Saturday, December 8, 2012

Saturday Discussions: Book Trailers

Heck yeah, I'm bringing Saturday Discussions back because I missed it! So every Saturday, I'm going to proposing a topic and we are going to chat. Now with the reply feature, this will be even better than before.

So this week, I want to talk about book trailers. So my discussion question is:
Do book trailers sell books?
When I first heard about book trailers I thought it was kind of odd but the more I thougut about it, the more I realized that it was actually a natural progression of the times. I mean, why not have a trailer to give the reader a sneak peek at what they are getting themselves into? And if they are done right, they can really be effective.

Here's a list of some of the ones that I think are done exceptionally well:

From Bad to Cursed

I think From Bad to Cursed does this trailer well because it's a sneak peek that is just creepy enough to let my know what I'm getting myself into. It helps that it has a professional actress for the role though because it is acted wonderfully too.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer doesn't really give us much in terms of plot but it's a great trailer to amp you up to read the book. The flashes of scenes with the great song behind it make me want to find out more about the book.

Carnival of Souls

This one sort of isn't fair because they went to a beautiful, foreign location, hired actors and a stunt choreographer and have elaborate costumes but by george, I love it! It gets all the elements right and made me crave for this one to be out.

The Diviners

Holy creepy Batman! The 1920's clothes plus the super creepy song in the background sell this one for me all the way.


Another amazing trailer is Eve by Anna Carey. I love how beautiful the scenery is and it makes me super excited about the novel!
My biggest thing is I'm not really into trailers that just have pictures and words, especially when they are the same words that I can find on the back of the book. I feel like those trailers just aren't doing anything but making the words hard to read by flashing them across the screen when all I need to do is pick up the book and read them.

I'm more into the trailers that try to act out a scenes. Even if they happen to be kind of corny, at least they are trying to do something.

But do book trailers sell me books? I'm going to say, not really. What they can do is get me more excited about a title but a book trailer has never changed my mind about what I will and won't read yet. However, a bad trailer won't keep me from reading a book I'm already excited about. So my final verdict on book trailers are they can be loads of fun and can't hurt anything so keep them coming!

An interesting fact about me: after every book I read, I search for the book trailer on Youtube and end up watching it after finishing the book. It's backwards but you have no idea how giddy I am watching the suckers!

What about you? Have you ever bought a book based on a book trailer? What are some of you favorites?

2 comments:

  1. I don't really like trailers. I see the appeal, but they just aren't for me. I've watched a few, but mostly they weren't very good. They were more like slide shows than actual trailers. I did like the one for Matched (or maybe Crossed) by Ally Condie.

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  2. This is an interesting question. For me, not really because I tend to pick books based on a) how interesting the cover/blurb is b) recommendations from other bloggers. I think for the younger generation it might really work because I think they are much more into technology and are more visual that my generation ( 30 somethings)

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