Talk 2 Me: Book Trailers

I enjoy book trailers. I know that many people dislike book trailers. I’ve heard complaints about poorly done book trailers. I’ve also heard people complain about the irony of using a video medium to encourage people to read. And I understand those point. However, I really LIKE book trailers when they are done well!

‘Done well’ surely means different things to different people. It woud be hard to ‘explain’ what I mean by well done, but at it’s best, a trailer will give me a very quick introduction to the book and tempt me to read more. But instead of trying to expain what I think makes a good trailer, I thought instead I will show you a few trailers today and tell you what I like about them, and maybe what I dislike.

I’ll start out with this trailer for The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. This is my example of how NOT to do a book trailer!

This one told me NOTHING about the book! It basically regurgitated quotes from reviews that could have come from many books, but nothing that made this book seem special or made me want to pick it up. And what’s worse, the quotes are against a plain background. The final shot of the cover is beautiful, but any review site shows me that much. There is nothing in this trailer to entice me to read more! Loved the book! But not the trailer!

A trailer does not have to be long to be effective. Sometimes short and sweet is the way to go. That is the technique used in this trailer for Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson .

We all already know the story of Peter Pan and Wendy. There was no reason for the trailer to tell us what we already know. Instead this one give us just a taste of the book, pointing out that Peter had a story before he had Wendy. And I love the music! It really sets the mood!

On the other hand, there are times a trailer needs to be a little longer if the story is different from anything we’ve read. Here is a good example; this trailer is for Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

In this case, the trailer is a dramatization of a scene from the book, and uses some of the photos from the book. This is a great way to introduce us to the characters and get us to want to read more. Seeing the trailer first, and having a visual of the characters would help the reader to be involved with the book from the beginning. This is one where I love the trailer, but not the book!

Sometimes a trailer is just as good AFTER you’ve the book as it was before you read the book! This trailer for The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom is one example.

I love all the still photography here and the use of the Ken Burns effect to create motion. If you haven’t read the book, it touches on a few points of interest and makes you read the book for more detail. But after you read the book, watching the trailer is a great way to review the book and remember as you view each scene!

This trailer for The Guardian by Beverly Lewis is another example of a trailer that work as well before or after reading the book.

Strictly speaking, this would probably not be considered a trailer. It is more ‘informational’ than ‘enticing’. The author gives some background on the setting of the story and her inspiration to write the story. Watching the trailer gives a bit of the flavor of the setting and the things to come. But if you read the book first and then watch the trailer, it is interesting to see the settings in the novel come to life. And the scenery is beautiful!

I could go on with this, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. But if you want to see more, you are in luck. One of the things I accomplished during the recent bloggiesta is to add labels to the sidebar of my blog. If you scroll down the sidebar at the left, you will find a box with my frequently used labels. Just click on the ‘book trailer’ label to find all my posts with book trailers.

What about you? What YOU think makes for a good book trailer? Do you even LIKE book trailers? Do you have a ‘go-to’ site to find new trailers? If so, TALK 2 ME! Leave a comment below!