As I've written before, I'm generally not a fan of book trailers. I tend to find them amateurish, and for most authors (who aren't bestsellers), they're very difficult to bring to the attention of potential readers.
However, every once in a while, one will actually impress with its creativity and unique vision. The best one I've seen in quite a while is for Brad Meltzer's upcoming thriller, The Book of Lies.
I've never gotten into Meltzer's work before, but this video is intriguing enough to at least make me want to pick it up.
Wow, David. Wow. I'm not a fan of book trailers, either, but that is just cool. I can't wait to go pick that book up.
Posted by: spyscribbler | August 20, 2008 at 01:21 PM
Thanks for posting this; it's the first I've seen that truly advertises the book. Most of them just look like coming attractions for non-existant movies.
Posted by: Dana Kaye | August 20, 2008 at 02:58 PM
Well... looks like many other trailers I've seen. Maybe a little better produced, a little better scripted, and way cooler people in it. The book world folks love them Hollywood folks.
I'm a fan of Meltzer's work (he's smart, and understands both story and language), but I see this as one of the many books we're seeing now (and will for the next year or so) that are described as "a' la The Da Vinci Code."
Though, Meltzer's a better writer than either Perdue or Brown.
Posted by: Guyot | August 20, 2008 at 06:22 PM
What I like about this is that, unlike most book trailers, it doesn't look like a bad rip-off of a preview for a movie nobody wants to see. It talks about the book in a somewhat oblique way, making it sound interesting, rather than just dramatizing some scene from the book, which I never find interesting. So at the end of it, I thought, "Hey, that sounds kinda cool. Maybe I'll pick that up." I don't know if I'll read it, but at least it's on my radar screen.
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | August 20, 2008 at 07:02 PM
Agreed. Most book trailers are truly embarrassing rip offs of movie trailers.
I guess this reminds me more of the micro movies some authors are turning to.
Maybe I'm too close to the TV connection, but it just felt a little arch to me.
Posted by: Guyot | August 21, 2008 at 08:52 AM
But then again, I'm not the target audience of this trailer.
Posted by: Guyot | August 21, 2008 at 08:53 AM
This trailer just makes the book look silly and desperate to be the next Da Vinci Code(A terrible book too)
The Book of Lies isn't any good
Posted by: Cameron Hughes | August 24, 2008 at 01:13 AM
Very interesting but I don't know if I would read the book.
Posted by: Leonard T. Carruthers | August 28, 2008 at 11:44 AM
a book trailer is a great marketing strategy
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