Total Read Time: 2 minutes
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| ["Movie Clapboard" by bartgroe] |
Whether or not making a book trailer is a good idea continues to be a controversial topic. Today I wanted to look at things from a reader/potential customer standpoint.
The idea behind making a book trailer is twofold:
1. Reach potential readers outside of author’s current network on other platforms (such as Youtube).
2. Pique the potential reader’s interest using a dynamic, visual medium.
However, not all book trailers are successful. So do book trailers really work? Here are my thoughts as a consumer:
Pros:
- Book trailers can be fun to watch and are more dynamic than looking at cover art or reading an excerpt.
- A good book trailer is memorable. This makes the book/author memorable later on when I’m shopping online or at the bookstore.
- If the trailer is well-made and the book is a genre I like to read, the trailer might just push me over the edge to buy the book. I wouldn’t judge a book solely on its trailer, but it can be a tipping point.
Cons:
- Book trailers can be painful to watch and make you question the quality of the book/author.
- Unfortunately, a bad book trailer is also memorable.
- When a trailer is poorly-made, it’s a complete turn off for me, even if the book is supposedly well-written. Again, the trailer acts as a tipping point. I definitely won’t invest in a book where the trailer contains typos and/or grammatical errors, which I consider to be a good indication of what the book will be like.
- As a reader, I’m not going out of my way to look for book trailers on Youtube (or anywhere else). If I see one on an author’s site, I’ll check it out, but that’s pretty much it. This makes me wonder whether creating book trailers really increases an author’s network reach.
Overall, I think book trailers are cool, if they are well-made. But at the end of the day, what matters the most to me is whether the book is well-written. The trailer can maybe sway me one way or the other, but it’s not a major factor in my book buying decisions.
What do you think? Do book trailers affect your book purchases? Are they a good idea?
On a side note, if you are interested in learning how to make your own book trailer on the cheap, check out this related post. ;)
I've yet to buy a book because of its book trailer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points above: If it's good, then it certainly adds appeal to the author and their book. If it's a poorly-done trailer, while it may not totally make me cross off the book from my To-Read list, it would certainly make me cringe and get put-off.
@cherie
ReplyDeleteHi Cherie!
Yeah, there are some scary trailers out there... Thanks for your input. :)
I've yet to see a book trailer that had enough YouTube views to justify the time and effort that went into making the video (in my opinion). The problem is that people don't search for book trailers because they've never heard of the book, so YouTube becomes just another place where you can waffle in obscurity. :P
ReplyDeleteFor folks who love doing video, I'd recommend doing some on things people actually look up or that have a big potential to go viral (you can always stick a link to your author site into the video and in the notes alongside).
Just my two cents though. Lots of people do them.
@Lindsay
ReplyDeleteHmm, interesting tip! (And good point about people not searching for a book they don't know about yet.)