Book trailers are a popular mechanism for advertising books. For those unfamiliar with the concept, think "movie trailer" except that they are used to advertise books. Music, voice-overs, pictures and moving video are all part of the game.
Recently, I came upon a site offering book trailer production. There were several "packages" available for authors/publishers to purchase, starting with one minute videos and going all the way up to five minutes. Wow! Five minutes? Really? Would you sit and watch a five minute video about a book? Particularly one with no moving video? Then again, even with interesting video, I don't think I'd sit through a five minute ad (and that's what these are, ads). How many movie trailers are five minutes? What about commercials? If you can't get your message across in a minute, you've lost your audience. In fact, if you can't get your message across in a minute, maybe you've got the wrong message! Or, maybe you're going about it all wrong. Your target audience IS NOT going to watch a five minute video so don't waste your time. Go back to the drawing board and re-think your ad!
Absolutely! I agree - after 30 seconds, if the trailer hasn't grabbed my interest, I move on. There's no way I'd watch a 5 minute trailer.
ReplyDeleteFive minutes is WAY too long! The trailer for my YA series was over two minutes, cramming in all five books, and that was pushing it. And I hate to say it, but most book trailer videos look the same, so if it doesn't grab right away, forget it.
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