Do you Think Book Trailers are the Way to Go?
So book trailers are everywhere. Most of them are kind of cheesy though. Do you think if they are made creatively, and turned into a real art form, like a music video does for a song, that they can be helpful in promoting books, and the authors of those books?
I don't think they make much of a difference. Can't really hurt though.
This is why we can't have nice things.
I have never been able to sit through a whole book trailer. I really don't see the point. But some people seem to love them, so there's that.
How about this one?
15 seconds in before I killed the page.
This is why we can't have nice things.
yep
Assuming that is your work, I gotta say that was a very sweet subtle way of squeezing in a plug here.
This is why we can't have nice things.
This doesn't work for me. There's two reasons. The first is that the format doesn't fit the product; when you see a movie trailer you are shown scenes from the movie so you know what it will be like to watch, but the only equivalent for that with a book would be to get a few sheets of paper and copy out paragraphs from different chapters so that people know what the book will be like to read. With the book-trailer, you're shown a dramatization of what the publisher or author wants you to think about the book. It can work to an extent; even watching the trailer for the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest would show somebody enough that they would have an understanding of the book and maybe even whether or not it would interest them to read it--still, they would know nothing of the writer's style, nothing about the formatting and structure. To invent a format for advertising that tells you less than a review-blurb would just seems pointless. The second reason this doesn't work for me is because I almost never read new books.
I think the idea is to capture the tone of the book and create something visually intriguing that drives home not just the idea of the book, but the author and the author's work in general. Books are the only art form without creative advertising behind it. Much like a music video, which doesn't necessarily mirror the lyrics of the song, but spreads the idea of the artist in a compelling way, a trailer, video, promo, whatever you want to call it, has the potential to turn the book industry on its side.
But they're generally so very bad...
This is why we can't have nice things.
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart had an okay trailer that I watched all the way through. But mostly because James Franco was in it.
I agree with you completely, and they don't have to suck. There's this idea right now that you can make a book trailer for $99. Then people are surprised when no one wants to watch their cheesy trailer. As a result, they say book trailers don't work.
Yes, I do make them. With all my effort I am trying to create a form that drives people in a creative and compelling way to read again. But this is not intended to be a plug, rather, a discussion about where we go from here.
I think that one is one of the few that's effective, and if you can get a celebrity to appear in your trailer, even better, although most people don't have that luxury or affordability. That said, the Shteyngart trailer is similar to a few book trailer I've seen, in that they rely on a gimmick (no shame in that, but it doesn't do anything in terms of redefining the form).
How about this one:
I believe, as an artform, it is tenable. But they tend to be approached as commercials, selling a product, rather than as short films. This is the mistake, imo.
This is why we can't have nice things.
I agree completely. Slideshows, still frames, really bad music. And while a music video is the closest comparison I can come up with, that's still not the right comparison because music videos don't necessarily follow the lyrics of the song. My feeling is a good book trailer (and that's also not the right term but it's all we have) spreads the idea of the book, through a film/ad/etc that makes people feel something.
With a music video you are adding the visual to audio.
A book trailer, you are using audio and visual in an attempt to explain the cerebral.
I agree wholly with Nightrious.
That new Hobbit movie made some kind of novel trailer a while back.
THAT was well done.
@Nightrious. If there's accompanying voice over, and that voice over consists of writing, taken from the book, wouldn't that give you a taste of what it's like to read the book, or what the author's voice and style are like?
And if the authors are involved in the production of the trailers, which they all should be (I mean I can't imagine a band not being involved in their own music video) then you really would, ideally, get a sense of that writer's style.
I agree with you about formatting and structure, but the same could be said about movie trailers. And movie trailers are a form of advertising that tell you WAY less than a review-blurb. And I don't think movie trailers are pointless. Maybe cheesy, but so are most book trailers.
@pepper. No, you're incorporating all three. I mean if you're doing it right. What a book trailer can't do is purely mimic the reading experience. And it shouldn't aspire to. It should be like a creative river that flows to the book.
Cushman, I think your dreams are beautiful.
Thank you)
I said "tenable".
Heh.
This is why we can't have nice things.
I prefer just reading about books.
I agree!
If I wanted to watch a movie trailer for a book, I would wait for Hollywood to make a 2 hour one. I read books because I love reading, not for any other reason.
The Super Sad True Love Story trailer didn't make me buy the book. I just thought it was a funny video. I knew about the book before the video. I bought the book before seeing the video. I came across the video after reading the book.
Also, I don't like images to be put in my head before starting on a book. I get to decide what things look like in my head.
Over the past five years, I've noticed more book trailer commercials on the radio and TV. They didn't do much for me--I don't remember being swayed to buy any of the books they were hocking and don't remember a single title.
But I was told that they were great for getting reluctant readers interested in books. I was skeptical but made a few and they worked great.
Now, I use them for my classes and actually have an assignment where the students create trailers for assigned books (they have to know the books inside and out to create a successful trailer).
Oh my god! So you're the teacher responsible for all those school book report/trailers on Youtube!
My trailers are up but you need the address to see them so they don't show up on searches. I posted them somewhere around here a while ago but no one seemed interested.
My students have to hand them in to me electronically. They don't post them. So I'm not the culprit.
Your thread gives me major deja vu.
But this is the only book trailer I've ever seen.
It probably wouldn't have made me want to read the book if I hadn't already...