Speaking Volumes

Megan's post “Shhh...Reading a Movie", brought to mind a new marketing tool for book promotion. You know how they have trailers for movies, those little snippets of scenes to entice you to see the movie. Well, some entrepreneurial soul got the idea to use trailers  to sell books. Book trailers trailers have been around for a few years but seem to be cropping up more and more often, particularly on author websites.

The first one I watched was Brad Meltzer's The Book of Lies. You can find it on youtube.com, or on Meltzer's web page http://www.bradmeltzer.com/novels/book-of-lies/movie-trailer.php 
I laughed out loud.

The trailer starts just like a movie preview,

“The following preview has been approved for all audiences”.

Bits and pieces of the plot are described with graphics, endorsements, and lots of sound. I wasn't quite certain how I felt about this, thinking it kind of gimmicky. In doing a bit more research I came across this clip on NPR that gives Jesse Baker's thoughts on trailers In A World Where Books Are Hyped Like Movies. She reports "This is not a film coming to a theater near you, but it sure sounds like it".  She also talks about Sheila Clover, an author, who was trying to find a way to promote her book, way back in 2002!  Clover wanted her book to stand out and thought if movie trailes work for film why not for books. Since, Clover has started her own company, Circle of Seven Productions, one of several that host authors and their trailers. If you're curious as to the costs to produce a trailer and the logic behind them, take a moment to read an interview of Ms. Clover by Future Perfect publishing , Marketing with Book Videos - An Interview with Sheila Clover.

So where is this all going? I've heard rumors that book stores might have tv screens with continuous playing of these ads. With all the disruptions we encounter on our daily rounds, bookstores and libraries seem to be some of the only quiet havens.  I hope we keep them that way.

The jury is still out for me whether  trailers are better than reviews or summaries or even a friend's recommendation. If they are well done, I can see the potential.

What do you think? Have you seen any that made you want to read the book?