Comments on: Books Trailer Tuesday: (a spiel)

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:46:19 +0000

I am happy that I have (at last!) found someone who thinks like me

I have always wondered where did the entire “book trailer” concept come from. Here’s why (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters excluded, that was indeed a great trailer and it made me add the book to my TBR straight away): they usually take a lot more time to watch than it would take for a reader like me (and the other book lovers too, who presumably like to read) to read those few sentences presented there. Why anyone would want to waste precious time for a few sentences (words actually, at the rate of two or three per 15 seconds or more; not even a complete sentence) when that time could be better used with — I don’t know, reading a review of the book, or at least its back blurb that trust me, always says A LOT more than book trailers do.

And no, I am sorry to say that, while I understand the concept of “cumulative advertising”, this is not the case. Why? Because I for one NEVER watch a book trailer if I can help it (and I usually can)(S & S & S excluded, it came very recommended to me and was indeed cool). And if I do happen to watch one by force (I once had to, for some contest) I hated every moment (because it didn’t add anything to what was already available on the book!) and it reflected rather poorly on the said book instead of the desired opposite.

Sorry for ranting on for so long, but this is really a pet peeve of mine: if we all bookish people love to read, then why the need for video? Wouldn’t we all rather READ about a book than anything else?

By: Tumperkin

Tumperkin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:16:34 +0000

Hi – popped over here from CJ’s place. I raised the question there of how you come across book trailers. I’ve happened upon them – on ‘big blogs’ and I suppose they must be on author blogs etc. But from what you’re saying, the hope seems to be that people will seek them out and then they’ll become ‘viral’. It strikes me as a slim hope and I wonder how many authors are spending a disproportionate amount of time on them given the likely return. But then I’m a hopeless Luddite who wouldn’t dream of looking for book trailers. Interesting post though!

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:54:38 +0000

Well, I definitely think the BEST and most EFFECTIVE trailers are the ones that can cross over between audiences, like I mentioned in my post. And in that way I think book trailers need to be more for non-bookish people because bookish people already have so much promotion going on in their world (reviews, Twitter, etc.). Non-bookish people need a new “hook,” kinda. That’s why I like the SSSM trailer and the other ones I’ve posted for BTT– they have crossover appeal. And, yeah! The ones we like have gotten away from that back of the cover summary thing and found a new niche, almost. They’re much more interesting than a back cover (if I wanted to read a back cover copy, I’d read the back cover, you know?).

Looking forward to seeing your own spiel next week!

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:50:13 +0000

Thank you! And, yeah, I definitely think that trailers to bookish people are kinda equivalent to DVD extras: they’re nice, but they aren’t exactly why we get the DVD(i.e. book). I think we also focus more on written stuff to find books we like– reviews, emails from the publisher, Twitter, cover blurbs, etc. So visual stuff like trailers kind of fall to the side.

But I wonder how it is for people who don’t rely on written word stuff? Do they watch TV book club shows? Do they look at in-store displays? Do they rely on word-of-mouth? What?

Now I really wish someone would do a study on this stuff! If I was a sociology student I totally would, lol.

By: Carolyn Crane

Carolyn Crane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:37:34 +0000

Forgot to leave my link!

http://thethrillionthpage.blogspot.com/2009/11/trailer-tuesday-zombies-and-unrelated.html

By: Carolyn Crane

Carolyn Crane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:36:11 +0000

Great screed! I continue to be fascinated by your book trailers aren’t for book people idea. I tend to come from the camp (I’m an advertising copywriter by day) that says, all advertising is cumulative, so trailers are just one leg in that for some people, specifically book people. But that doesn’t mean I disagree with your idea that they are for non book people. I think it’s a cool idea, and Likely it’s a little of both. It probably worked that way for SSSM. And frankly, my zombies trailer, too.

I also love your rationale for starting this, too. I’m going to put my rationale next week.

One other thing: there was this discussion on twitter the other day about ereaders simulating page turns, and how lame that is, and it reminded me of early www sites that tried to look like a desk, with notepads and paper-clipped stuff. And maybe those book trailers we don’t favor are just too wedded to the book back blurb idea, and the ones we do like have broken free from that and they’re their own animal, fully utilizing the movie medium.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:46:37 +0000

I know I never encountered book trailers until I started blogging. There have been a few book trailers that I thought were very cool, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book trailer and thought, WOW. MUST GET THAT BOOK. To me they seem more like an interesting and occasionally entertaining exercise, than a means of getting me interested in a book. But I’ve enjoyed the ones you featured!