Shannon here: Ruth Whong shares her thoughts on book trailers, plus a look into her Adventure Romance, Echoes over Stormy Sea, plus a free download of Love at the Garden Tomb. Any comments will go into Monday’s drawing. Deadline: March 29th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Ruth:
In the dynamic world of book marketing, authors often seek creative ways to capture the attention of potential readers. One approach that has gained traction is the book trailer video. Much like a movie trailer, a book trailer is a short video that gives viewers a glimpse into the narrative, themes, and essence of a book. Yet the question lingers: should authors invest their time, energy, and perhaps money into creating book trailer videos?
Book trailers offer an engaging platform that piques interest in a way that a blurb on a back cover cannot. In a world driven by visuals—where platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok dominate content consumption—video content is a powerful tool. For authors, developing a book trailer can be an enjoyable endeavor. Platforms like Canva offer user-friendly tools to design engaging and professional-looking trailers without prior training.
From my experience, using Canva to create book trailer videos is a fun process. The ability to customize elements to reflect the book’s tone and style empowers me to own its narrative.
The obvious next question is: How does it impact sales?
While creating book trailers is entertaining, it’s crucial to address the reality of their impact on sales. From my experience and observations within the author community, book trailers may not boost sales. The fact remains that the most successful book marketing strategies blend traditional methods with innovative digital tactics. Book trailers can be a component of a broader marketing plan, but relying on them alone to drive sales may lead to disappointment.
It’s vital for authors to weigh the benefits against the costs. Hiring professionals to create book trailers is expensive, and given their minimal impact on sales, it might not be the best financial decision for indie authors. Hence, I advise against spending substantial amounts of money hiring others to create videos.
While book trailer videos are a creative way to market a book, they should be approached with practical expectations. The process of creating a trailer should be embraced as a fun, supplementary marketing tactic rather than a primary sales driver.
Question for readers: Should authors create book trailer videos? Why or why not?
About Ruth: Dr. Wuwong (PhD in biochemistry, MBA in finance) has published 120+ scientific books and papers (under her legal name) and a few Christian fiction books (Love at the Garden Tomb, The Way We Forgive, Blazing China, and Detour to Agape, under R. F. Whong). She lives in the Midwest with her husband, a retired pastor. They served together at three churches from 1987 to 2020. Her grown son works in a nearby city.
She currently runs a small biotech company (www.vidasym.com) and has raised more than twenty million US dollars during the past few years for Vidasym.
In addition to her weekly newsletter and the platform (www.ruthforchrist.com), she’s active in several writers’ groups, including ACFW, Word Weavers, Facebook, and Goodreads. Through these connections, she plans newsletter/promotion swaps with others and has writers endorse her books, write forewords, and host her on guest blogs. Learn more & connect:
Ruth’s Facebook Ruth’s X Ruth’s Website
Ruth’s Linkedin Ruth’s Instagram
Ruth’s Goodreads Ruth’s Bookbub
Love at the Garden Tomb – Free Download
#1 New Release in 2 categories. Free on KU. Echoes over Stormy Sea, a thrilling adventure set in distant
lands by Whong, named a 2025 Featured Author by the Minnesota Anoka County Library.
This book, crowned the Scrivenings Press 2024 GetPubbed contest winner in the historical fiction genre, was chosen by readers on Many Books as one of the best books of the month for January, 2025.
Interested in Ruth’s other titles? Check out her book trailer below & get your copy/copies now!
Echoes over Stormy Sea Book Trailer Ruth’s Books
Come back March 21st for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
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