Why Shouldn't Books Have Trailers?

How I made a marketing trailer for my book, Illegal Astronauts.

Everything from movies to cars has a video format trailer these days. With the extensive decline of reading as a source of information dissemination, visual media has become a critical component of any marketing system. However, across the board, the publishing industry and authors in general have fallen behind the technological curve.

While it may seem counter intuitive at first to suggest that a written work should be represented by something other than writing itself, that cognitive approach does not take into account the fact that you need to present something eye catching to carve away a few seconds of attention in a high stimulus world.

Paragraphs do not do this.

In the same way that a short sentence on its own when following a longer statement can be impactful beyond the sum its characters, a video trailer representing the content of a book draws in people that would otherwise be stopped dead in their tracks by the forbidden word: book.

The methodology for this is simple.

First, you must identify the key elements and players within your book. These could be characters or concepts, but if you’ve managed to get far enough to start marketing, there’s a real chance you’ve already identified these items.

Next, find some music you’re allowed to use; which may be the most difficult part of the entire project. Then, using someone’s inherent ability to identify meter and paring that with the mood you wish to convey, produce a sequence of visual stimulus that draws the viewer to a final message declaring:

My book is available for purchase, now.