As any writer can tell you, it isn't enough to simply write a good book nowadays. In fact, sad but true, the quality of the work can sometimes have little or no correlation to an author's sales. In a business that comes down to numbers, i.e., dollars and cents, succeeding in publishing becomes a matter of successful promotion - of making readers aware that you exist, and that you've got books on the shelves.

A couple of years ago someone got the idea that if trailers are so effective in generating excitment about upcoming movies, why not try it for books. With an immediate bandwagon effect, most authors scrambled to to have trailers made of their latest releases and post them everywhere they could - Youtube, blogs, their websites, etc. My publisher encouraged me to have one made for Dark Obsession, which you can view by clicking the link above.

It became quite a craze and to tell the truth, they are a lot of fun because you see your characters and scenery brought to life. They also weren't particularly expensive - at first. Some particularly clever authors even made their own with programs like Windows Movie Maker (I wasn't one of them, lol) But once the initial hoopla died down, a few standards began to develop. One author was told by her agent that if her trailer didn't have live people moving and talking (as opposed to still pictures and captions), it wasn't effective. Now you're adding expenses - big ones - and what used to cost a couple hundred or less could soar into the thousands.

By the time Dark Temptation came out, people, including my own publisher, were no longer so certain that this was the best way to spend promotional dollars. So I didn't have one made. A lot of authors still do, but I'm not sure if that's mainly because, as I said, having a book trailer is fun, and they do help make your website more interactive for readers. So I'm up in the air when it comes to my new series, although having the city of Bath as a background could make for especially pretty visuals.

Here is my question: have you ever purchased a book specifically because of a book trailer?   

 

Hi Allison/Lisa! I love that symbol. I'm deaf and don't get to see that icon anywhere but at Brave Journal, LOL. Great to find your books again! Looking forward to chatting here! I've seen trailers that I was recommended either from a blog or chat to see and with that, it interested me and I went further to check out the books! I've never just seen a trailer and said to get book, since I always like to find the specifics like it being romance and the different genres. But I always love to look at trailers of my favorite authors to read and to see and feel about their new book! Its almost like a treat to have that peek/feel into the new book. I too have had some trailers I had fun reading of an author, such as Sandra Hill's and her Cajun books. She has a character that brings so much laughter and she's in each of the books (an elderly) and I got a kick out of visiting her trailer and laughing more. So I don't know if for me that I look for trailers to watch to decide on the books, but if I find out about a book, I love checking out the trailer and its more of a fun thing for me.

I enjoy watching the book trailers - but it is not a must for me (in order for me to purchase the book). I usually go by 1) subject matter of the book 2) author 3) Book Reviews - either in a magazine, blog, web page, etc 4) recommendation from a friend. (these are in no particular order)

I do enjoy the trailers with "moving people" as opposed to still images.

I enjoy looking at the book trailers on authors websites, youtube, etc. To me, it is just a nice little "extra" from the author to ME!