Submarine Channel
Last time we checked, book trailers were something of a phenomenon. We even made four animated book trailers ourselves last year. For a moment, it seemed that the book trailer would become THE way to promote new literary releases and authors to the young, connected generation. But it did not happen. Not yet.
Even the Moby Awards for Book Trailers were short-lived.
Book trailers in general are still but a niche marketing tool. No doubt the dwindling PR budgets of the traditional publishing houses are partly to blame for the current stagnation in creative trailers. Then there’s the issue of the daunting amount of underwhelming trailers out there. We waded through them for you and uncovered five more than decent ones.
Conclusion
Heck, we still love book trailers. But as a genre, it remains a rather obscure business, albeit one that brings exceptional works every now and then – as testified by the examples below. Here’s to hoping 2015 will be the year of the book trailer.
The Book With No Pictures
The trailer for the Book With No Pictures seems to be just a collection of moments filmed during a read-through by author B.J Novak. You probably know the author for his stand-up comedy and for co-writing The Office and playing Ryan Howard on the show. Nothing fancy. But wait.. wait until you see those kids become fans of The Book With No Pictures right under your very own eyes. Cleverly harnessing the contagious laughter of pre school kids as a promotional tool – this trailer manages to convince pretty much everybody that they simply have to meet the hippo Boo Boo Butt for themselves!
A Moose Boosh: A Few Choice Words About Food
Cheers for the dark and witty mood of Eric-Shabazz Larkin’s collection of poems, perfectly captured in this trailer by the Creative School of Thought! Even more remarkable, A Desk Is Not a Dinner promotes the Sad Desk Lunch project, which made us seriously question our eating habits.
Together with “Runway Beans” and “Chaz”, this trio of trailers makes for quite a fulfilling experience, one not easily topped by other series. Mouth-watering food for the brain.
T.C. Boyle Stories II
If there was ever a testament that the “apparently impossible” tasks are the ones that often generate the most creative outcomes, then this trailer for T.C Boyle Stories II would surely be it. Director Jamieson Fry succeeds in visually representing the T.C. Boyle’s 58 very different short stories in a cohesive and original way. But he also teases our curiosity about what other interesting things might be hidden in the collection’s massive 944 pages. Unpredictable, and with its sleek look , this presentation video almost feels like you’re taking a glimpse at the author himself, which is quite a spectacular accomplishment for a book trailer.
Danger Is Everywhere – Dancing Without Danger
This trailer might make you rush to the closest bookstore to purchase a copy of Docter Noel Zone’s life-saving manual. Or you might spend a large chunk of time watching (possibly in loop) the other episodes in the series before rushing to the closest bookstore to purchase David O’Doherty’s “Danger Is Everywhere”. One thing’s for certain: you won’t get enough from hearing O’Doherty’s voice and looking at Chris Judge‘s illustrations, which is exactly what Puffin Books were aiming for.
Noggin
There’s hardly anything indicating that this is not a trailer for an indie-vibe film like Juno or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Except that we’re told of Noggin’s being found wherever books are sold. Director Ben Jenkins takes quite a risk portraying the book‘s protagonist Travis Coates in a way that makes it quite impossible for readers to picture him differently, yet this work definitely brings book trailers one step closer to their cinema counterparts. Might be just what’s needed to put book trailers in fashion!
