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As I grew older and the Internet became more widely used, I would troll the websites of my favorite authors and series to find out when the newest book would be released.
Imagine my surprise when recently this summer I discovered that publishers have discovered a new form of advertising: Book Trailers.
I was looking at the website of one of my favorite authors, Meg Cabot, for some research on an article I was writing. I found out that not only was she writing a new book, but she had a Youtube page where there was a trailer for the book.
For those unfamiliar with what a trailer is, it is basically a commercial or preview, such as the previews we see before watching a film.
I thought it was interesting that Cabot's publishers had chosen this form of advertising, and to me, it was ingenious. With the access that we have to the Internet these days, it makes it that simpler for an author to get the word out about their newest novel. This is especially a good advertising campaign towards teens as well, as they are fascinated with the web and technology.
But my amazement did not stop there. I decided to research this idea a bit further, and I found out that there is actually a market for these book trailers. Actors are hired, location scouting takes place, directors and producers put in $50,000 worth of effort for a video commercial of about 15 seconds to a minute.
And it is not just Internet sites that post the commercials; cable channels such as MTV and Syfy also air the commercials.
In a world where technology is starting to weed out the obsolete paperback novel, it is nice to see that publishing companies are putting that technology to good use to increase their sales and get readers excited to pick up a newly released novel.
