A Book Trailer is not a 'Back of the Book' Blurb!
For many years television saw
itself as radio with pictures. Eventually, however, it realized it was its own
special medium with opportunities and rules that were independent of
radio. A great question that should have
been asked at the dawn of television is: “What would television by like if
radio never existed?”
Today that question could be
asked of book trailers in this way: “What would trailers be like if writers never
heard of ‘elevator’ pitches, book blurbs and synopsis?”
Book trailers today seem to
have learned nothing from a hundred years of movie coming attractions. Just
imagine a movie coming attraction, also called a trailer, that showed a woman,
then a man, then a castle, then a rose, then a sunset with the copy something
like: "She faced a forced marriage to a man she hated. The man she always loved
is from a warring clan. Time is running out and so is her hope of ever finding
happiness. Will love triumph? "
The movie viewer would look
at this and think: “I don’t want to know the plot line. I want to seen scenes
from the movie to see if it is worth watching. Show me your best stuff.”
Book trailers need to do the
same thing: show the best stuff. Show pictures and read quotes from the most
enticing parts of the book. Let the quality of the book shine through. Let the
reader think, “I’d like to read something this well written.” Style and voice count in writing. Show this. Let the reader experience it in the trailer.
I know this would be very
hard to do. The writer of the trailer would need to read the book and also be a
good judge of quality writing. However, in this very competitive world, the
fact that something is very hard to accomplish, is no reason not to do it. Writers could highlight parts of their books, as they are writing them, which they feel would make the best impact on readers.
If the trailer is not going
to be shown on television, then there is no reason to keep it at just thirty
seconds. If the book actually has two and a half minutes of high quality and
enticing quotes, then two and a half minutes should be used. Direct marketers know
that some sales require more time and effort to close. That’s why they most
often favor print media which allows for enough words to close the most sales on a cost
effective basis.
A trailer is not a ‘back of
the book’ blurb. To think that it is, is to miss the full potential a trailer
could provide.
