Tis the season for new book releases. One of the things we enjoy here at HBB is discussing trends in publishing, reading and technology. Right now, a particular trend has got us excited to see what’s next. If the movies have them, video games have them, and prime time tv shows have them… why not books? We’re talking about TRAILERS!
Although book trailers have been around since the early 2000’s they really took off with the rising popularity of user generated video sites like youtube. Many book trailers are fan-based, or made by fans, but several publishers and authors have taken the “book trailer” to whole new levels in order to garner more interest and gain a bigger audience. I’m not talking about a short thirty second spot with animated words, a voice over and still shots of the cover… I’m talking about movie quality production and sound effects.
For example, this recent award winning trailer done by Circle of Seven Productions, an industry leader in book trailers, for the reprint and re-release of Neverland by Douglas Clegg. The trailer is eerie, and mysterious and makes you want to buy the book NOW! And if you’ve already read the book it makes you want to read it again! Or check out this one from Hatchett Books’ Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
That’s pretty passable as a movie trailer and amazing as a book trailer. Now, I’ve seen all kinds of book trailers—from simple slide shows to movie-style videos with their own scripts. But it begs the question, how far will it go? Watching these makes you think, what’s next? How far away are we from book trailers acting like movie trailers and is that a good or bad thing? Because when you get right back to it, a book is an entirely different form of media from a movie. What kind of precedence and expectations are we setting if we make book trailers like we make movie trailers? Alex and I go back and forth on this and as excited as I am about these thrilling videos that help sell books and get people interested in reading, I have to think a little something would be lost once there are exploding cars and scantily clad women in book trailers. How far will the marketing machine push? Still, the “book trailer” is an exciting prospect, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. What are your thoughts?
In the mean time here’s a few local books (or books by local authors) that have trailers! Check them out:
Sweet Life by Mia King
Hiroshima in the Morning by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
Kau Kau: Cuisine and Culture in the Hawaiian Islands by Arnold Hiura
Dead Downwind by Bill Riddle
Eddie Wen Go: The Story of the Upside Down Canoe by Marion Lyman Mersereau
