The Book Trailer Manual

Book trailers, the multi-media elevator pitches for books, have become ubiquitous in the book world.

After watching trailers for the last six months, I realize that I’ve developed some criteria:

Criteria for Great Book Trailers

1. Hook: Even if all the other criteria are violated, does this book trailer make me want to read the book? How? I can’t say, because the options are as varied as the books. But whatever you do
2. Respect the Reader’s Role: The biggest objection I hear to book trailers is that it takes away the role of the reader’s imagination. That is, they use certain images or actors to portray something like a synopsis of the story or an exciting scene. The problem is the image stays with the viewer of the book trailer and takes away something from their own imagination.
3. Length: Please. Shorter is better. You want some absolutes? Okay, no longer than two minutes max. (But see my first criteria!)

That’s a lot of leeway in creating a book trailer, too much. So, let me discuss some of your options.

3 Categories of Book Trailers: The Aesthetics of Trailers

By now, authors and publishers have been creating book trailers for a couple years. I categorize them in three ways:

1. Movie Trailer Aesthetic. Book trailers that imitate movie trailers has been one of the Holy Grails for those who create book trailers. These slick productions are usually created by the publisher and a few authors with big budgets. They are indeed lovely to look at, and if done well, the script pulls in readers. No doubt they will continue to be popular.
   Aesthetics: Slick, professional production on all fronts.
2. Slideshow Aesthetics. On the opposite end of the budget scale is the slideshow book trailer. These are usually author created and feature a combination of static text and static images. These are likely to endure, too, because they don’t require a big layout of funds.
   Aesthetics: Create the right mood with music, text and images.
3. YouTube Aesthetics. For book trailers–like any other video–that are mainly used online on sites such as YouTube, there’s a more informal aesthetic. YouTube thrives on humor, immediacy, and authenticity. Creativity matters more here than pristine audio or video. Short videos that allow for easy sharing, remixing, and as the basis for a spoof or parody are perfect for this irreverent media.
   Aesthetics: Creativity and authenticity.

Critique of the Three Aesthetics

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What Makes a BAD book trailer?

Listen to a podcast interview with Darcy Pattison about Book Trailers (mp3 file) with Joanna Penn of TheCreativePenn.com. Click here to listen.

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I think in some ways it is unfortunate that we use the term, “book trailer” to refer to videos promoting books. It makes the inevitable comparison to movie trailers. Both are promotions or ads for a story, but that’s where the comparison should end.

The Movie Trailer Aesthetic seems inappropriate to me for book trailers because books don’t come with a ready-made set of images. Instead, the images (except the obligatory book cover) reside in the reader’s head and I, for one, would like them to stay there. I want the reader’s imagination respected.

The Slideshow Aesthetic reminds me of silent movies. And we’ve had talkies since 1927! This type trailer does respect the reader’s imagination, but too often it errs on the side of being boring.

The YouTube Aesthetic seems perfect to me for book trailers. It allows for creativity; no, it demands creativity. To make this type trailer work, you must think outside the box. Here are three examples, including the book trailer for The Book Trailer Manual.

Example 1: Let the author complain.

*|YOUTUBE:yxschLOAr-s|*

Example 2: Make toast.

*|YOUTUBE:uYMmh_H3dJA|*

Example 3: Avoid the Stampede

*|YOUTUBE:Rogq93aYvkQ|*

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Need Help with Your Trailer?

The Book Trailer Manual includes:

• 5 case studies
• 8 specific ideas on content
• 10 options for images and sound
• 42 sites to submit to
• Recommendations for hardware and software

This entry was posted on Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 1:30 pm and is filed under book trailer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.