords), and hundreds more have sampled it. I still believe in the book and feel it could reach a broader audience if it could just rise above the crowd a bit.
Thinking along those lines, many of my readers told me they thought it was a book they could easily see as a movie. Well, I certainly couldn’t make a movie out of an indie novel, but a book trailer was in the cards. That’s why I’m so excited I got the chance to work with the celebrated digital media design company T2 + Back Alley Films of Kansas City.
Lead by CEO Teri Rogers, T2 + Back Alley Films is a nationally recognized digital media agency that creates all forms of new media content. Their specialties include motion graphics design, experiential design, augmented reality and other forms of new media, as well as original films and documentaries, digital production and postproduction.
The book’s cinematic structure made it an ideal project for T2, and I’m over the moon at their interpretation of the book. We agreed that it should be a book trailer that could easily pass as a movie trailer.We had some fun with the voice-over, though we resisted the urge to say “In a world…”
Have a look:
The trailer really transports you right into the world of Cross Township–like a movie. I wrote a treatment and a script, then T2’s team created a concept that I think just blows away most trailers. Their concept and screen execution was teamed with Wheeler Audio of Kansas City to record actors and mix sound for the trailer. (I voiced two of the characters–guess which ones?)
The trailer was truly a collaborative effort between T2, Wheeler and me. I just hope that the book lives up to the high expectations set by the trailer.
So, since the premiere on October 13, 2010 at PilatesCross.com I’ve received many nice comments about the trailer and renewed interest in the book. The trailer is now out there on several trailer sites, YouTube and Smashwords. It’s my hope that the crossover will aid in raising the book’s profile.
Book trailers are here to stay, I’d say, especially in our multimedia world. What do you think–are they here to stay or just a flash in the pan?
