Two very handsome book trailers came our way this week, folks, the first courtesy of honorary Irish crime writer Tony Black, whose PAYING FOR IT hits a shelf near you on July 17. Roll it there, Collette …
Then we stumbled across a trailer for the American edition of Tana French’s IN THE WOODS, which is ever-so-suitably spooky. Collette? In your own time, ma’am …
What we’re wondering, though, especially since we’re thinking of generating a book trailer of our own to mark the US publication of our humble offering THE BIG O, is whether book trailers are doing what it says on their celluloid tins. Yes, they’re all zeitgeisty and whatnot in terms of viral marketing, but does anyone really watch them? Has any book trailer blown YOU away? We were very taken with John McFetridge’s trailer for EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE, certainly …
… but has anyone ever rushed out to buy a book on the basis of its trailer? Are book trailers delivering where it matters? Or are they the mini-cinematic equivalent of bookmarks? Talk to us, people …
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Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.
The problem with book trailers is - where do you see 'em? Movie trailers get high visibility on TV and cinemas but if I hadn't seen these trailers on your site, I'd never have known they existed unless I searched for them, which defeats the purpose I expect!
ReplyDeleteHmmm ... thumbs down all round, then? Anyone out there with positive stories about how book trailers helped them? Cheers, Dec
ReplyDeleteAlas dear fellow readers, I believe many of the book trailers require more creativity to be applied to catch the attention – albeit this would likely cost more to produce. The format is often ‘same old’ with pictures interspersed with a screen of narrative. When the narrative is mainly blurb, you get to know little about the novel.
ReplyDeleteBut creativity can also be taken too far. I’ve seen some pretty expensive-looking ones on bookseller.com, where we’ve had a troupe of actors and a range of scenes played out and they look like trailers for movies or TV series. For me, therein lies the problem. The characters in the novel have already been given faces, bodies, voices, specific settings for scenes in the novel and part of the reader’s application of imagination has been lost. The magic of creating the vision in your own mind, as you read, has been taken away.
That said - and now we move on to something positive - I do like trailers that have what I would call vague imagery and a decent voiceover, preferably with the voiceover not from the POV one of the characters. You get a synopsis of the novel, which allows you to make a choice based on your own preferences.
As for marketing penetration, current trailers are well dispersed. They crop up for a limited period of time on places like bookseller.com, appear on author websites, can be found on YouTube and other similar sites. A central depository would be an excellent idea, where readers know they can find the latest.