Book Trailers: Friend or Foe?
| The book trailer rage has taken over. Everywhere they're popping up. Some very sophisticated, and some, unfortunately not so. About a month ago, a friend posted a link to his book trailer, so I decided it was time to learn how to make one myself. I had a graphics program, plus I had Movie Maker (everyone who has Windows has it in their programs), so I thought I'd give it a whirl. While it took three days to put together, I was satisfied at the results. If you'd like to see it, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOklaNgirZI at YouTube. While you're there, drop me a comment. ;o) I did a little promoting for it and now it's #1 in YouTube under "ghost book" which were the key search words I chose to promote it. It was #1 in Google Video this morning, but now has dropped to #2. This is where your online book promotion comes in. While they're a blast to make and fun to show off to your friends, just how do they affect sales? Right now, it's too early to say from my standpoint as my book won't be out until later this month, but I figure it can't hurt for pre-release buzz, right? Yes, if they are done right. The way I see it is that any promotion is good promotion, but there are conflicting opinions on this if the book trailers look amateurish. I'm wondering, though, would a badly-made book trailer make a difference in sales either way? Probably not, but the thing is, the Internet is open to discussion and your book trailor may be the target. If it is poorly made, people will talk. If it's done up right and looks professional, people will talk. Either way, you don't want negative opinions plastered all over the Internet about your book. According to Cheryl Hagedorn, author of PARK RIDGE A Senior Center Murder, she believes some of the book trailers look downright pathetic. At her blog, she tells us that there is an interesting conversation going on over at HelenKay Dimon’s blog about the subject of poorly made trailers. So, of course, I being the inquisitite one, went over there to find out what this was all about. It seems there is an author that is being targeted. I really felt sorry for the guy because he's the brunt of various opinions on his book trailer, and some of them not so good. I have dial-up so it took a long time to load, but I face the same thing with all book trailers. You can take a peek at his book trailer here, if you'd like. As soon as it loads, I'll let you know what I think. The bottom line is this. When you're putting together your book trailers, please, make them as professional as you can. When you put your book out there, you take all precautions to make sure they're the best they can be so that the reviews will be positive, don't you? Book trailers are no different. However, on the upside, this author has a book trailer that's the talk of the town, so maybe it's not bad promotion after all? What's your opinion? Tags: book trailers,YouTube, online book promotion, Movie Maker Labels: book trailers, pump up your online book promotion, YouTube |
posted by Dorothy Thompson at 7:40 PM
Comments on "Book Trailers: Friend or Foe?"
-
Jen said ... (February 5, 2007 4:01 PM) :
-
Jamieson the Wolf said ... (February 5, 2007 4:49 PM) :
-
Theresa Chaze, Wiccan Writer said ... (February 5, 2007 5:40 PM) :
-
Linda L Rucker said ... (February 6, 2007 4:59 AM) :
-
Kathy Holmes said ... (February 6, 2007 7:22 AM) :
-
Dorothy said ... (February 6, 2007 7:56 AM) :
post a commentDot, without looking to see what the blog says, I can tell you I would agree.
If a trailer is poorly put together or done in a really shitty way, I would NOT buy the book. I know, I know. I'm just one person.
But still....
If a carpenter did a commercial showing shoddy work, would you buy cabinets from him?
Same principle, IMO.
Hey Dorothy,
Being a huge lover of book trailers (I'm writing an article on them as we speak) and having done three so far for my books, I'm of two ways about this.
Personally, I think any book trailer, no matter how crappily done, will get someone's attention. Book trailers will reach those who like a more visual media and hopefully get them interested.
Even if the book trailer is done poorly, people will see it and wonder. Now, the idea is to do a good book trailer. But you do what you can and get it out there.
I figure any promotion is good promotion. Don't they say that bad press is good press?
That's my two cents. :)
Cheers!
Jamieson
I agree book trailers can be great asset. The one I did for Awakening the Dragon turned out really well. I'll be doing another for the sequel Dragon Domain. They need to be done proffessionally as well as being creative in order to represent your work in a positive light.
What's that saying? "Any publicity is good publicity?' I mean look at Frey and A Million Little Pieces. At first people were outraged that they'd been duped, and panned the book, but after a while, they began to think, "hey, if the guy writes good enough to fool even Oprah, maybe the book is worth reading. He is still selling that book, I know, cause my daughter bought it last week.
Visual presentation is very important. If a web site is done poorly, I won't think very highly of them. And too many web sites/blogs are done poorly - even supposedly professional publisher web sites. It gives me a bad impression so I can imagine that a book trailer done poorly would do the same. I don't think all promotion is created equal.
Well now, you've got a good point, Kathy. Visual presentation IS very important. I've done the same thing...went to someone's website and omg it was horrible and what lasting impression did that have on me?
I'm curious if anyone has seen this particular book trailer yet. I do feel sorry for the guy and I guess I'm not helping things, but this is something that really needs to be addressed.