I made a few inquiries regarding yesterday’s VidLit discussion, and received a wonderfully quick response from Liz at VidLit.com. I asked about the viability of book trailers as a successful marketing tool for authors, and if they had any solid data about the effect book trailers have on sales.

This was her response:

It used to be we could track click-thoughs. Five years ago, when we started VidLit we kept all the VidLits on our site and could see when a user clicked to buy the book and see when they actually followed through and bought the book online. Now, that didn’t take into account any books that they bough in a brick and mortar store. We could see, at that time, that children’s books for example at a 50% click-though rate and most other books averaged 10%. There were notable exceptions like Yiddish with Dick and Jane which had an exponential increases in sales.

Then came the birth of Youtube and its ilk. And we could no longer track sales directly because there is no click to buy. Everyone who marketed books in any way, took credit for increased sales and there was no way to prove otherwise. Marketing is about raising awareness.

We still believe that authors and publishers should see themselves as part of the entertainment business vying for the same entertainment dollars and time as television, movies, and music. Publishers used to sell only to people who identified themselves as “readers.” But there are people out there that just want a good story with emotional content or need interesting information. One of the best ways to embrace this idea is to exploit the digital rights and low barrier to distribution on the Internet. In short, tell a good story, get out to a wide audience, and leave them wanting more. 

Thank you Liz for shedding light on the matter.

10% click through, followed by the author only getting 10% royalties. If the author’s footing the bill for a $5,000 book trailer for a book that retails at $20 you’d need 250,000 hits just to break even. Jeez… that’s tough! 

Jeremy