If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Now I’m going to quiz you to see what you learned about making a good book trailer.

Don’t worry, if you don’t pass I won’t come after you with a stick.

This is just something I need to do because of the teacher inside me.

The Good Book Trailer Quiz

There are 3 things a book trailer must have:

A. A good book trailer has clarity – The viewer knows exactly what book and what kind of book (genre) is being promoted. The viewer also gets a pretty good idea what the book is about.

B. A good book trailer triggers an emotional response – The viewer gets the promise of an experience, one they know they will have when they read the book. In other words, the experience the book trailer creates promises to be the experience the reader will have when reading the book.

C. A good book trailer has a call to action – The viewer knows where to go to get the book, or where to go to find out more information.

Now watch each of these videos and figure out what is missing. If, for example, the first book trailer is missing a call to action, your answer would be 1C because #1 is missing c, a call to action.

NOTE: THESE MAY BE GREAT BOOKS! Any flaws of a book trailer often have no reflection on the quality of the book.

When you’re done with the quiz, post in the comments below how many points out of 5 you got right. The answers are at the bottom.

1. Zach Galifianakis in conversation with John Wray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afpbmyK6NKY

2. The Official Level 26 Trailer (Warning: serial killer scary!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6mIQOem-CI

3. Runner Book Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi4HGIGRxq4

4. College Girl Book Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJxzeHeIMiY

5. Funny book trailer for DeeDee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zHjKU9Fj68

Pencils down!

The answers, in jumbled order, are 4b, 2c, 1a, 5b, and for 3, b or c is acceptable. Put your score in the comments below and write what you thought of this series of posts on what makes a good book trailer.

Lastly, I just want to put out a reminder of how sound plays a much more important role than visual imagery. A few of the book trailers above do well at demonstrating that. It’s most noticeable when the sound is poor.

Okay. Class dismissed.

What Makes a Good Book Trailer Part 4

This entry was posted on September 2, 2010 at 3:03 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Book Trailers by Ezra Barany No Comments Yet