I never realized book trailers were such a great idea until a few months ago. All I see on Twitter is people posting their trailers on youtube. Of course, I go to watch them because now I’m strangely fascinated by the whole thing. Some are pretty fancy, some are pretty basic. But which one is better?
Personally, I’m more of simplistic. I like stuff that doesn’t go too overboard with effects or graphics. They tell me what the book is about and if I have anything to look forward to. Short, simple, and to the point. With too many effects, I get distracted and I don’t pay much attention to what you’re trying to sell me. Not that all “fancy” book trailers are bad. Far from it. I just don’t need all of the fireworks or whatever you’ve got going on to tell me what your book is about.
I haven’t done an official book trailer yet. Only because I haven’t finished my book. Of course I’ll probably go for a more simple trailer because that’s who I am. Yes, there will be more to it then “Hey, this book is about zombies. Please read it.” (I think I have seen a book trailer that went like that actually…) but don’t expect a lot of fancy effects or “fireworks”. I want it to reflect my book… dark, moody, mysterious. Those are the feelings I want people to get.
I may stick in a few zombie photos of people if I can coerce enough people to dress up in zombie make up and send me some…. hmm… sounds like fun to me. Who’s on board? haha
If you have made a book trailer, what did you want the end product to look like? What kinds of feelings did you want the readers to take away from it? If you’re like me and hasn’t made one yet, what do you envision it to look like? Let me know in the comments section!
Out of all the book trailers I have seen, I like simple too. Short also. When they get really long, it gets boring. You need to capture attention and when it drags on, it looses my interest. Also, I think having a script is more important than images. Someone told me I needed images in my trailer, but when watching his, which had very little script, I had NO idea what the book was about. If you can find images to match with your script then that’s better. I have one friend who did and I love her trailer. It made me wish I had searched out some images for mine…. Okay, I admit, it made me wish I had the motivation to go image hunting. lol
Yeah.. when they have little to no script in their trailers, it leaves me confused and wondering what’s going on. Sometimes they make no sense. Of course I’ve seen some that looked like they thrown together in five minutes (and they probably were lol).
I wish I had the motivation to go image hunting but…. I don’t lol.
I’ve only really seen two book trailers… the atrocious one for Maradonia (which hardly counts), and one for Skulddugery Pleasant that’s just plain awesome. Technically it would count as fancy, being completely CG, but the tone of the trailer is just perfect for the books; dark, but with tinges of humor and whimsy. I’m not sure if any book trailer could compare.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE87tuzw0kM&feature=related (That’s the link to the Skulduggery Pleasant book trailer, which is technically for Mortal Coil but is fine for all of them.)
I’ll have to check that trailer out later. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I still haven’t made a trailer yet and I’m still thinking about it. My book, Better Than 8 Fantasy, has been out for a few months now and I think that I could still put a trailer out. I’ve been collecting stock images and video clips . I’ve looked at some professional trailers done for some well known authors and I didn’t like it. Besides, I just don’t think they could get the tone that I want. It’s a fine line between being sexy and being cheesy. Good luck with yours. If you’re hand at all with Photoshop, I’d try it myself first. Savvy Authors just had a workshop on how to create a book trailer. You should check them out.
I will do that. 🙂 Thank you for the suggestion. I need all the help I can get at this point haha
I’ve been doing my own book trailers since January (and I’m supposed to be working on the next one, but you know that guy, Procrastination? Yeah, that’s why I’m here commenting on your blog instead of finishing the drawings for the book trailer that should come out on Saturday – if the artist finishes the cover on time) and I’m having much fun. You can check my collection on my blog, I have made a dedicated page. I use Windows Movie Maker at its basic, even if I have bookmarked a site that allows you to add special effects even to WMM! 😉 But I prefer to keep it simple…
I love simple. I’m all about the script telling the story. I don’t want effects overload.
I’ve been messing around with Windows Movie Maker for a trailer only because it’s the only program I have on my computer (my computer hates downloading stuff so..yeah.) I didn’t know there was a site that you can add special effects to it though. You must share lol
And yes, I know that guy, Procrastination. He’s kind of a jerk….
here’s the link:
http://www.pixelan.com/movie-maker/spicefx-intro.htm
I also have Adobe Premiere, but I don’t know how to use it! 😉 Even with software, I love simple… and AP isn’t as simple as WMM! 🙂
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