A book trailer, despite the name, is something essentially different to a movie trailer. Most producers of book trailers don't seem to be aware of this, and it's the reason why book trailers usually don't do what they are supposed to do: entice people to read a book which they wouldn't have otherwise read.
Here are three key differences:
1. Movie trailers are effective because they are shown before another movie which has been deemed to appeal to the same demographic. Book trailers aren't shown in books deemed to appeal to the same demographic. They are usually on YouTube, an author's website, a book page, a publisher's page etc. They, therefore, have limited effect if you don't already know and like the author. You need to be directed to them in some way. They aren't put in front of you just as you're about to read another novel, the way movie trailers are put in front of you just as you're about to see another movie.
2. Movie trailers can take all the images they need from the movie itself. Making one involves selecting, assembling and contextualising existing images. Book trailers, however, need to create these images from scratch, and the danger is that this process can lead to the opposite effect you are trying to achieve. Reading (unlike watching movies) is about getting people to create their own images in their heads. Providing them with images can destroy the magic.
3. Movie trailers are the end result of the work of vast teams of movie-making professionals and feature experienced actors of the highest calibre. Book trailers don't have these advantages. Although some obviously have quality actors and high production values, they simply don't have the resources behind them that movie trailer producers have.
To try to bring the differences into sharper focus, let's compare the movie trailer for the recently released 20th Century Fox film, The Book Thief, starring Geoffrey Rush, with two book trailers for the Markus Zuzak novel on which the movie is based.
Movie trailer for The Book Thief
Here are three key differences:
1. Movie trailers are effective because they are shown before another movie which has been deemed to appeal to the same demographic. Book trailers aren't shown in books deemed to appeal to the same demographic. They are usually on YouTube, an author's website, a book page, a publisher's page etc. They, therefore, have limited effect if you don't already know and like the author. You need to be directed to them in some way. They aren't put in front of you just as you're about to read another novel, the way movie trailers are put in front of you just as you're about to see another movie.
2. Movie trailers can take all the images they need from the movie itself. Making one involves selecting, assembling and contextualising existing images. Book trailers, however, need to create these images from scratch, and the danger is that this process can lead to the opposite effect you are trying to achieve. Reading (unlike watching movies) is about getting people to create their own images in their heads. Providing them with images can destroy the magic.
3. Movie trailers are the end result of the work of vast teams of movie-making professionals and feature experienced actors of the highest calibre. Book trailers don't have these advantages. Although some obviously have quality actors and high production values, they simply don't have the resources behind them that movie trailer producers have.
To try to bring the differences into sharper focus, let's compare the movie trailer for the recently released 20th Century Fox film, The Book Thief, starring Geoffrey Rush, with two book trailers for the Markus Zuzak novel on which the movie is based.
Movie trailer for The Book Thief
The movie trailer for The Book Thief benefits from having an Emmy Award-winning director, an Academy-award winning actor, and the studio behind The Life of Pi. There are a number evocative images and it gives you a real feel for the movie. It does what good movie trailers do through skillful scene and dialogue selection, vividly drawing you into the story. It currently has nearly nearly 2 million views on YouTube.
Book trailer for the YA edition of The Book Thief
Book trailer for the YA edition of The Book Thief
This award-winning book trailer for The Book Thief with nearly 110,000 views on YouTube, justifies a close look. It's focused at the Young Adult market, where book trailers seem to work best. The productions values are strong, although nowhere near in the same class as the movie trailer. Interestingly it doesn't actually enact the story, so it is doing something quite different to the movie trailer. It concentrates on the words themselves, the story-telling. The girl is reading from a book, giving the listener tantalising hints, and finishing with the words "If you let me, I shall begin." Successful book trailers are often the ones that provide the flavour of a novel, using its words, but without enactment, leading you to a point where the story is about to begin.
Book trailer for the adult edition of The Book Thief
Book trailer for the adult edition of The Book Thief
This trailer for The Book Thief, which has just over 6000 views, has clearly been produced the way many book trailers have been produced: with copyright free archival footage, images and music, and non-professional narration. It seems to me to be reasonably effective until the narration starts and then it falls apart. Up until that point it functions in a similar way to the previous book trailer (without the higher production values). It's much too long. Well before it was over, I was waiting for it to end. Clearly, the summarising of the story plot in a book trailer doesn't work, whether it's through action or words.
So, how do you judge the success of a book trailer? The obvious answer of the number of views isn't the whole story. I'll have a closer look at this in part 2.
So, how do you judge the success of a book trailer? The obvious answer of the number of views isn't the whole story. I'll have a closer look at this in part 2.
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