Successful trailers are an example of viral marketing _ because of the huge exposure gained through Web links and e-mails. Thanks largely to e-mail forwarding, a trailer for the humor book _Yiddish with Dick and Jane was seen by 1 million people during its first week, helping to sell 150,000 copies of the book. You can view the video at:
#www.VidLit.com/yidlit#
The videos usually last a few minutes, using Flash animation, providing a razor-sharp picture. You can view company founder Liz Dubelman's own explanation of how she started producing book trailers at:
#www.Vidlit.com/editor#
VidLit also has a more modest product called the Naked Author Series. A four-minute question-and-answer session is recorded by telephone with the author, who receives a disposable camera with 48 exposures. Whatever snapshots the author takes--their book, their goldfish, a potted plant--are woven into the trailer.
Trailers for fiction books sometimes resemble movie previews. The video for _ Shadow Man_, a thriller about a female FBI agent, has no dialogue at all, just images of a police raid, a distraught woman holding her child, and a suspicious-looking man hiding in the background. You can view this video and other award-winners at:
#www.TheBookStandard.com/ bookstandard/#
#events/book[underscore]video/index.jsp#
Skeptics point out that slick videos can confuse viewers, who might assume they're watching a movie clip instead of a book promotion. And there's the expense--firms like VidLit charge $10,000 for production of a single video, making it beyond the reach of most first-time or niche authors. However, for books with a marketing budget, a trailer can cost far less than an advertisement in a trade publication, while delivering more eyeballs.
Other trailer producers include #BookShorts.com#, # BookWrap-Central.com#, and #TeachingBooks.net#, a producer of short documentaries on books used in schools.