Posted by Naomi Firestone-Teeter
The Spring issue of Jewish Book World is coming soon! To celebrate, we thought we’d share a sneak peek of the issue with an excerpt from Jaclyn Trop’s article “Book Trailers: Seen the Trailer? Now Read the Book!”:
Imagine sitting face-to-face with a potential reader, explaining why he or she should pick up your book. Add music, colors, animation, and a flash of plot to support your argument. Can you make the sale?
You have three minutes. Go!
Book trailers — short promotional videos that authors post to the Web — are a marketer’s dream, adding another tool to the sales arsenal while reaching an exponential audience. These videos, which are like movie previews but for the pixilated screen, can strike to the heart of a book’s premise in a way a traditional print advertisement can’t. Best of all, they can be replayed on command, e‑mailed and shared among Web users with the click of a button.
“Once something goes up on the Internet, it’s there forever,” said Sheila Clover English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, which creates and distributes book trailers. English trademarked the term “book trailer” in 2002 and has seen business increase from 12 trailers in 2005 to more than 200 last year.
Production time varies — from a couple of weeks to less than a day — and costs can range from several thousand dollars to pennies, depending upon the author’s degree of involvement. But distribution is free of charge, and trailers can be posted anywhere, from YouTube and Amazon.com to author blogs and reader forums.
Unlike the ephemeral power of a radio or television spot, a book trailer is “actively working for you,” English said. “It’s always selling your book.” A new author can expect his or her trailer to be viewed between 10,000 and 50,000 times in a two-week period. On average, between 30 and 60 percent of viewers make a direct purchase after watching, English said.
To read the complete article, be sure to check out the Spring issue of Jewish Book World. To subscribe, please click here.
Preview some of the trailers featured later in the article:
Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Naomi is the CEO of Jewish Book Council. She graduated from Emory University with degrees in English and Art History and, in addition, studied at University College London. Prior to her role as executive director and now CEO, Naomi served as the founding editor of the JBC website and blog and managing editor of Jewish Book World. In addition, she has overseen JBC’s digital initiatives, and also developed the JBC’s Visiting Scribe series and Unpacking the Book: Jewish Writers in Conversation.