Who Needs a Book Video?

Book videos are short audio-visual advertisements primarily used to promote a book. The product can be an old fashioned paper book or a downloadable digital e-book designed to be viewed on a computer screen or in a reader such as Amazon’s Kindle, similar products by Sony or Samsung, or even on the screen of certain smartphones.

An effective book video can have similarities to both a television commercial and a movie trailer. It should be brief and to the point. Producers of book videos (often called book trailers) often comment that entertainment value is key. An ideal book video should draw curious viewers to seek it out just for the fun of it, not necessarily because they were actively seeking a book to purchase.

Producers should, nevertheless, always remain mindful of the primary goal: to leave the viewer remembering the name of the book and it’s author. As has been demonstrated by many television commercials before, if a book video leaves the viewer laughing and entertained, but with no clue as to the name of the book or author, the effort was wasted.

A good book video can have a remarkably low cost, and many authors are brave and adventurous enough to make their own, often with excellent results. Typically your book video, whether home made or contracted out to a producer, will be published or “hosted” on a free site such as YouTube. Once you have produced and published your book video, like any other product it needs to be promoted.

The Internet provides a rich variety of options and methods for drawing the eyes of potential book buyers to your promotional video. Some sites exist solely for the purpose of putting book video producers together with curious browsers. An example is Blazing Trailers (www.blazingtrailers.com). Their motto is “Books at the Speed of Fun”, and they provide both a welcoming haven for curious readers, and a wealth of tools and assistance to writers.

The days are long gone when a writer could sell a book to a publisher and then just sit back and wait for the royalties to roll in (except for a privileged few writers, and you know who you are). Now you are expected to do most, sometimes all, of the promotional work yourself. A good book video can be an invaluable tool in reaching your target audience and selling your book.