Book trailers...do they succeed in marketing books? In my opinion, not really. They often seem to only capture one aspect of the book. They focus on one issue or aspect of the story; they do not (in general) summarize the whole work. In some cases, book trailers may be somewhat successful in capturing the tone of a book. I don't think a book trailer has ever made me want to read a book. In my mind, using movie-style book trailers to promote a book is akin to showing a person carrots when they're trying to decide which variety of apple to eat.
As I said in the previous post, there may be some instances in which a book trailer could be useful, and I think that the interview-style book trailers in which authors talk about their books are more effective for marketing a book than a movie-style trailer. Interview-style trailers are similar to hearing an author on NPR or seeing an author on the Today show talking about his/her book(s).
Are book trailers useful for RA? Not in my experience. I've never pointed a customer to a book trailer or even had a customer tell me that they saw one. One last thought: I think the interview-style trailers might also be of interest to someone who has read a book and wants to see the author in action.
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