Four Ways to Avoid Book Trailer Trash

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Wednesday + Josie Brown = Hype Hell

Is your book trailer ready for its close-up?

Having grown up professionally in the ad industry, I think of messages as 30- or 60-second tiny tales: tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end; pluck at a heartstring; and make sure that the viewer or listener remembers the name of the product.

As more authors and publishers utilize book trailers to pitch their books,, particularly as short web-based videos, I am praying that they don’t make the same mistakes I saw novice clients making, or they will get the same results:

No sales, no return on their investments, and a missed opportunity for name recognition.

Or worse yet no sales, no return on their investment, and BAD name recognition.

In the days of the flickers (the nickname for the short films shown on nickelodeons), any motion, even be it some untalented fat guy doing an awful jig on a poorly lit stage, was reason enough for the unwashed masses to pluck down a single silver coin for a quick peak through the viewfinder.

Well, the masses are no longer unwashed. They are day-spa’d and Da Vinci Veneered. The nickelodeon has been replaced by the iPod. And the jivin’ fat guy has been replaced by…

You.  More than likely, just as untalented. And certainly just as poorly lit.

Worse yet, since you are not even miked but relying on the internal microphone on your computer, you sound as bad as you look. Face it: you’re no Branjelina.

With every new medium there comes a grace period in which consumers will put up with the primitive programming until a better show comes down the pike. (Remember when the host of the Today Show was a chimp called Mr. Muggs?  YOU DO? Well then, thank god you look younger than you are…)

An author I know is very proud of his new book trailer.  However his friends (count me among them) don’t have the heart to tell him that it, well, it stinks.

If it is supposed to be a reflection on his book, it is a poor one. “What does a dog doing backward cartwheels have to do with a prison camp saga?” was one friend’s whispered lament.

Good point. It’s been over a hundred years since that nickelodeon.  Sure, the dog has taken the place of the fat man, but the jig is the same.

So that you, too, don’t go the way of the psychedelic dancers grooving to Spirit in the Sky on TBS, I’ll ask you to consider these four tips while planning your book trailer:

Tip #1: First and foremost, tell a story that relates to your book.
It could be a reenactment of an interesting scene. Or, in documentary style, it could be a talking head shot of you discussing your plot, and how it came to you. Or it could be the reaction of those who have read the book. (They do this all the time with movie commercials: You know, the ones where the people are leaving the theater and say into the camera: “Loved it! Great date movie! Don’t miss it!”) your success to do this will not necessarily depend on the story you tell, but how you tell it. So tell it in a way that will make her cry, or will make him laugh. Whatever method you choose to tease the viewer, remember: the message makes the medium. So give them a reason to want to run out and get your book.

Tip #2: If you aren’t ready for your close-up, don’t force the issue.
The most inexpensive shoot is one in which you are reading from your book, talking about your book, or being interviewed on the book. But not all authors are comfortable on camera. For that matter, very few of them give a good read, even when espousing their own words. If you fall into this category, hire an actress or actor to get the message across (and no, that does not mean that they will have to pretend to be you).

Tip #3: Leave the viewer wanting more.
Give your message a beginning, a middle, and a tease. Whether your video is one minute in length or five, this won’t be easy. But if I were you, I wouldn’t spend a dime on production until you have your message down pat.

Tip #4: When it comes to production values, you get what you pay for.
Bad camera work is bad camera work, whether you’re talking about a commercial for your local car dealership, The Blair Witch Project, or your own book trailer. That said, do not, and I repeat, do not cut corners in production. If you don’t have the budget to do it right, don’t make a book trailer at all, because the return won’t justify the investment.

And it certainly won’t justify the blow to your reputation.

I'll just bet you've seen some pretty good book trailers out there . . . and some pretty bad ones, too. Want to comment?

Josie Brown left the advertising industry to become a crusading investigative reporter. Sadly, in our voyeuristic culture vulture society, there is an insatiable demand (and better pay) for celebrity journalists, which is how Josie came to rub elbows (not to mention egos) with the rich and famous. She still writes about celebrity, sex and scandal, only now as fiction (which, she insists, is just as strange as what she knows to be fact). Her latest novel is IMPOSSIBLY TONGUE-TIED.You can read about her books on her blog: http://www.josiebrown.com.

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Comments

[Patrick Borders]

I liked this trailer for The Thieves of Heaven by Richard Doetsch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVVsJZk4wN4

It was a 2006 Standard Book Video Award Winner. It has a quick setup, a good story, and ends with a teaser. It's short and simple.

[Keri]

Great advice. I'm an ad girl myself (copywriter), and I think the idea of book trailers is cool. But more often than not, the ones I've seen are downright dull with terrible production values.

This one makes me want to buy the book:
http://allisonbrennan.com/

And I htink this one is charming:
http://www.vidlit.com/cabot/

[Barry]

The Four Tips that are provided on this page provide excellent advice and for that reason this page has been cited as a reference link on the Wikipedia page about "book trailers" at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_trailer

I don't entirely agree with that the movie teaser-trailer style is a good thing when it comes to book promotion. It might work with short stories or books with extremely thin plots but won't do justice to anything worth reading.

To create genuine interest in a book (as opposed to a film) you need to go a lot deeper. A short slick movie-style trailer just doesn't cut it.

A good book trailer should be more than a few minutes in duration to invite the reader to explore an entire world with a full cast of characters. The book trailer is a unique genre with its own design constraints and best practices.
---

[Barry]

The Four Tips that are provided on this page provide excellent advice and for that reason this page has been cited as a reference link on the Wikipedia page about "book trailers" at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_trailer

I don't entirely agree with that the movie teaser-trailer style is a good thing when it comes to book promotion. It might work with short stories or books with extremely thin plots but won't do justice to anything worth reading.

To create genuine interest in a book (as opposed to a film) you need to go a lot deeper. A short slick movie-style trailer just doesn't cut it.

A good book trailer should be more than a few minutes in duration to invite the reader to explore an entire world with a full cast of characters. The book trailer is a unique genre with its own design constraints and best practices.
---

[Barry]

The Four Tips that are provided on this page provide excellent advice and for that reason this page has been cited as a reference link on the Wikipedia page about "book trailers" at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_trailer

I don't entirely agree with that the movie teaser-trailer style is a good thing when it comes to book promotion. It might work with short stories or books with extremely thin plots but won't do justice to anything worth reading.

To create genuine interest in a book (as opposed to a film) you need to go a lot deeper. A short slick movie-style trailer just doesn't cut it.

A good book trailer should be more than a few minutes in duration to invite the reader to explore an entire world with a full cast of characters. The book trailer is a unique genre with its own design constraints and best practices.
---

[Barry]

Please accept my apology for the multiple posting. Please delete the duplicates. The screen seemed to hang after I pressed the Post button and so I pressed it again. Sorry. I will know better next time!

[sandeepshimpi]

What an interesting way to get people interested in reading! Book trailers are like movie trailers, but for books! You can find them all over the internet now, but here is a site that's featuring them on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/booktrailers

[advertiser]

What an interesting way to get people interested in reading! Book trailers are like movie trailers, but for books! You can find them all over the internet now, but here is a site that's featuring them on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/booktrailers

[Way Out Sortie]

This is an excellent article and now that we're nearing the end of 2008, it shows great foresight.

Book and author videos have taken off and proven to be an excellent addition to an authors repertoire of promotion.

They won't make a bad book great, but they can bring a whole new level of audience awareness.

I just recently started Way Out Sortie to create book and author videos, and it's an exciting. The biggest challenge is being able to develop a short, focused overview, while developing a hook that leaves a reader wanting to learn more!

If you can focus your message across a minute and a half or so, then you're doing a lot better than some of the stuff out there.