Book trailers have had a moment in the sun in recent years! But because the ways of promoting and marketing books are shifting, you may think the book trailer is dead. It is not! Book trailers are still a thing. We’ll explain why making a good book trailer is essential to helping sell your book. We’ll also give you some advice on making yours the best it can be.
Why Book Trailers Still Work
You may know that here at Monkey C Media we do all kinds of things to help promote authors and their books. Book trailers are just one of the things we do. We love making a good book trailer! Why? Well, because it’s fun. And book trailers really are an effective part of your marketing strategy if they’re done right.
Book trailers are also a great part of your marketing strategy because video content is still king online. From YouTube to website content, and across most social media platforms, video content is still clicked on and shared the most. You may have noticed many social media platforms are focused almost exclusively on video content—think TikTok and Instagram. And TikTok and Instagram have even prompted whole communities of book lovers to create spaces like BookTok and Bookstagram. [link to JT blog]
In other words, video probably isn’t going away anytime soon. So making a good book trailer is probably a pretty safe bet for investing your time, effort and budget.
The Key is Making a GOOD Book Trailer(Not necessarily an elaborate one!)
You can share your book trailer on your socials, upload it to YouTube, and add it to your website, but making a good book trailer means more than just creating a quick reel for Instagram, making a TikTok, or a quick YouTube video. There needs to be some extra effort.
Now, we’re not saying you have to treat it like a Hollywood production. There are ways to make a good book trailer on almost any budget. There is some skill and know-how involved of course, so it’s worth considering if you have those skills and if it’s worth your time to learn them if not. You may find that hiring a professional actually works better for YOUR budget. We’re here to help you figure that out.
There are Several Ways of Making a Good Book Trailer
Not all book trailers have to be like a movie trailer. They don’t need to be crafted for scenes with actors and complex settings. In fact, we don’t really recommend that type of book trailer for most books. See, it’s already seeming easier now isn’t it?
Below are some helpful suggestions, tips and ideas for making a good book trailer that’s within your budget and perhaps even your current skill level.
1-Know Where You Want to Go with Your Book Trailer
It’s pretty crucial to have some idea of where you want to go with your book trailer before you begin your process. This means doing some research on your comparative titles and taking stock of the materials and assets available to you. This ensures that your ambitions align with your capabilities if you’re going it alone. We provided some examples to inspire you below.
2-Keep it Short and Sweet
The main point of a book trailer is to grab attention! This means keeping it succinct—kind of like your book description. Keeping it under a minute is ideal because viewers are more likely to watch it until the end. And this is where you really grab them if you follow a standard structure! Writing a script and/or an outline can help you keep it reigned in.
3-Use This Standard Structure
Like every story, your book trailer needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. This doesn’t mean start from the beginning of your story and share everything that happens in your book. It means you need to set the stage, showcase the main points and then wrap it up with the hook!
4-Match the Tone, Themes and Genre of Your Book
This one seems like it should come naturally, but you never know. This is another great reason to do your comp title research! The style, the setting, and even the structure of your book trailer should match the tone, themes and genre of your book. Otherwise you’ll just confuse viewers. Or lose their attention too quickly.
Here are Some Good Examples
2-Starlight by Hannah Lee Kidder
3-Pete the Cat Eric Litwin and James Dean
4-Letters from an Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson
The truth is, there are several ways to make a good book trailer. You can do it yourself from a template or you can hire experts to help. But it all starts with a solid idea and knowing what you want the end result to be! We’ve added some links to simple but effective book trailers below to inspire you. So check them out! Feel free to give your opinions on your favorites in the comments.
And if you find yourself still needing some help with creating your book trailer and getting it out into the world, feel free to reach out and see what we can do for you.
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