Hi Barbara -- Hmmm. Would a video make me buy a book? Back when I worked in advertising, we used to say that 50% of advertising worked. The problem was, no one knew which 50%. I definitely think a well-made video could pique my interest in learning more about a book. And if I were a bookseller, I'd have them playing in my store to invite conversation with customers, which could lead to more sales.

COS has done videos for 3 of my books so far and my sweetie and I continue to watch them from time to time and laugh at how much fun they are. Then again, perhaps we're just easily entertained. :D The edgy video for No Safe Place won four cameos, including the viewers' choice award, which suggests other people enjoyed it as well.

Also, the people at the publishing houses like them; Kensington put my Bad Boys on their website and I'm hoping NAL will do the same with the one COS currently is making for Freefall. This one will use video clips with actors (rather than just flashes of still shots) and Sheila tells me they're experimenting with lots of cool new techniques. I can't wait to see it!

After doing an online survey we've learned a great deal about what reader's like to see. Readers are what drive the popularity of the trailers so we really listen to what they say.
We have a lot of new videos coming out and people can't wait to see them! It's exciting to see readers excited!
I would like to mention another company that does book video that I like. Vidlit. VidLits are very different than the ones listed here, but just as exciting. You can check those out at www.vidlit.com!

COS did my video for Wolf Tales, which is absolutely gorgeous, but the best part is their distribution which gets the video in front of so many people who might not otherwise hear about my series. If the number of downloads is any indication, people DO watch them, and if my increasing sales mean anything, there has to be some sort of correlation. I love watching book videos when I have the time, and for the generation behind me (aren't they ALL younger?) video seems to be a powerful form of marketing.

The key is distribution. My COS trailer for Atlantis Rising was on the Berkley Publishing website, the Borders Books (national) website, the MySpace books main page, and several other places. It's an element of viral marketing that really seems to hook consumers. And for the readers who already know me, it's a bonus for stopping by my site. www.alyssaday.com

COS did my trailer for The Summoner and The Blood King. The video opens up all new opportunities to connect with readers and gives readers who already know me a way to invite others to discover the books. It's also great to have something with sound and motion to keep a book from seeming static.

I think I may be the only one here whose trailer wasn't done by COS. I've had mine for awhile now and worked on it with Alyssa Brooks, another Aphrodisia author.

The work involved was some of the best fun I've had on promo duty. The font became important (of all things)I took some time choosing it. My stories, set in a haunted bordello have contemporary and historical aspects, ghosts and possession.

Giving enough of the story, without giving away too much... raising questions for the readers...making the idea intriguing made me think creatively about the story in a new way.

And that's always a good thing.

I would do another trailer just for the experience!

I didn't know these even existed. How interesting! Visuals for books! Hmmm.

Bottom line - When are YOU doing a video for your blog? Now wouldn't THAT be fun!

The trailer that COS did for my book Unforgettable has been picked up by some bookstore websites, and has definitely gotten some people talking. I think it's a much more effective use of promotion dollars than sending out postcards and fliers, which are too costly with postage. Plus, people are lazy. They're far more likely to watch an entertaining video than read an excerpt or blurb. So you have a much better shot of catching a readers interest. After that -- whether or not they buy the book depends on the book.

Bonnie, I love the way video encourages us to think about our book in a new way! Because if you just replicate the back cover copy, what's the point? That's been done by the publisher. Video requires an entirely different mindset. I'm not one of those writers who "sees" my book as I write, but especially in this Special Ops RS series, I'm much more aware of which scenes might look good in a video as I'm writing them, which has me thinking more visually all through the book. As for fonts, I deal with that issue a lot in scrapbooking -- I own hundreds of them! -- but I really received an education when I spent a couple hours in the 5th Ave Barnes and Noble in NY with my agent and editor this past spring, looking at nearly every book in the romance and mystery sections. My agent is a font maven and I was amazed at the difference the right -- or wrong -- font can make on a cover. And, of course, the same holds true for a video.

I know for a fact that my wife -- who is very loyal to her clique of MALE suspense authors -- picked up Lisa Jackson's "Absolute Fear" after watching the video. Her interest was also piqued by Nancy Bush's "Ultra Violet" trailer. So from my perspective, it's working. (...and the fact that I directed both trailers for COS has little or nothing to do with it.)

I wasn't aware of book trailers either, but I enjoyed watching these. It would be cool if book stores ran them. I know it would help me sometimes when I'm undecided. Loved the graphic with the book, popcorn and soda. I'm there!!

I clicked on Diane Whiteside's Irish Devil trailer and was favorably impressed! Nice work. I will say, however, that a cheesy trailer -- which that one isn't -- would be much worse than no trailer at all. It's like a bad back cover blurb. You have to be careful with what you do.

I make my own trailers and have had a lot of positive responses to them--my readers seem to like them. I always make sure my pics are either my own or public domain/copyright free, and I buy the license for royalty free music, and have a lot of fun creating them myself. I don't tend to use live action video but go for mood, instead. Whatever the case, I think there are some readers who will love them and some who won't...the ones who don't, won't bother watching them.

Yasmine

Yasmine and other authors, please feel free to add your website address so we can view your videos. Just use the www. part or it won't post.

I'm sorry I could only show a few video, but I know there are a lot of great ones out there.

While Midnight Confessions is set in a haunted bordello, I had to be careful to strike the right chord with the music. Just because a person’s dead doesn’t mean they turn dark/threatening/scary. Not at all, my spirited heroines are delicious flirts, practical jokers and homemakers (she wafts about the mansion scenting the air with cinnamon and apples), so my music choice has a lilting, haunting quality rather than a threatening one.

Thanks to Barbara for allowing me the chance to share my site so that people can see my trailer: www.bonnieedwards.com and to actually get this comment on here!

I really like the blog. It'll be neat when books go straight to the movie theaters and skip the whole "written word" part. <grin>

www.andrewbernier.com

Great graphics - who does them for you? Is the artist for hire should anyone need an artist?

We tried an AUDIO trailer using professional voices as actors. It's a 10-minute excerpt. After 8 months of posting on MySpace and some podcast directories, it still gets 1500 hits/month. Audio is great for to pass the time while driving, as we all know from audio books. Anyway, downloads from itunes and other sites don't seem to decrease.

I agree a cheesy video is worse than no video. Unless it's sooo cheesy it gets people talking and sharing it. Which may make readers check out the book. I'd entirely overlooked Suzanne Brockmann until people started posting her Pillsbury Doughboy cover all over the internet. (Same for Christina Dodd and her three-armed heroine.) Occasionally really, really bad art can garner a lot of notice. Which is how some cheesy movies achieve cult status over time. :)

Oh, and once again, Barbara, I love your subject line! Whenever I get my PW Daily, or Lunch, (whichever one lists the blog titles for that day), I can usually tell right away which one is yours; it's always the most clever.

I think the trailers are a cool way to advertise an author's work so I jumped into the "limelight" and have one on YouTube. You can actually get to it through my website: www.loriavocato.com
It was great fun to do!

I like to check out book trailers when I have the time. For some authors like Diane Whiteside, it just adds another dimension of anticipation since I know I like her work anyway. For authors I'm checking out, it gives me a feel for the type of mood, writing style they want to convey.

I've hired COS to make videos for three of my books now, and am very pleased with both the content and distribution, and have received lots of positive feed back from readers.
I think they're both fun and informative and plan to make more in the future!

Yikes, Andrew! I admittedly have a vested interest in books (I'm currently working on #100 and those "written words" have paid the bills for the past 25 yrs), but while I love movies, I can't remember ever seeing one as richly layered as the book that inspired it.

Hey Andrew, I just noticed your signature on the popcorn and video camera illustrations, which are way cool and add a lot to Barbara's blog. But gee, maybe it would've been easier just to use photos of the actual items and skip that creative "drawing" part of the process? LOL

I've had an excellent reception and widespread distribution over the internet for my books trailer from COS Productions. I've had a number of people write me to say they've gone out and preordered the book after watching the trailer. I'm a debut author, so from my perspective, the book trailer seems to have been well worth the investment.

You can view the trailer at www.clwilson.com

My exposure to book trailers has been limited, but I've noticed quite a rise in the use of them. I've seen great ones on author sites like www.brendanovak.com for her Dead series and www.beverlybarton.com And I love, love, love Kelley St. John's!

For myself, I don't think book trailers would encourage me to buy a book that I wasn't already interested in, but I can see their interest for certain readers. I also love the idea of them playing in bookstores.

JoAnn,I have to tell you that Andrew was kidding because I read so much. Being an artist, he feels that any book could benefit from illustrations and was kind enough to offer me the lovely illustrations that, I think, kind of make my blog "POP" today (along with the subject matter, of course) :)

Great topic! My writing partner, Christie Craig, and I aren't just doing videos for our novels - we're also doing them for our workshops. (It probably helps that we incorporate a lot of humor in our writing workshops. lol.) We're "premiering" the video for The Great Agent Hunt at the Romantic Times conference in April but we have a teaser about it up at YouTube right now (wherein you get to see one of the three agents we tied to a chair and “encouraged” to read our latest proposals. Ah, the things that agents will do for their clients. LOL.) Here’s the link: youtube.com/watch?v=qcdyCn4Opx0

It almost seems a requirement these days to get a trailer done, and so I did
for my September release, Touch Me. Now, personally, I've never bought a book because of a trailer. To me, trailers are too simplistic and generic; they don't hook me on a book the way a good cover image and back cover blurb, an excerpt and/or a review quote do. But then, I'm old-fashioned about books - and I'm not the target market for trailers. I chose CrocoDesigns because I liked what I'd seen from her. She uses stock photos, the author buys inexpensive music, her fees are very reasonable. The challenge was definitely in conceptualizing - i.e., choosing script and images to convey the essence of the book. Books have a lot going on. For example, mine have a girlfriend vibe, some serious issues faced by 20-something girls, and very hot romance - which is way too much to convey in one trailer. I went with my heroine's issues plus attraction of opposites in a hot romance, and left out the girlfriend stuff. I actually do like the result, though I have no idea if it will result in any sales. The problem with doing it yourself or using a designer who isn't one of the biggies like COS is figuring out how/where to distribute the trailer.
Right now mine is on my website (www.susanlyons.ca) and on CrocoDesign's
YouTube site, and that's it. (Yes, I know I should have a presence on MySpace,
and that's next on my list.) Amazing to think that, when I first started writing and dreamed of being published, I actually thought I'd spend all my time writing!

Susan, I can really relate to the "I actually thought I'd spend all my time writing!" comment. I am also an author (www.sf-english.com) and I do more promoting than writing, which is sad. But, with the number of books that are released each week you have to do something.
COS also offers distribution for non-COS videos. Just thought I'd let you know!

I have been very delighted with the book trailers since I first found them. It has helped in deciding whether I want to read that book or not. I used to not read books because I thought they were boring, but when I saw some videos produced by COS, I don't look at a book the same anymore. I have images galore when I read a blurb now and it helps to reel me in. I think having book trailers really help and it gets some more advertising out there then just walking by the book isle in a store or down your favorite genre isle at the bookstore, don't get me wrong, word of mouth does help, but I believe seeing a live action visual of a book makes it more alluring.

I just got feedback that my trailer isn't all that easy to find (that's not a good thing!). If you want to view it, it's on the book page for Touch Me - there's a link that says "view trailer". If you copy and paste this link it should take you there.
www.susanlyons.ca/books/touch_me_trailer.htm.

There's also a trailer for The Firefighter (it links off the page for The Firefighter), which was done by Alyssa Brooks, my co-author. (There's a way to get a free trailer - co-author a book with someone who designs them!)

Sheila, thanks so much for the tip about COS offering distribution for non-COS trailers. I'll definitely look into that. (Aren't authors THE BEST for sharing information?)

Great...as if I don't spend enough time on the computer. lol I had to go and watch all those trailers (some more than once). I'm another one who didn't know they existed, but I'm hooked now. I plan on visiting all my favorites author's websites to see if they have trailers.

These are great!!!! I had seen a trailer awhile back, and thought, "how fun!" Did I buy the book????? no. So not if I am much help here. But I do think they bring more people to reading...which is wonderful in itself.

And congrats Andrew on the graphics!!!!!! But bite your tongue, man!

Barbara -- and Andrew --

I love the illustrations and actually, Andrew, I sort of suspected you were teasing us, but hey, I'm in deadline mode and since this is my recreation, couldn't resist jumping in. You're very talented, I wish you tons of success, including a mega animated movie deal from Pixar! Heck, I'll certainly show up to see it. :)

Working with COS has really opened my eyes to some books that I definitely would NOT have read otherwise. Interestingly enough, after creating the trailers, I was drawn to read some of the books to learn the whole story.

Terrific job on all the trailers. I have to say, as an avid reader, I too wish authors could spend more time writing the wonderful books I love to read instead of having to worry about all the stuff that goes with getting a book out there. Selfish of me, I know.

I have created a couple of trailers for my novel, Affairs of the Heart. I also created 1 for my non-fiction book, From the Far Side of the Sun. They are up on YouTube and have been picked up by other sites as well. You can see them by going to my website: www.kristieleighmaguie.com

Kristie Leigh Maguire

I made a mistake in my website addy. The correct addy is: kristieleighmaguire.com

Thanks for the great response to this blog. I've watched all the videos that were posted and I'm always amazed by the creativity out there. Keep sending in new sites for us to check out.---------RevDeb, maybe I should consider video blogging. Goodness knows I'm always being told I could talk my way out of a paperbag and to me talking is much easier than writing.---------I'd also like to thank Andrew Bernier for his terrific graphics today. And yes RevDev, I believe he is for hire. Check out his website at www.andrewbernier.com

I always thought the book trailers were just another gimmick (which they are), so I never wanted to waste my time with them. But after watching these, I think I've found another reason to put off cleaning my house. Thank you.

My two favorite trailers were by Diane Whiteside and Christine Feehan. They are auto buys for me in the book department. Their trailers are classy and fun to watch.

Thanks Barbara for posting the Immortals video. We have that at our myspace site, the series website, and on YouTube, and wherever else videos can be loaded. Plus on the Dorchester website. I think it helped draw attention to the series.

We had it done by Scrap Fairy Designs which does a wonderful job on the low-end videos (graphics and music, without live-action.) Very good for new authors on a tight budget! I love what they did for The Immortals. I like COS's work too--they did a couple animated ones for me, which are way cool!

Thanks for all the links, Barb!

I love book trailers from the first one I saw which was Dark Melody from COS. Sheila is a wonderful artist in this medium. I have yet to see a book trailr that I haven't at least liked. I may not always get the book, not always my style, but I enjoy watching the trailers as much as I used to enjoy reading the back of books. Christine Feehan's Dark Demon has got to be my all time favorite Book trailer, right up there with Dark Celebration, also by Christine. And yes, she is an auto buy for me.... the trailers just really, really make me want the book all that much more.

We love working with Jennifer! The Immortals Series changed how I look at the importance of reaching the ever growing online social networks with video and targeted promotion. Jennifer built a website for the series and featured the video predominately on the site. Then requested a MySpace for the series again with the video placed on the page.

It's great to see the comments on the Immortals Series and Alyssa Day's MySpaces about the videos, but more importantly about the BOOK. Raving how much they love them. Asking when the next one is coming out. To see the results, you just can't beat it.

For some reason I had a lot of trouble posting my video trailer address today—it never did go through, but here is the address if you get a chance to add it. COS did a great job on it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8eHWyivx4

COSProductions.com has done trailers for my books, and I hope this continues because in my opinion they're the best.

My current book trailer (which can be seen in the excellent blog above under The Lady of Serpents, the title of my new paperback) reached several thousand online viewers within two weeks of going live, was distributed to reader blogs as well as social networking sites and video sites online (just under 200 of them), was edited into a 30 second commercial which reached more than 2 million highly targeted viewers of the Scifi Channel as well as the History Channel and others, and...it's still being viewed now that the book is out.

Additionally, Sheila and company got this trailer up at Barnes and Noble's website, and I hope it'll go out to other bookstore websites in the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for posting it here -- and I hope folks here take a look just to see the amazing special effects (wait for the pyramid scene for the really fun stuff.)

Readers of my novels who have blogs, websites, and MySpace pages are still posting the trailer for The Lady of Serpents around, too.

To me the question may not be: who buys a book after watching a book trailer? (Partly because I think people pick up books without always knowing where they first heard of them, and our first reaction to buying something is to deny that any promotion had much of an effect...well, at least, that's mine.) The question might best be: how do we increase the ways that books can be promoted?

The more promotion for a title and an author, the more likely readers will remember the book and perhaps even the concept of the story itself when they walk into the bookstores. This helps every person in the book business, from the writer to the bookseller to the publisher.

I'm hoping more online booksellers will put the trailers up to help push the books, more publishers will have the videos at their sites, DVDs of the trailers will be sent to bookstores so they can create an in-store video playlist to promote books to browsers in their stores, and also to add to those information/computers kiosks in some stores where you look up books.

The goal, after all, is to get people reading, and the "trailer" format is a familiar one to most people at this point.

Next stop: book trailers on iPods and other handhelds.

Thanks again, Sheila, and COSProductions.com for their incredible creative work on my book trailer. And thank you, Barbara for shining a spotlight on book trailers.

I invite you all to drop by and see me and the videos at DouglasClegg.com

Hmm, originally I had spaces in there, but I am guessing I should've put in the html paragraph marks. Sorry about that!

I love COS book trailers, what I use to make my TO BUY book list. My favorites are the Christine Feehan trailers (Dark Demon, Dark Possession) to name a few. They do such a wonderful job creating a sneek peak at the author's work.

COS does groundbreaking and innovative work on Book Trailers. Trailers have been out for years now. I love the trailers. It's a much more fun and thrilling way to get a synopsis of the book. I love to meet the authors who are very nice by the way. Sheila is way cool. She gives 110% all the time.

Soemtimes the trailers aren't just about selling books. As Shelia mentioned in the blog interview, there are many purposes to a Book Trailer, including brand recognition. COS does a fabulous job in nailing an author's branding as well as the book's content. Anyone looking at the Book Trailers produced for HOT ICE and WHITE HEAT can tell that these are hot action adventure romance. They don't have to guess. Now they may not rush out and buy the book at that moment, but if they've seen the video, you've at least planted that impression in their minds about who you are and what you write. Authors need to remember that a long-term career requires creating instant recall with people. They may not read Stephen King, but everyone knows who he is and what he writes. So even if the video doesn't result in an instant sale, I still think it's worth it.

Sorry! Forgot to post the links so you could see what I was talking about with Shelia and how she does branding through the videos!
HOT ICE www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHsjEEW-zgk
WHITE HEAT www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDh9IMY_NZ4
Thanks for brining this topic to your blog!

The thing I like about the book trailers is that it's an opportunity to reach an audience that might not hang out in bookstores often or hit the online book venues. They're an occasional reader that's hard to reach by the methods authors use most often to reach their audience.

I had a video done for my latest book by COS, as well, and I think it turned out really cool! Here's the link if anyone would like to check it out:
www.pattioshea.com/midnight_video.shtml

Patti

cos does the most amazing trailers. I really enjoy watching them. I always like getting a little taste of what the books going to be about. I have bought a couple books just from seeing trailers. You can tell that they put a lot of time and effort in their work.

I am an occasional reader, as I prefer movies to books. The visuals are a huge part of my buying decision. I start with the cover art, then might read a few lines of the back or inside text. But a book trailer really sells it for me. I think it's an incredible marketing tool. I am a production partner with COS and I keep hearig people say that they bought the book after watching the book trailer.

I am so glad that PW is hosting this blog. I think its a fabulous idea and great to talk about book trailers. They are really fun and to me they make a lot of sense to do. We preview movies with movie trailers -- why not books? Check out the video on a Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense called Buried Secrets by Margaret Daley. The release date is scheduled for October. NovelFlix.com made the trailer. ------------------------------------------

Here is the link: youtube.com/watch?v=9_jEIW4fISY

youtube.com/profile?user=Scotladywriter
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Videos are working well for me. My Riding the Thunder video, featuring Mike Duncan's song "Lost for Words" just went over 30,000 views on my space alone. When you add in all the other video sites, you can add another 10,000 views.
40,000 people watching one video is just good PR.

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