Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Doing the Happy Dance

On the up side of publishing there is the 'First time you see your cover!' day and there is the day you launch your book trailer. So here it is, the book trailer for my new trilogy 'The Chronicles of King Rolen's Kin'.

King Rolen's Kin from Daryl Lindquist on Vimeo.



I must thank my long suffering husband, Daryl, who put the book trailer together. His web site is here.

Do book trailers sell books? I don't know. But they're fun!

There are now sites dedicated to book trailers. Here at Book Screening and again here at Preview the Book.

Writer and publicist Arielle Ford says:

'there is only so much marketing copy you can write about your book before you have saturated your target audience. But in one minute or less you can tap into the visual, auditory and emotional senses of your potential reader with a book trailer.'

Read her full article here.

As books become more interactive, the book trailer will grow and change. I see it as a chance to share the Resonance of the series with the readers.

How do you feel about book trailers? Would a really good book trailer make you remember the title or the cover? Would that translate into buying the book?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a marvelously ominous trailer!

How do you get enough people to watch it? Can it hook people who've never read your stuff? Can it hook people who don't read regularly?

Don't you just occasionally wish for an all knowing Web Mother who could tell you these things? Would links from the trailer to Amazon provide counts of purchasers?

Anonymous said...

That's a rockin' trailer! Congrats on the special day.

Linda

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Matapam,

Very true. I figure I'll put the trailer up on my KRK dedicated blog, vimeo, you tube etc.

And thanks for the tip, I should provide a link to Amazon. I am so not on the ball, sometimes.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Thanks, Linda.

We could all do with more 'happy dance' days!

Anonymous said...

Words cannot possibly encompass the sheer awesomeness of that trailer.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

RJ -- you made my husband's day.

He's always loved art. Did fine art when he finished school, way back in the 1970s. He wanted to be a comic artist, but there just weren't the opportunities in Australia. So he went into the public service. Married me, supported a family with 6 kids.

But he's retiring soon and going to concentrate on his art. He's moved on from comics (still loves them) but he wants to do 3D animation.

The figure is 2D animation, the background is 3D.

Anonymous said...

Glad I could do so -- he did an exceptional job on it! Understated and subtle, yet powerful.

Kate Paulk said...

I have to say it's not my thing - I'm far too 'word' oriented for the concept of a book trailer to really work for me. I want to read at least some of the words before I buy.

Amanda Green said...

Rowena, my problem with trailers is the only ones I usually see are those they put on TV. Then, to be honest, I don't remember enough about them to justify the money the publishers have paid out. I'm sure they work great for a lot of people. But for me, I like to browse a bookstore or Amazon or the like. A great cover and cover blurb will sell me quicker than a trailer.

Unknown said...

I liked it very much and thought the final 'twist' where the screen picture turned slightly to become the book cover was absolutely brilliant. Not the sort of thing most people would even notice maybe, but very professionally done. The music too did a great deal for the ambiance. It would probably get me to give the book a second look in a brick-and-mortar store.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Kate, my background is that of a graphic artist, so I'm focused on both the words and the visuals.

The story would have to appeal for me to actually buy a book.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Amanda, the thing that sells a book for me is when one of my good friends says, 'You've got to read this book!'

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Thanks, Dave. I'll pass that along to Daryl. That was all his idea. He'll be chuffed.

Francis Turner said...

This is one of those things that will appeal to some people but not everyone. But then that's marketing for you, there is no simple "do this and everyone will buy your product" technique - if they were it would have been overused so much that we wouldn't fall for it anymore.

There's that famous saying (by ?? Lord Levehulme?) that "half my advertising is wasted, but I don't know which half" that applies here. For some people a cool, intriguing trailer (and this is all of the above) will make them want to check out the book. For other people something else (cover, snippets, reviews ...) will make them want to buy.

It doesn't really make me want to read the book - I tend not to click play on videos on the web in general and like Kate I'm a word kind of person - but for those that like visuals more I think it probably would. The key here is that if you are going to do this kind of thing then it has to be professionally done - and this is - otherwise it just leaves entirely the wrong impression.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Good point, Francis.

A badly done book trailer is worse than no trailer at all!

Unknown said...

I love the trailer. I'll definitely have to check out the books now. Great also to see a use for the one sentence synopsis and to see it in action. Very powerful, that step by step exposure.

It's the first book trailer I've seen and I am a believer!