Book Trailer - One Eyed Jack by Christopher Lynch

This is one of the best book trailers I've ever seen.






What do you think?


It's all better with friends.

Trailing Time

Today at CFC I'm talking about feeling the crunch of time we all feel, and then the sudden intrusion of another passion… creating a trailer… and the time it takes.

Please stop by Crime Fiction Collective and lend your advice.

It's all better with friends.

Book Trailers

What makes a successful book trailer?

I'm beginning to believe that just as one person loves a book while someone else puts it in their DNF (Did Not Finish) pile, it's pretty much the same with book trailers.

With all of the creativity, time—and often expense—that goes into the creation of trailers, the bottom line has to be sales. Does the book trailer make you want to go out and buy the book? Or, at the very least, check into it a little more?

Here are some things I like:

• Short. Maybe as long as 2 minutes, but 1 minute or less is best. Sort of like a visual Twitter program.

• Endorsements. If you've got some name-candy to throw around, throw it around early in the trailer. I'm shallow enough to pay more attention to something endorsed by Dean Koontz than well . . . Peg Brantley, or no one at all.

• Live action. Unless your still photos are super spooky and filled with tension, I'd much rather see living beings in action. I don't need to see their faces, but I want a sense of real people, not photos or statues or drawings. Even with historicals.

• Set the mood. If the trailer is for a cozy, it shouldn't be dark and evil. Music is huge, but so is color choice and pacing.

These are my personal preferences, and I'm curious . . . do you have any? Are there book trailers you love? Some you hate?

Have you ever bought a book because of its trailer?

CR: Extraordinary Powers by Joseph Finder. (Good, but Paranoia is better.)

It's all better with friends.