Are book trailers the best marketing tool for authors?  Or are they a complete waste of time and money?  The truth lies somewhere in between.

First, let me caution, a book trailer video is only useful if it’s well done and most are not.

Second, you can’t just create one and then think it’ll take care of itself.  You’ll need to push it and post it all over the place.

Third, don’t spend much money on this, if any at all.

There are good, reputable companies that create these trailers and if you feel technologically baffled or simply want a pro to film and edit the piece, use them.  But video trailers are just a small piece of the marketing puzzle.

A movie lives and dies on its trailer – a book does not.  The trailer can get people excited or curious about a book and it can give off a feeling or vibe that helps influence people to want to learn more.  But how many people do you know bought a book based on a trailer?

The key is not the making of the trailer, but its distribution.  The trailer needs to go viral for people to view it and share it with others.  So ask yourself, what will allow that to happen?