Book Trailers - Contributed by Jeff Herd

Looking for a new and exciting method of promoting fiction to this young techno savvy generation? One alternative method is through the medium of videos, commonly referred to as Book Trailers. Similar to a movie trailer, in that they are designed to build interest in an upcoming or current novel and to encourage people to buy the book that they are based on.

The rapid rise of YouTube has been responsible for the flood of Book Trailers now available, as readers and publishers alike utilize the ease and simplicity of this video sharing site. Most book trailers run from one to three minutes and they can be as simple as the author reading a passage from the book, to an elaborate mini-movie. You can utilize the vast range of professionally designed Book Trailers created by the publishers or employ one constructed by your students on their favourite book. Book Trailers can be powerful in helping to inspire, to instruct, to assist to engage reluctant readers in a text or just to share that special book. Primarily conceived as a basic sales pitch, Book Trailers have evolved into a powerful medium to build interest in an upcoming or current publication and to encourage students to read the book and are becoming an invaluable tool in Teacher Librarians tool box.

Below, you will find links about this exciting new way of advertising and promoting your books, and encouraging students to develop understandings of the novels they have read, and consider conventions used in the media to develop suspense, intrigue, interest, etc.

Book Trailers for Readers: http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/How+to+make+a+book+trailer

Book Trailers: http://www.squidoo.com/booktrailers