Sometimes it takes a while for an idea to settle into place and take hold. When we started producing book trailers no one knew what it was for. There wasn't a YouTube so it was harder to convince people that a book trailer could work. Now, book trailers are well established for many people. There are still a few who think it's a new idea, but that won't last long.
This blog is the perfect example of what a book trailer should do. Conspiracy Game, the book trailer, came out 2 years ago. At that time, this reader saw the video and picked up the book. She didn't get around to reading it right away. She loved the trailer. The point being that the trailer caused her to buy the book. Now, she has read the book and was so inspired that she blogged about it.
Two years and that book video is still getting hits. It still inspires people to find out more about the book and the author.
I think there will be residual marketing effect for online video that will allow us to monitor data over time, proving that, as long as the book is available, the video will be active promotion for it.
Let's see USA Today or NY Times do that.
4 comments:
I don't know this author, and I don't doubt she is good, but the book trailer is horrible. The music sounds like one of those cheap porno movies. The actors are also awful, very second hand.
For a book trailer I prefer something in the style of "The Island of Eternal Love" (see youtube.com)
Your opinion is yours to have, but the facts don't support that the trailer is terrible. It was a top viewed video on Borders, BN, Powell's and many other booksellers used it and it has received thousands of hits across the internet.
The Island of Eternal Love is very different from the Feehan trailer, so it could be that you don't care for the genre.
The Island of Eternal Love was slow, too long, the text was too small and I have no idea what they gained by showing the names of every publisher in every country.
And even though I didn't care for the video for The Island of Eternal Love, I would not not be so crass as to take cheap shots at it, even if I think I'm right.
The Feehan video has more views, was taken by most booksellers, it went viral and the book hit #3 on NY Times. The author and her fans loved it and it was seen by over 10 million people.
Lots of people saw the trailer
Lots of people bought the book.
I think that's more powerful than "opinion". But that's just me.
The article was very specific to show that viral marketing is now one of the most important tools that publishers and authors can use to promote their book. The bottom line to the article was to share how and why an author or publisher should invest in on-line marketing techniques and how it facilitates in selling books.
Using the example of "The Conspiracy Game" was to show how one book achieved using this marketing strategy.
It's a shame that the person commenting chose to slam the book trailer instead of keeping her eye on the ball, which is to sell more books and promote a book.
I'm sure we all can make comments about each others work, but the bottom line is how do we get consumers to buy. And, if someone is going to buy a book because they watched a book trailer, that book trailer is getting results.
There is always room for improvement no matter what we do. It's usually those that sit on the side lines and criticize that are rarely in the trenches doing the work.
Perhaps this person is some how related to "The Island of Eternal Love" and this is the only way she can drive people to her site to watch the trailer. I did and I have to agree that is was not very good because it was difficult to read and too long. I was also biased to think badly about the video because of the negative comments left by the blogger. So, beware that when you give negative comments, be prepared to receive those in kind!
Your book trailers have certainly guided me towards picking up the novels featured. Thank you for the suggestions! I love being able to embed them into my blog!
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