Howdy, If we've never met and are wondering why who I am, please check out my LinkedIn profile (http://nlb.pub/LinkedIn) before reading further. I am a researcher by nature and prone to caution rather than enthusiasm. That noted... I've spent five months studying video trailers, talking with authors who use them, checking results, determining various forms of ROI, et cetera. Prices varied from homebrew to several thousand dollars for a "professional" trailer. Regardless of time, effort, and money, few experienced a direct link between their video trailer and book sales. I did 1-2 book signings/month (prior to the Covid pandemic) and talked with book buyers about what got them to purchase. Two factors dominated purchase decisions: 1) a trusted friend's recommendation and 2) Amazon's "Look Inside" feature. Traditional video trailers were rarely mentioned. I asked about them and learned did not universally lead to sales because (according to consumers) they don't provide relevant content. They are images and blurbs but nothing that gave an idea of the actual story, just surface content and therefore largely ignored. More to the point, they were designed to sell a product, not share the story. People's comments included "I see pictures and blurbs but one trailer's just like another", "They don't really tell me what the book's about", "I see lots of trailers and get numb to them" and "A trailer really has to stand out to interest me." I asked book buyers what would work. The phrasing varied and all led down to "Tell me the story", "Let me experience it", "Give me an idea what it's about and maybe I'll get interested." These comments correlate to people using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature to make purchasing decisions; people read the story, not marketing material. At this point serendipity entered; Sabine Rossbach, a regular reader who loves my work and is an accomplished EU actress, contacted me wanting to promote my work. She took my short story "Cymodoce" (http://nlb.pub/Cymodoce) and did a dramatic reading. I shared her video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcoag...) with 1) a test audience and then 2) some test markets. I got results in 15m (measured by trackable links) and email responses to the video ("Her performance and your words were beautiful and made me want to read more."). Sabine turned the book trailer design around and provided what people want; she communicated the story. The only "sales" content is at the very end of the video. In my opinion, Sabine is onto something. She knows how to do dramatic readings (she's done voice-overs, commercials, dubbings, staged readings, been a corporate spokesperson, is an accomplished stage and film actress ...) I asked if she'd like to do this for others. She said sure, let others know, hence this post. Contact Sabine directly via her website https://www.sabine-rossbach.com You can see her demo reels at https://showreel.e-talenta.eu/single/... (English starts about 35s in) and https://m.imdb.com/video/vi3024009241... Please note I do not guarantee results, I only offer that current data indicates dramatic readings (I've asked Sabine do more) produce recognizable, attributable results.
If we've never met and are wondering why who I am, please check out my LinkedIn profile (http://nlb.pub/LinkedIn) before reading further. I am a researcher by nature and prone to caution rather than enthusiasm.
That noted...
I've spent five months studying video trailers, talking with authors who use them, checking results, determining various forms of ROI, et cetera.
Prices varied from homebrew to several thousand dollars for a "professional" trailer. Regardless of time, effort, and money, few experienced a direct link between their video trailer and book sales.
I did 1-2 book signings/month (prior to the Covid pandemic) and talked with book buyers about what got them to purchase.
Two factors dominated purchase decisions: 1) a trusted friend's recommendation and 2) Amazon's "Look Inside" feature.
Traditional video trailers were rarely mentioned. I asked about them and learned did not universally lead to sales because (according to consumers) they don't provide relevant content. They are images and blurbs but nothing that gave an idea of the actual story, just surface content and therefore largely ignored. More to the point, they were designed to sell a product, not share the story. People's comments included "I see pictures and blurbs but one trailer's just like another", "They don't really tell me what the book's about", "I see lots of trailers and get numb to them" and "A trailer really has to stand out to interest me."
I asked book buyers what would work. The phrasing varied and all led down to "Tell me the story", "Let me experience it", "Give me an idea what it's about and maybe I'll get interested."
These comments correlate to people using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature to make purchasing decisions; people read the story, not marketing material.
At this point serendipity entered; Sabine Rossbach, a regular reader who loves my work and is an accomplished EU actress, contacted me wanting to promote my work.
She took my short story "Cymodoce" (http://nlb.pub/Cymodoce) and did a dramatic reading. I shared her video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcoag...) with 1) a test audience and then 2) some test markets.
I got results in 15m (measured by trackable links) and email responses to the video ("Her performance and your words were beautiful and made me want to read more.").
Sabine turned the book trailer design around and provided what people want; she communicated the story. The only "sales" content is at the very end of the video.
In my opinion, Sabine is onto something. She knows how to do dramatic readings (she's done voice-overs, commercials, dubbings, staged readings, been a corporate spokesperson, is an accomplished stage and film actress ...)
I asked if she'd like to do this for others. She said sure, let others know, hence this post.
Contact Sabine directly via her website https://www.sabine-rossbach.com
You can see her demo reels at https://showreel.e-talenta.eu/single/... (English starts about 35s in) and https://m.imdb.com/video/vi3024009241...
Please note I do not guarantee results, I only offer that current data indicates dramatic readings (I've asked Sabine do more) produce recognizable, attributable results.
Hope this is useful.
Thanks and Enjoy.