A First Impression of Book Trailers

I read an article on Publishers Weekly's site that asked publicists their opinion of book trailers. Reviews were mixed at best. Since I am very new to this promotional device, I decided to check it out. I chose a publisher (Penguin) and watched the current trailers they have posted. From this tiny survey of seven, here are my observations:

• When Hollywood is criticized year after year for destroying great literature with crappy adaptations, do you think it's wise to cast the characters of your book, making an indelible mental picture for your readers, and to try to capture 300 pages in three minutes? It seems like a good way to doom the book sales right from the start.

• Even a seasoned performer like Lewis Black looked embarrassed to be shilling his book in a trailer.

• I watched two trailers that were staged like a 60 Minutes segment—an interview with the author combined with an atmospheric montage. One (for In The Woods by Tana French) came across like a Match.com advertisement with glamour shots of the author in various stages of quiet contemplation. The other (Ann B. Ross, author of the Miss Julia series) was more successful, with the author describing her writing process and inspiration for her stories. I was charmed by her southern drawl and dignified demeanor—until the trailer staged a reenactment of her in a restaurant getting a story idea from a nearby table.

• Two of the trailers took a silent picture approach. Still photos interspersed with subtitles and ambient background music—it works so well in the film industry, it's sure to be a big hit.

• Of the seven, the trailer for Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander was worth the four minutes. The video mixes still images of biblical artwork with archival clips as the author's voice-over introduces his memoir about growing up an Orthodox Jew. The script is funny and engaging, and the imagery fits perfectly. It doesn't hurt that the author's voice and delivery sound exactly like David Sedaris.

My conclusion, based on a survey of seven, is that there are many ways to go wrong with a book trailer. Is it worth the risk of alienating potential readers by casting a book's characters with bad actors or producing a piece that comes across like an infomercial? This brief bit of research has made me all the more impressed with Chris Huff's smart trailer for Ooligan's title 42.

So, are there any other praise-worthy trailers out there?