Friday 30 July 2010

Hoping to Go Viral: Marketing Books with Movie-like Trailers

Okay, so the book pages of newspapers are practically non-existent any more: what can a writer or a publisher do to get the word out about a new novel? It would seem that some, at least, are turning to You Tube with the idea that a slick, cinema-quality trailer will attract readers.

I became aware of this a few months ago when I stumbled on Véhicule Press's promotional video for Avi Friedman's book A Place in Mind - The Search for Authenticity, but clearly it's an idea that is making the rounds. This morning I got an email from Cormorant Press with a taste of what is coming from them this season. While messing around with the links, I stumbled across some of the trailers the house has prepared to promote its list. Below you'll find two of the more interesting.

Doing this must cost a fair bit: the videos look fully professional, and my guess is they cost about as much as the advance the novelists in question received. I suppose this is money well spent, if they sell a lot of books, but I can imagine that whether or not a trailer is made to promote a book will soon become one of the things that writers will have to negotiate along with other contract clauses.

The trailer for Underground by June Hutton:



and for Elise Moser's Because I Have Loved and Hidden It, which is quite different

1 comment:

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

I've also seen several that authors have produced themselves on a small budget with a lot of creativity. It *is* popular these days. I quite like them.