The Failure of Book Trailers, and the Rare Exception

As I've mentioned before, book trailers are something I'm of two minds about.  As a novelist with a film degree, I really like the idea of them.  But, also,  as a novelist with a film degree, I really hate, for the most part, what I've actually seen.

With rare exception, the best I've been able to say about any book trailer is that it didn't actively impair my interest in reading the book it was advertising.  Though I have seen several that did actively impair my interest.

But I don't agree with the premise that I've heard from some corners, that book trailers are just wrong; that since they are using one medium (audio-visual) to sell a completely different medium (text), they are intrinsically doomed to failure.

I think they are doomed because, at the heart of it, most of them are being made by people who don't understand the video medium.  Many of them use static images-- either cover art or stock pictures*-- and have some Ken Burns effect and kinetic typography to give some sense of motion.  If there's sound, it's public domain music or stock effects. Whatever text it uses is either blurbs from reviews, or synopsis boiled down to Twitter-length. That isn't filmic; it's attempting to make a dynamic experience out of reading the back cover.  Furthermore, since the people making them don't understand filmic language, they don't pace it properly at all.  Trailers take up to two a half minutes to give thirty seconds of information. Add to that the frequent use of stock images and sounds, and the net result is something painfully generic. 

An overlong, uninteresting commercial telling me how your book is so unremarkable, it can be reduced to key words and generic pictures?  Well, I'll run to the book store for that!

But then, there is that rare exception:

This trailer for Warren Ellis's "Gun Machine" is narrated by Wil Wheaton and illustrated by Ben Templesmith.  Right off the bat, it's loaded with some professionalism.  That helps a lot.  What else do we have here?  We've got a solid narration that comes straight from the text, and it's loaded with hooks.  I don't know if this is the very beginning of the book or not, but it feels like it is, and it's got me intrigued. 

So, key point number one: instead of telling us about the book, it uses what the book is.

Secondly, we have original imagery that is specifically created for this video.   Even though the images themselves are static, it is made dynamic by seeing them being created.   They tie directly to the text.  It enhances what we're hearing.  It's specifically engaging and relevant to the audio. 

It clocks in at 2:30, and at no point does it feel like it's wasting my time.

That's how it should be done.
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*- Which are often the same thing, sadly.

Busy Week, Quick Post

Two points:

1. You still have about 36 hours to sign up for the ArmadilloCon Writers' Workshop:

Writers' Workshop

Are you an unpublished, beginning to intermediate level writer?
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The $75 fee includes group sessions and panels or presentations throughout the day about the craft and profession of writing, plus lunch on Friday. You also get admission to all three days of the convention.

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About the Workshop

The ArmadilloCon Writers' Workshop has become a major event for aspiring SF/F writers. On the Friday of the convention, you will have the opportunity to have your work critiqued by major pro editors and writers. Breakout sessions will cover craft, markets, the dos and don’ts of preparing your work for professional publication, and more. Discussions range from the basics of grammar and style to plot, theme, character, and setting.
You will get an in-depth critique of your work from the teachers in your group as well as from your peers. This roundtable style critique session is invaluable for learning what works, what doesn’t, and how to edit your work.

Check it out here.

2. I'm still open for Book Trailer reviews.  Send me yours, or send me ones you find interesting.  I'd especially love to see some that people consider to be winners.

Book Trailer Reviews

So, I was suggested two book trailers by my friend Abby.  In her opinion, the first one is worse than the second.  I actually feel it's the other way around.  Though, not by a lot.  We're talking about the difference between a C- and a D here.

First up is "Infected".



I like that it's active.  Things are happening, and the whole thing keeps moving.  That's good.  However, content-wise, it's something of a mess.  It spends a good portion of it's 1:38 telling you what it's not about.  I don't get that.  A large percentage of time-- not to mention the CGI work (presuming that wasn't stock) showing meteors coming to Earth and telling the audience how it isn't what the story is about.  There are a lot of things it's probably not about.  Why tell me that?  It's not an effective reversal.  There's some other footage, which isn't terrible, but it's not well lit.  This shows we're looking at, apparently, a viral-zombie story.  If there's more to it (the virus's extraterrestrial origins aren't much of a game-changer for me), I can't tell from this.

Does it make me want to read it? Not really.
Grade: C- 

Next up: Max Quick.



This is exactly what I was talking about last week when I was talking about trailers that have no point was a video.  There's a single image-- I presume the cover-- which is either shaken or zoomed in and out in a vain attempt to not have it be completely static.  Sound is forgettable.  Some blurbs and back-cover copy.  In other words, there's nothing here that I wouldn't get from just picking up the book in the store and looking at the front and back.  Actually, it's more like if someone else picked up the book, held it in front of me and shook it.

Does it make me want to read it? Not at all. 
Grade: D

Do you have a trailer you want reviewed, or know what you want to see reviewed?  Let me know. 

Book Trailers

Book trailers are a phenomenon that have fascinated me for some time.  This shouldn't be much of a surprise, as I am a writer and have a degree in film production.  I think, in theory, book trailers can be an excellent method of promotion.

Theory and practice are two different things. 

I've almost never seen a book trailer where my reaction scored higher than, "Well, I don't NOT want to read the book now."  I can't think of seeing one where it actually enticed me.

Part of why is so few book trailers (at least, of those that I've seen) use the medium effectively.  The book trailer should do the same sort of job as the cover and blurb... but not the exact same job.  Because the medium is not the same.  It's video, you need image and motion and sound.  Some give me little more than words on the screen, words that I might as well read on the back of the book.  That's not a trailer, it's just dictating my reading speed.

And, let's face it, many book trailers (even ones for traditionally published books) are very amateurish.  I once, on a panel, heard professionals advice would be writers to use stock images.  This strikes me as completely off the mark.  If you use stock images, then all you'll accomplish is making your work look painfully generic.  Same thing with the sound: sometimes I see nothing, or a selection that came from The Public Domain's Greatest Hits.  Does it FIT?  Does it work?  Eh, usually no.

Here's one that's not bad.

The sound design is crisp and professional.  A nice voiceover of, I presume, text from the book read by someone who has a good dramatic voice.  Music is well-crafted into the rest of the work.  I like the shot of the moon with the clicking years.  The shot of the eye goes on a bit too long.  The naked body is a bit generic-stock looking, but the shifting words over it keeps it active.  The shot of the guy in the suit, standing on a cliff edge while carrying a briefcase?  Kind of pointless.  That reads like someone plucked the word "stockbroker" out of the text without paying attention to the context.   But the whole thing keeps moving and gets done in one minute and 11 seconds.  That's good.

Do you have a book trailer?  Do you know someone who has a book trailer?  Do you know of a book trailer that you think is really good?  Send me a link.  I'm going to start doing reviews.  (And I have a film degree, and I had an A- average, so I'm right, like, 93% of the time.) 

Promotion and book trailers

I've been thinking about Book Trailers of late. I'm not sure why, exactly, beyond my usual bad habit of getting ahead of myself. I don't have a book ready for trailing, as it were, so I don't need to have one yet... if I need to have one at all.

I can see what the appeal of doing video trailer is-- it's a commercial for your book! That's exciting! Of course, most of the video trailers I've seen are made with all the dynamic hook and technical skill of your average public access program. They certainly don't entice me to read the book.

I heard one person say of book trailers that the best they can do is not hurt your sales. The more of these things I see, the more I can't help but agree.

I was at a panel once where the panelists were advocating making book trailers as a promotional tool. Now, like I said, I can see its value, if it's done well. But then it was suggested that, in order to make one's trailer, one should search through photo archives of stock images, finding stuff that's out there that's free to use.

I couldn't disagree more about that. I mean, why would you use images that only kind-of, sort-of match what your book is about? Let's say, for example, your book has vampire-like and angel-like creatures. Would ANY vampire or angel pictures be suitable? Probably not. I would argue that any images (or video) that aren't specifically made for your book would look generic and unconnected. You wouldn't copy-and-paste text from some other book because it's kind of like what you want your book to be, would you? (I hope not.)

I mean, if you're going to make a book trailer to promote YOUR book, then make that trailer equally your own, just as original.