Trailer . . .rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs

Not the transport sort, but the ad kind.  Is it important to have a trailer when doing a book blog tour or launching a book?  Is it a viable marketing/promo tool?

Frankly, I’ve only viewed a handful.  A couple were cheesy (usually, I like cheesy), the odd one kind of cool, and some simply “uninspiring”.  They didn’t influence me enough that I’d have bought or read the book.

It’s said that, generally, trailers don’t promote sales, but they can certainly put your product out there . . . create an awareness factor as it were.  This appears to hold true whether your budget is minimal or you invest serious $$$ into one featuring actors, high-end graphics, and the like.

It’s also said that videos are more memorable than text.  People will recall images more readily than words.  Food for thought.

If your budget is minimal or nonexistent like mine (LOL), you can make your own, but they can prove tricky, so technical and program savvy would be in your definite favor (alas, not in mine).  Of course, as suggested above, you can invest some bucks and pay someone—but, if you’re going to take this route, as I always state, please do your due diligence.  Learn who excels at them and who doesn’t (check out buyer-beware sites before committing to a particular one).  If you’re going to spend money (and as an FYI trailers can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars, depending on whose services you go with), get the best bang for your buck.

Another alternative is to simply tape yourself and talk about your book.  We’ve seen vids of this nature and some can certainly be entertaining if not informative.  It depends on the presentation—how you portray yourself and your product.  A low-budget look may have merit, depending on the arrangement.

An alternative is a webinar—a slide show or video with audio, which is somewhat reminiscent of a workplace endeavor.  But again, if done properly, a webinar could prove a feasible endeavor.  For ideas, check out what others have done.

One thing we should NOT do when going solo: cut and paste our book cover and photo, and away we go.  When creating our own book trailers, we should apply the same rules applicable to good writing.

Be:

• crisp and clear (with words and sound/music)
• short and sweet (don’t yammer on incessantly).

Ensure images are first-rate and that the final product communicates what your book is all about, without giving away too much.  Remember: you want to inspire people to WANT to learn more.

One last note: be aware of copyright laws re music and graphics.

Happy trails . . . er . . . trailers. 

Author: tylerus

I'm primarily a writer of fiction and blog posts, and a sometimes editor and proofreader of books, manuals, and film/television scripts. Fact-checking and researching, organizing and coordinating are skills and joys (I enjoy playing detective and developing structure). My fiction audience: lovers of female-sleuth mysteries. My genres of preference: mysteries (needless to say), women’s fiction, informative and helpful “affirmative” non-fiction. So-o, here I am, staring up a new blog for aspiring and established e-Book writers. The plan: to share the (long) journey of getting to this stage, and share "learnings" and "teachings". There's a lot I hope to accomplish with this blog, but it may be a while before that happens as there's a lot on the ol' plate - taking care of Mom, working full-time, and attempting to get another book in the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series written (never mind blog postings and other writing projects). It's very challenging and it's all good. As I like to say: teeny focused baby steps are just as effective as long forceful strides. It may take a little longer, but we will get there. View all posts by tylerus