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Do Book Trailers lead to sales

Do Book Trailers lead to sales? This has been a question on a lot of authors and publisher’s minds lately. So what is the answer? The answer is yes, and no, now let me explain.

Book Trailers if made correctly to run between 1-3 minutes, with either film or photos, and music, might lead to sales but not directly. Now what on earth do I mean? A book trailer put on a video site is not going to actually lead to an immediate sale. Mainly because there are no buy buttons on that site for them to purchase the book directly. A reader rarely writes down all the info from a book trailer to go to your site or your publishers site to buy the book. That’s unrealistic. So to say that a a video on a video site would lead to the purchase of your book is pretty far out there.

However, repetition leads to name recognition, which over a period of time, could lead to a sale. So indirectly the book trailer could lead to a sale at any time. If the book trailer is placed on your own site and you lead customers to your site they might buy it right then and there. In that case, yes, the book trailer does lead to a sale.

But consider this, when a trailer is watched of a movie, the watcher does not run to a theater right then and see the movie. They might remember it. This is usually what happens, it creates a memory for that book you wrote, so in time they might be apt to go to your site, or look your site up and purchase the book at a later date.

An example of what goes on with book trailers. I put a book trailer up for Hannah’s Man on Metacafe.com Overnight I got a hundred hits to the video. Yes, a hundred, but that did not lead to purchases. That was more than likely some night owls prowling around to watch movies.

So is the Book Trailer worth doing? Yes, it is. Because if nothing else, it puts your name out there to people who might not stop off at a book store to read your book or your blurb, or your excerpt. It exposes more to what you have. It ups the odds, so to speak.

This being said, where should one put the book trailer, after they’ve hunted for photos to use and music and either gotten permission or paid for both, and put the book trailer together. What do you do with it? Youtube.com Well, yes, you should put it on youtube.com because they supply a lot of other sites with your video. However, never depend on youtube to do your homework. Youtube is basically for home videos and camcorders. Not book videos. So shop around, do a search and find the video places to put your trailer. Places like Blazing Trailers, Preview the Book, Metacafe.com and many others.

What will you gain if there is no direct buy from the trailer? Your book will reach many more people because you have a different audience than just readers. Your book is quickly exposed to many different people all over the world. Your book, your name and your publishers name should come up at the end of the video, and repetition of the trailer will eventually gain you immense exposure.

Exposure can lead to sales.

Where can I go to make a book trailer. Most of the newer computers have Windows Movie Maker on them. You can learn this software pretty fast and use it. But you will also need film clips, or photos, and music. Photos and films can be subscribed to from stock photography companies on line, or you can use your own pics. You can use music that is free to legally download on line or midis or you can approach a musician and obtain music and permission to use. Credits should be given at the end of the video for the pictures used and music. Don’t put your credit in the front of the video, some people get turned off quickly by this. To hold their attention, get them into your book quickly. You have to write short blurbs of what is going on in the pictures, and they must be easy to read, or the audience won’t get it.
Credit on the end of the trailer. A trailer should really be about a minute and half long, but up to three minutes is pretty standard. No more than three though or you will bore your audience.

Make it, put it up on sites, and on your own site with a buy button. Spread it around.

Don’t expect it to do all your work, it won’t. But it will help, and most people are curious enough to want to watch a video.

What comes from all this work is name recognition, book recognition and
eventually sales. It isn’t an instant cure for a sale. But in the long run it is a tool to be used to create sales.

I’ve done a private study of Book Trailers. Some are so fantastic, you won’t forget them. Some are so boring, you couldn’t remember it if you tried. If you are going to make one, make it interesting. Make it fit your book, and put it out there so it can be seen. Remember, it’s not an instant sales maker. But it can work for you.

Now, I’d love to hear comments about your experiences with trailers and what you think. So don’t hesitate to comment.
Blessings
Rita Hestand, author of Heart of the Wild, Hannah’s Man, Nick’s Baby, Jodi’s Journey, and many more.

http://riitahestand.com