Book Trailers

Similar to a movie trailer, a book trailer promotes a glimpse into a book through a movie-like preview, teasing the student into reading the book. Book trailers are a two to three minute digital video in which students are challenged to combine still images, motion, soundtrack and print text in communicating ideas, discoveries and insights about a text.  They are circulated on television and online in most common digital video formats.  Book trailers mainly appeal to Internet users and the majority of them focus on the book's cover art, with taglines and book snippets placed over images depicting the book's characters and plotline. Most book trailers also include background music, and some even insert voiceovers.  The first book trailer to be played publicly was at a book convention in Shreveport, LA. in 2003. The trailer was for a book entitled Dark Symphony by author Christine Feehan. Book Trailers can be acted out, full production trailers, flash videos, animation or simple still photos set to music with text conveying the story. Sites such as MySpace, YouTube and iFilm allowed for these trailers to be viewed by the public.  Book trailers are important for students because they motivate students to to select, read and complete a book.