Side Benefits from Book Trailers (April theme)

by Tracy Barrett

I don’t think it’s possible to quantify the benefit of a book trailer (and by “benefit,” of course I mean “increased sales”!) but there are still reasons to make one.

Trailers are a great way to introduce readers to your work before you make a school visit, for example. No matter how much we stress the importance of our audience’s familiarity with what we’ve written, teachers are strapped for time and resources and they can’t always make sure that their students have read our work. They can show a two-minute video, though, and that’s a lot better than nothing.

Teachers also use trailers as inspiration for student-created trailers. Search your book title on YouTube—you might be surprised to find student-created trailers that you can then link to on your web site. It’s free publicity and always fun to see what the kids have done!

My nephew created a live-action trailer for my novel King of Ithaka. It was good experience for him (he’s now writing scores for student work at Columbia Film School), and of course he earned a little money (important for aspiring composers!). A win-win for both of us.

So even if I don’t see increased sales from these trailers—the student-created efforts and the film created by my nephew—I’m pleased they were made and I plan to make more for future books.

P.S. This is my last post at Smack Dab in the Middle. I'm writing less MG and more YA these days, so I'm transferring over to the other group blog that Holly Schindler put together and administers: YA Outside the Lines. I'll be posting there on the 11th of every month. See you there!