Novelist Lee Goldberg says most writers shouldn’t make book trailers. He does have a good point about the static slideshow ones; but that's not the only kind of trailer out there. There are some brilliantly creative things being done.
To other authors, Goldberg pleads:
"Why don’t you just go to the bathroom, take whatever cash you have in your pockets and flush it down that toilet?’ They are amateurish. They are nothing but slideshows with bad stock photos, too much text and creepy music."
That being said, he made one himself.
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..and my amateurish trailer only underscores how little value they have as sales tools. At least it had the benefit of costing me nothing. You're right, there are some brilliant, creative book trailers...but are they worth the cost? From what I have heard from most authors, many of them household names, the answer is no.
ReplyDeleteLee
Your trailer is pretty fun! I think it's also a generational thing...
ReplyDeleteAccording to a 2009 online survey by Teenreads.com, 45% of teens bought a book after watching a book trailer on YouTube; a (crappy) book trailer for Mockingjay garnered over 33, 000 views....
I think overall, they are totally not worth the cost... yet. But I wonder if that might change.
Not to sound totally conceited, but you might enjoy reading http://ottawapubliclibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/10/opla-ra-in-day-book-trailers-have-you.html
And P.S. thanks for visiting!