Anyone look at book videos?

[carolmarlene]

Does anyone here look at book trailers when they are considering buying a book?
Not too many authors have book trailers up, so I was wondering if readers even bother to look at them or not.

They are a very good way to get another view of a book before buying.
Some book trailers are amazing, but the most important thing I think is that the author is trying to give their readers another point of view. What does everyone think of book trailers?

[Ted]

I've looked at book trailers for the production value, mainly because my journalism background involved video editing for news stories and documentaries.

If an author has to pay for production, then I'd have to consider the return on investment. From some of the video's I've seen the production was more ego building than sales building. The "Hey, I've got a video book trailer. Everyone take a peek." sort of marketing.

I enjoyed Carol's video production because I felt it was very good piece. Would it sway others to purchase her works? I hope so.

Carol made an important remark in her post; "...the author is trying to give their readers another point of view." Back in the '60's I took a writing course at a local university during one summer. One of the things the prof pressed upon us novices is to 'leave holes for the mind to fill'. I'm probably thinking that a video is filling in a hole, when it may be possible the video is digging another hole for the viewers' imagination to fill.

[anita]

I've never actually viewed a book trailer. However, there are some book commercials that were aired on tv that stood out to me over the years. The one for Sharon McCrumb's book. "If I'd killed Him When I Met Him", stands out in my mind. I saw that on tv so often (when it first came out) that I still remember the book title and the author's name all these years later. I also remember the creepy voice that said the title. It was enough to turn me off from the book. Not because there was anything wrong with it but because I wasn't reading that genre at the time. It did catch my attention though.

Another that stood out in my mind was by Jeffrey Archer. It was Twelve Red Herrings. I did buy that book based upon viewing the commercial on tv.

The last one that made an impression on me was the James Patterson book about middle school. I'd have to look up the title, but I have every intention of purchasing that for a soon to be tween in the family.

That being said, I abandoned a book trailer for my first straight novel. I might dust it off and complete it because there are plenty of people that might be receptive to that type of message. We do have to remember that not everyone is like us and send out our messages in different formats to attract our respective audiences. Believe it or not, My straight novels tend to attract conservative Christian women between the ages of 25 and 70 and many of them don't use an eReader! They are likely to be very different from the folks that read my erotica! For that reason, my erotica isn't available in paperback and my straight novels are.

I probably wouldn't hire someone else to create my book trailer unless I was positive that it would bring results or had a specific use for it (like as a recurring loop at a booksigning or fair) Since I don't do those types of events, I'd be more likely to muddle through the creation of a book trailer myself. I can be sort of hard-headed and cheap in that way!

I am intrigued by Ted's experience in the field, though... How much would one pay for such a service? I know that I purchased some photo clips and video clips to help in the production of my trailer, but they were kind of expensive. If I ever get back to my trailer, I planned to photograph certain elements myself to save a bit of money.

Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day in which to work on a manuscript and sometimes the advertising aspects can slip through the cracks.

[ahpellett]

For fiction, some book trailers work for me ... the kind that ask a question, make me want to know more and those that create an emotional response in me. Those that do none of these, do nothing to inspire me to further consider the book. For non-fiction, a sample of the information in a creative way works well.

[carolmarlene]

Here I was assuming that no one answered the post as I never got an email saying so. Thanks Ted, for looking up one of my videos. Not sure which one you looked at. I have four. But to further my point here, one reason I made the videos was because I like doing that sort of stuff and I like a challenge. I found most of my images and the music online for free. If anyone's interested I can list the websites. Some of the pictures are my own and one of the instrumental pieces was done by a friend.
I enjoyed the process and I would do it again, whenever I can find the time lol. You are right, Anita, there are just not enough hours in a day to market sometimes. I don't know how some people do it. Besides, I get tired of pushing my books all the time, I feel like I am imposing on people's reading space.
From some of the prices I've read, having a video made is not cheap. And something you can do just as well on your own, after all it is your material. I do love the videos that are produced with actors and scenes though...if only...
For now and probably always I will have to stick to the straight image with text. I used to write and produce commercials so I don't see this as being much different. I've learned how to get a message across in as few as fifteen seconds.

[melodycovers]

I love book trailers....but then, maybe it's because I'm such a visually-oriented person. I feel if an author has done a book trailer, they have put so much of themselves into it and it really gets the mood and main message of the book across. I watch them for sure...though I can't say if it necessarily convinces me to buy a book or not...

Melody

[stevenelson1]

I have several book videos now on Youtube for my books here at smashwords and also for my 1 book at PublishAmerica. I'll provide a listing that you can use in just a minute. But I wanted also to ask; Before I found the Smashwords site I went ahead and had PublishAmerica handle my first book. While their cover design is just fine and their interior word style looks good as well, their contract and the cost of the book are prohibitave to anyone actually wanting to buy it. So I wanted to ask: Can anyone give me some advice on how to get out of their Ten Year Exclusive contract that they had me sign? Does anyone have some nifty way to do that? I'd love to republish that first book here at Smashwords where people can have a chance to get it at a reasonable price. Now here's those links, including the one for that first book now at PublishAmerica:
Now as ebooks at: Smashwords.com & Paper thru PublishAmerica;
The Problem Eliminators! ©2012 An ebook at: Smashwords.com See my slideshow:
Escape from the ORDER! ©2010 An ebook at: Smashwords.com See my slideshow:
The Maintenance Engineer ©2010 An ebook at: Smashwords.com See my slideshow:
Tomorrow’s World #1 ©2012 (18 & older) Hard Back at: PublishAmerica.com See my slideshow: (Please disregard the web address at the slideshow)