Thoughts on Book Trailers

With video becoming more and more accessible (read: cheaper to produce at high quality) we're seeing videos creep in to more and more product categories, and the publishing industry is no exception. Book trailers are becoming common, even as authors like Jonathan Franzen express their "profound discomfort" at doing them. 

A wide range of videos are lumped together into the category of "Book Trailer"... anything from the author droning into a webcam  to a full on movie-style production.  But my favorites are the ones that blend the two. 

The joy of reading is all about transporting yourself into the world of the story, so blending the world of the author with the world of the book seems the perfect combination for this genre.  We can give a taste of the world of the story without literally re-creating any scenes or characters from the book, addressing the concern that some have with book trailers; that by they cheapen the experience of reading by removing the story from the realm of imagination.  

Here's a book trailer that I produced, that straddles that line.  It's for A Sudden Light by best selling author Garth Stein.