I'm fascinated by book trailers. On the one hand, they seem like an awesome way to bring a book to life and catch the attention of impatient scrollers on Facebook or YouTube. They can definitely drive potential buyers to your books and I've used them myself as part of launch campaigns for fiction and non-fiction.
On the other hand, they can be a waste of money with a pitiable number of views and no associated book sales.
In today's article, Adam Cushman talks about what has changed with book trailers and why they might be worth considering.
About five years ago a friend asked me to direct his book trailer. My first response was, “Sure yeah, but what is that exactly?”
He sent me links to some videos and two things struck me right away.
- Although I had no idea, book trailers had been a thing for some time and there were already thousands of them online.
- 99% of them were cringe city. I told him as much and he was like okay, but can you make one that’s good.
As an author myself, a well-crafted trailer or short film seemed like a smart, fresh approach to book marketing especially with all the noise out there. Video had long since become the most valuable marketing tool known to man.
So why had the publishing industry settled for such bleh?
So much passion and labor goes into creating a book. Why would you jeopardize that with a bad book trailer that was made in half an hour on iMovie?
The answer is that there was and still is a feeling in certain publishing circles that it has never been proven that book trailers lead to direct sales. So quality has often taken a back seat which results in the pervading circular logic: we made a slide-photo book trailer, we put it on Youtube and no one watched it, therefore book trailers don’t work.
Yet they keep making book trailers because they know video is effective. Possibly they’re gambling on virality, I don’t know.
Directing my first book trailer was rewarding because it was helping an author find his audience in a cool new way and because the book trailer form was wide open creatively. There were no rules whatsoever. Pretty soon I made my second book trailer, for Stefan Kiesbye’s Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone, and for the next one we even got Eric Roberts to star in it.
In that time until now I’ve produced a lot more of them, and so have a ton of other people. We’re starting to see some groundbreaking work from both big publishers and Indies. The quality is rising as people see that they can have high quality video with real actors and directors, and that it can be done amazingly at pretty much the same cost you’d pay to not do it amazingly.
Here’s an example of a book trailer that was created 10 years ago, long before quality was a consideration.
Here’s one that came out in 2017 and won awards at SXSW.
Please note that both of these are considered book trailers. You could argue one has something the other doesn’t, but at the end of the day, a book trailer is any video – at all – that promotes a book, an author, or a series of books. That’s true if it costs a hundred thousand dollars and it’s true if it costs a dollar fifty.
When book trailers first started to appear around 2002, the approach was to create a slideshow that used still frames, scrolling text, and a reckless fascination with the Ken Burns effect.
The problem is that trailers like this are often still being made and it’s what gives book trailers a bad name.
It’s possible this is all fear-based. A self-published author for example who’s looking into fresh ways to market thinks twice before spending $3000 to $5000 on a cinematic book trailer. They research and find there’s some skepticism about whether trailers drive sales, that the data isn’t in yet.
Still, everyone knows video is the strongest marketing tool they can use so they compromise and end up spending five hundred dollars on a book trailer from one of these slide show companies. They release the trailer. No one watches it. They think wow, book trailers don’t work at all.
This is not to say you can’t make a good book trailer for $500. There are tons of young filmmakers out there with their own gear who will go above and beyond for the opportunity.
Also let’s face it: “book trailer” is the wrong term. Not just because it conjures up associations with bad ones, but because they’re not designed to merely “trail” a book like a movie trailer trails a movie and then disappears. Book trailers are a long-term investment, there throughout the shelf-life of a book.
Not everyone can afford a book trailer that’s shot like a real movie though. So if you’re an author with a conservative marketing budget and you still really want to use video, your best bet is to pick up your iPhone and film yourself BookTube-style talking about your book and telling the world who you are.
Also everyone knows someone with a camera so making it look nice and sound great is easy with a little bit of effort and maybe the cost of lunch for one or two hungry film students.
You can also find a ton of free high quality footage online, which we’ve linked to below.
Just go easy on the Ken Burns effect.
Film 14 (to make a book trailer)
Trailer for Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
Trailer for The Whipping Club with Eric Roberts
Free 4K footage
Have you ever made a book trailer? What has your experience been with video marketing? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.
Adam Cushman is an author, director, and producer. His novel CUT was published by Black Mountain Press in 2014. He's also published over forty short stories in literary journals. In addition, Adam has directed two feature films, Restraint (2017) and The Maestro (2018). He's currently in pre-production on an adaptation of Scott Dominic Carpenter's novel Theory of Remainders. He is the owner of Film 14, the leading producer of book trailers.
I’m not so sure the older example wouldn’t create a lot of attention–it ticks all the boxes for cult status. It made me laugh out loud, which is rare on the first cup of coffee.
I tried making a book trailer with iMovie. I thought it was fantastic. Then I sent it to my daughter who creates AMVs for fun. She said, “Let me help you with this, Mom. PLEASE!” Here’s what she created – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaEbX13hu7k&t=3s
I think it is amazing! It still cost me because the free pics I had found didn’t meet her artistic standards, and getting good footage of Prague and Bolivia isn’t cheap. But it was worth it and as the series grows, we can change out the shot of the covers and what is coming next!
Fantastic video. Well worth it!
I’m compelled to buy these books.
I made my own book trailer, but that was because I’d spent money self-publishing the book and felt I needed to do as much as possible on the marketing side to get my book noticed, before I spent more. You can keep spending and spending, but how are you going to make any money back? I guess you have to ask yourself, is this worth it at this point in time? How many copies will I need to sell to make this back? I used Animoto to make mine and I’m pleased with the result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQd6zJwwsf4
I’ve made a few books trailers years ago. Now when I look at them, I know I can do better. The slide versions were what I followed. I won’t for my future trailers.
The “Into the Current” trailer you linked to and said won awards did not attract me. The music was annoying, so much so I turned off the sound. The debris floating through space did nothing for me. It was more like a slide show. If this won awards, many others I have seen won more awards.
If you go to YouTube and search for book trailers, the ones found are amazing. They are like movie trailers. That’s what I’ll strive for next time. I think that’s what attracts people because we are familiar with them.
It seems from the comments on YouTube for book trailers, they are attracting readers. Visitors say they want the book, and if the trailer is good, they want the movie, which can help a book land a movie deal.
Working on my SECOND book trailer, I studied the many trailers out there on YouTube. For me I found the biggest problem was that they were all TOO LONG. Therefore when I did the trailer for “The Muse: A Novel of Unrelenting Terror.” I wanted something quick and scary, that put the basic concept across as quickly as possible. It is much better than my first video attempt, simple and to the point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LglHqeqCXOA
Call me old school, but I’m actually not a fan of the newer voice-over, live acted trailers. Since they’re trying to mimic a movie trailer or commercial, I can’t help but hold them to a different standard in my head. And they always-and I do mean always-fall short for me.
I prefer “slideshow” types, with and without stock video, because they aren’t trying to be a network commercial. If done well, I can be entertained without reflexively cringing at mediocre acting, video quality, or voice over copy.
I think the key is less “how to make a book trailer” and more “where to share your book trailer”.
Hi Joanna,
I enjoyed the article and the comments. I’m not 100% sure where I stand on book trailer types as I enjoy a well done slideshow version, or a movie/commercial type with v/o. In essence, if it looks good and presents well it works for me.
I tried my hand at making a book trailer for my horror novel with Stupeflix. I liked the images but the way it came together could have been better. Reading all of the above, has bolstered my courage and I will try again! Thanks for the encouragement everyone!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhZ5GT2jlU0&t=19s
Thanks for the post.
I love the idea of book trailers. I enjoy playing around with video. I have a long way to go until I get to a movie-quality trailer, but since I do the videos myself at least they don’t cost me $.
I put them on a page on my author website as fun bonus content for fans. I haven’t measured any sales derived directly from the videos, though. Making them is a good distraction for when I should be writing, however. 😉
Here’s my latest for a book I’m finishing up and hope to get out soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9CA7HmphE
-Hal
Great information, but the Whipping Club trailer seems like overkill; too long and cinematic for a book trailer. I think anyone seeing that clip out of context would think it’s a movie, and might be disappointed to learn it’s a book. Don’t get me wrong, it was a well crafted, tense and emotive piece (even though I could guess what the kicker would be), but if the first thought is, “When is this movie coming out?” I’m not sure you’re catering to the potential audience. Just an observation.
My first book trailer was done by Books Go Social. It cost me $89 US. Because I wasn’t happy with it, I made then do it over again. Here is the second version:
Diary of an Avatar A True Story https://youtu.be/_nvj3f0AHIA
Because my memoir deals with drug use, teen suicides, and emotional upheaval or violence (even leading to possible school shootings), I decided to create more and the free version of DaVinci Resolve makes this possible. The manual for the full version is 1341 pages long. The great thing is that there are many You Tube help videos on what to do! Trust me, they will get easier with time.
I now have 3 more :
Secret Societies Diary of an Avatar https://youtu.be/EvebBPgREfE
I hope you will find the time to check them out.
Interesting article. Having watched quite a few book trailers, I decided to make my own to ensure it got across what I wanted it to, and to give a feel for the book – a historical thriller. Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43kqlXX7IEo
🙂
I’ve made a few book trailers (some of which are in fact nothing but Ken Burns effect over a still image.) I do find that they sell the book better than still image advertisements, but they don’t make so much of a difference that I’d have been happy if I’d spent hundreds of dollars on one, let alone thousands.
This is my long trailer for The Cut of the Clothes: https://youtu.be/Xpjb66p3gkg
In that case, the subject of the book (based on a true story) happened to be something that was also covered in a silent movie that’s hit public domain status, so I used footage from that for the trailer.
Meanwhile, this is my Ken Burns image trailer for The Virgin and the Bull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2lm3wv6E0Y
I made another trailer for the same book that was more of a surreal blood effect, but I seem to get more eager viewership on the “sexy version” (as one of my friends called it.)
One of the troubles with book trailers is there aren’t many places to post and display them. It doesn’t matter if the trailer is good or not if nobody sees it. Paid ad placement for them is a whole other can of expensive worms, but I think you’re better off putting your money into that than into a fancy trailer that only gets seen by a dozen people (who are all probably friends of yours already and already own the book.)