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Trailers for Sale or RentSeptember 4, 2007
Posted by Barbara Vey on September 4, 2007 | Comments (60)
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Sheila English commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kate Douglas commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Alyssa Day commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Gail Z. Martin commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Bonnie Edwards commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent RevDeb commented: I didn't know these even existed. How interesting! Visuals for books! Hmmm.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Julie Ortolon commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent PapaJoe commented: 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.)
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Amanda commented: 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!!
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Angela Knight commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Yasmine Galenorn commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Barbara Vey commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Bonnie Edwards commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Andrew Bernier commented: 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>
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent RevDeb commented: Great graphics - who does them for you? Is the artist for hire should anyone need an artist?
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent MARTY OLVER ARCHER commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: 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. :)
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Lori Avocato commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kirra commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Alyson Noel commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent CL Wilson commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Danniele AKA Angel commented: 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!
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Barbara Vey commented: 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) :)
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Faye Hughes commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Susan Lyons commented: It almost seems a requirement these days to get a trailer done, and so I did
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Sheila commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Lillith commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Susan Lyons commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Susan Lyons commented: 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?)
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Andi commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Katy commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent JOANN ROSS commented: Barbara -- and Andrew --
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Ed English commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Rita commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kristie Leigh Maguire commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kristie Leigh Maguire commented: I made a mistake in my website addy. The correct addy is: kristieleighmaguire.com
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Barbara Vey commented: 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
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Bev commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Jean commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Jennifer Ashley commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent LadyKarana commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kendra - ScrapFairy Designs commented: 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.
September 4, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Kate Douglas commented: 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
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Douglas Clegg commented: COSProductions.com has done trailers for my books, and I hope this continues because in my opinion they're the best.
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Douglas Clegg commented: Hmm, originally I had spaces in there, but I am guessing I should've put in the html paragraph marks. Sorry about that!
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Semet commented: 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.
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Christi commented: 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.
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Cherry Adair commented: 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.
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Cherry Adair commented: 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!
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Patti O'Shea commented: 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.
September 5, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Brandi commented: 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.
September 6, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Brenda commented: 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.
September 6, 2007
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Gloria Harchar commented: 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. ------------------------------------------
January 20, 2008
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Deborah Macgillivray commented: youtube.com/profile?user=Scotladywriter
April 7, 2008
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent charms commented: God bless America and our Militaries!!! Show your patriotic feelings to America. USA Patriotic and Armed Forces Charms are great way to show loyalty and support for your country and for people, which serve this country.
October 7, 2009
In response to: Trailers for Sale or Rent Annie ( Right Move ) Wagner commented: Excellent blog this www.publishersweekly.com well done and I was really pleased to stumble on : this it's just what I needed to know.
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