Tuesday 8 December 2009

Book Trailers - Effective or not?

I was reading a post from a publisher's blog I recently came across, Dr. Syntax, talking about book trailers. I've seen several book trailers, both by professionals, like the one below, and by amateurs (often the author him/herself).



I would say the effectiveness of a book trailer really depends on the book and the trailer. And professional ones aren't always the best. Something that really shows what the problem is and what's at stake to the main character(s) can go a long way to drawing reader attention.

But are they watched and do they succeed in convincing readers to pick up the books?

While I've seen several great book trailers, the only one that's gotten me to buy and read the book is this one:



I think the medium is too new to have a wide effect, but that in time book trailers will be a good way of discovering new authors and interesting titles.

How about you? Do you find yourself picking up new books that you've seen videos for? Do you feel this is a good form of marketing when it comes to books?

2 comments:

Hector Macdonald said...

Hi Jessica

I can't find an email address for you, so please forgive me intruding on your comment wall. I’d like to invite you to write about your favorite books at www.bookdrum.com, where you can add information, images, video, music and links to illustrate and explore the books.

Right now, we're running a $3,000 Tournament and we'll be offering contract work to the best entries.

Best wishes

Hector Macdonald
Editor, Book Drum

Jessica Strider said...

Thank you for the invitation. I'll definitely check out the site. I've added my email address to my profile, if you'd like to 'talk' more.