I have a fear of book trailers. The idea of creating one for my book is appealing, and I imagine the process would be a lot of fun. Yay, creativity! But I worry. What if the trailer is better than my book? I think of how many times I've seen previews for movies and thought ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I GOTTA see that one, only to be disappointed later. I don't want to be responsible for that kind of let down.
Then again, it would be stupid to create a trailer that stinks, because who would want to buy the book? The point of the trailer is to entice someone, not slip them into a boredom-induced coma.
I guess the better question is do trailers (even good ones) sell books? I personally have never bought a book because of a trailer. Matter of fact, I never paid much attention to book trailers before becoming a writer. Did I even know they existed? Does anyone, other than the writers who use them, care about trailers?
Let's think about this...
You're a reader. You want a good book. You visit your favorite book seller. You find a book. You examine the title, cover, price, description, maybe even read the first couple pages, but you are still undecided on this particular book. Or, worse yet, you do not like this particular book.
Suddenly, the lights dim. Music plays. Actors appear, and they act out the very description you just read for the book in your hand! You cannot believe the magical performance taking place before your very eyes!
But the price is still $16.99. It's still a romance and you wanted a thriller. And the cover is still lavender--you hate lavender! The trailer changed nothing about the book, but did it change your mind?
I'm thinking book trailers don't sell books, but I might make one, anyway. In case I'm wrong :)
It can't hurt to make one, and it could be a creative activity! In the end, I think agents and publishers will do the selling. They'll make you or break you. Writing is very, very time consuming and that needs to be the focus for writers. If the writing Gods' bless us or you one day, the right people will end up writing the trailer for you! I don't think screenplay writers male their own trailers unless they're small Indie folks! By the time us viewers see a movie trailer, those screenplay writers are probably knee deep in revisions of several other stories!!
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