Book Trailers Unreeled: Speaking with Film Director Tucker Capps

Book trailers, those short video teasers that take their name from the more common movie trailers, offer an intriguing way to hook potential readers through the dramatic power of visual storytelling. But creating an effective and engaging trailer is more than just stringing frames of text and images together.

Film, like writing, has a complex grammar, one that generations of filmmakers have collectively taken the past 100 or so years to discover and refine. Creating a winning book trailer, it turns out, leverages precisely the same kind of knowledge and skills that goes into creating a short film.

It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that some of the hottest young filmmakers are gravitating to this type of artistic challenge. One such filmmaker is award-winning writer, director, and producer Tucker Capps.

Based in Los Angeles, Capps is a graduate of Yale and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His feature-length documentary Goold’s Gold has played at numerous film festivals and, in 2011, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature at New York’s Gen Art Film Festival. His short story “Alice” was published in Best New American Voices 2008.

Capps currently produces book trailers and writes for an Emmy Award-winning docu-series on A&E. He joined us recently to share his thoughts on how indie-authors should consider approaching the artistic and business aspects of book trailers.

ePublish Yourself: Let’s assume that, as an author, I just finished a book and would like to create a book trailer. What’s the process?
Tucker Capps: For most authors, especially independent authors, creating a trailer with a director is a very collaborative process, partly because the budgets are relatively low. Authors typically do not put everything entirely in the hands of a director, as larger companies might do.

Authors generally have some idea of what they want as a trailer, and have developed some kind of vision about what might work.

This means that authors generally have some idea of what they want as a trailer, and have developed some kind of vision about what might work. In some cases, for example, it could be a trailer that connects smoothly with the message that they are already displaying on their web site.

When authors get to this point, they contact me directly and we talk about what’s possible, specifically what’s possible within their budget. That’s where it starts.

EY: How long does it typically take to create a professional book trailer?
TC: I recently completed one in about two weeks, but generally it takes about a month. Part of the reason why it takes this long is related to the communication between director and author, working iteratively on scripts, visual material, and then finally, cuts of the finished trailer.

EY: What is the typical length of a trailer nowadays?
TC: They can be any length, depending on the material, but I find that the most effective ones are from 30 seconds to a minute and a half. Now, I’ve done some for a literary publisher that are much longer, and those are really in a different category in that they are almost like short films unto themselves.

[Book trailers] can be any length … but I find that the most effective ones are from 30 seconds to a minute and a half.

Personally, I love those trailers. But the issue there obviously is attention span; how long can you really expect somebody to watch a trailer? And, just as importantly, how long are we waiting before the advertisement appears and lets you know specifically what the book is called and where to buy it.

EY: I understand about making it too long. But how short is too short? Is 30 seconds basically the minimum that you recommend, or could you go as low as 15 seconds?
TC: I think book trailers follow the same rules as television advertising. Some TV commercials are only 15 seconds long but, by and large, most of them are 30 seconds. The advantage with a book trailer is that since you are on the Internet, you can have 30 seconds of content and then 15 more seconds where you display the book cover and whatever other type of promotional information you need.

I think that with anything shorter than 30 seconds, you’re really not engaging the viewer’s attention as fully as you could. So, I don’t think there’s a reason to do a 15 second trailer. If someone came to me and wanted something very short, it would probably be because their budget was very low.

EY: How much does a typical 30 second book trailer cost?
TC: The cost actually has more to do with the complexity of the trailer than with the length. I completed a trailer this past fall that was only about 45 seconds of real material, but it was higher in the cost spectrum mostly because it was very fast-paced, with many cuts and numerous images.

The cost [of a book trailer] actually has more to do with the complexity of the trailer than with the length.

So it really has more to do with the complexity of the trailer than anything else. People know from media reports about Super Bowl advertisements that you can put a lot of time and energy into making one commercial that’s only 30 seconds long.

Having said that, the typical cost is somewhere between $2000 and $3000. I have done some that are simpler for less money, but in general, it falls into that range. If, on the other hand, I’m doing something that’s live-action, those can exceed $3000 pretty easily because you’re dealing with actors and all kinds of other incidental costs including props, location, and other considerations.

EY: You suggested that authors typically have some idea of what they would like, but what happens if an author has no idea of the type of trailer they should produce?
TC: I find it very helpful if authors have looked at other trailers, television advertisements, or even music videos to identify what they like and the kind of sensibility that appeals to them. I consult with authors from the very beginning. In some cases, an author will come to me with a vision, but after talking to them, they might realize that something entirely different might work even better. So there’s a lot of communication involved.

I find it very helpful if authors have looked at other trailers, television advertisements, or even music videos to identify what they like and the kind of sensibility that appeals to them.

One particular case comes to mind. I recently worked with an author who wanted to create a trailer featuring just interviews with him. After talking a little bit, we both realized that there was a unique narrative thread throughout his memoir, and that it might be better to bring his story to life through animation instead of a simple talking head to hold the trailer together.

EY: So what does an author typically need to supply you in order to get started?
TC:  First of all. I need to spend time with the books with which I’m working. I like to dig into the pages and, if not read the entire thing, then read enough of it to get a very strong sense of the tone of the book and how this could be used to market it to its key demographic.

It’s also very helpful to examine any promotional material that the author (or publicist or publisher) might have written. Those materials help me align the trailer with whatever promotion and marketing the principals are already doing in other realms.

It’s also helpful to simply look at the cover of the book. Sometimes the artwork on the cover really sets the aesthetic, and this can be leveraged for not only the trailer but also the web site and everything else involved in promoting the book.

Most books are candidates for a book trailer … I can’t really think of a genre that wouldn’t benefit from a book trailer; perhaps an encyclopedia would be difficult.

I also have a couple of therapeutic books that I’m doing in the coming months. Add to that a young adult book involving Greek gods battling; a fantasy novel set in a mythical Greek world. So basically, I can’t really think of a genre that wouldn’t benefit from a book trailer; perhaps an encyclopedia would be difficult.

EY: Who owns the trailer after you have completed it?
TC: The author owns the trailer. As the director, I retain the right to put it on my own web site and attach my name to it, but authors own the trailer. However, another aspect to consider is music rights. It is advisable that authors license the music that they use in their trailers. And one of the services that I offer is that I am able to find licenses to good music for really low prices.

Another aspect to consider is music rights. It is advisable that authors license the music that they use in their trailers.

Music licensing can be very, very expensive, but using contacts that I have established as a filmmaker, I know a lot of composers and have access to their music. Another great option is the Vimeo Music Store which makes it easy to search for music that offers a Creative Commons license, an excellent alternative for productions with a minimal budget.

EY: Is Creative Commons growing for music?
TC: Yes, absolutely. I think many musicians have had their music online for a while, and a number are simply adding these licenses to their music. Overall, this is a wonderful thing for filmmakers and content creators of all sorts.

EY: What do you recommend that authors do with the book trailers they received from you? Do you help them place the trailers on YouTube and other services?
TC: To begin, I deliver the book trailer in ways that look best on the Internet. I upload the trailers to either an author’s YouTube account or my personal YouTube account, in the highest possible quality — something that even a lot of sophisticated computer users don’t know how to do. I also deliver the book trailer in Vimeo form, which allows authors to stream the video from their web site.  Finally, I deliver the trailer as an MOV file that authors can play during a book reading or a book release party.

I do tell authors upfront that I can make the best trailer in the world but it takes a lot of work to get something seen.

As far as PR (public relations) is concerned, such as getting the trailers placed on specific web sites, I recommend a number of things to authors but that’s not the kind of thing I get too involved with. I do tell authors upfront that I can make the best trailer in the world but it takes a lot of work to get something seen. It really is a matter of contacting a lot of people, and possibly hiring a publicist if you have the resources for that.

A really wonderful use of these trailers is adding them to the author’s page on Amazon. Reading a synopsis of a book is helpful, but watching a short trailer can add much more excitement to the book and potentially tip the balance to lead someone into a sale. One of my authors, Audrey Braun, has really benefited from this with her book A Small Fortune, which became a Kindle bestseller. Having the trailer on her Amazon page really helped generate buzz and movement.

EY: Do you offer interactivity with the book trailers you produce? So, for example, could a viewer click a button in the trailer to purchase the book directly?
TC: Vimeo offers that as a possibility. It hasn’t come up yet as a request in the trailers I’ve created, though it certainly should be possible. That does seem like a natural path for book trailers to offer that extra level of interactivity.

EY: Does the ultimate creative control rest with the author or with you (as the director)?
TC: Absolutely with the author. It’s a very delicate process because someone might have spent years writing a book and they want to see it portrayed in the best way. Of primary importance to me is to please the author and make sure that they love the aesthetic I am working in, and ultimately that they’re pleased with the finished trailer.

It’s a very delicate process because someone might have spent years writing a book and they want to see it portrayed in the best way.

And that’s why communication is so important every step of the way. Before I begin casting, location-scouting, or animating a trailer, I show authors a draft script and/or visual materials I’m considering using. It’s important that authors are engaged in the process and that expectations are properly communicated in both directions.

EY: How effective would you say book trailers are today?
TC: I honestly don’t know how effective they are quantitatively, and I’m not sure anyone has completed a comprehensive study. I can say from having seen trailers spread rapidly across the Internet that when a trailer resonates, it can definitely be helpful in exposing the book to a lot of eyes that wouldn’t see the title otherwise.

In terms of how convincing it is to readers that they should buy a book because they watched a really amazing book trailer, I don’t know. I guess we have our own personal experiences based on movies to guide us.

EY: In terms of creative aspects, do you have any suggestions to authors to help the trailers go viral?
TC: I don’t think there’s any one aesthetic choice that would make something go viral, but I do think that it’s important to view a trailer as its own kind of entertainment unto itself. I think that’s true of television commercials as well. If the trailer is engaging enough, if it’s something that people want to see, then it will be passed on.

I don’t think there’s any one aesthetic choice that would make something go viral, but I do think that it’s important to view a trailer as its own kind of entertainment unto itself.

I think another principle that is important to me is that the trailer shouldn’t feel like advertising. When you think of the demographic of people who read books, they are reading books partly because they don’t want to spend all of their time watching television. So for a book trailer to be just like a regular television commercial would be disappointing.

EY: Is there somewhere that authors can go to see a number of book trailers easily?
TC: You can search for book trailers on YouTube and generate prodigious results. For example, if you use “book trailers” as your search terms, you’re going to find a lot of vampire and crime novels. And if you happen to be writing one of those books, that’s perfect.

What’s hard to find are book trailers within a genre. For instance, it can be hard to find purely literary book trailers. In general, I haven’t yet seen a place where you can search for book trailers within different genres. There are places on the web where trailers get posted regularly, such as the Publishers Weekly Blog. There also happens to be an interesting collection of commissioned short films/book trailers at electricliterature.com.