Book trailers… what do you think? Can they capture the feeling, theme, and idea of the book without ruining your perception of it?

I found a book trailer (see: The Paragon Hotel) online for the first time on Micheal’s Scribblings. I’ve not seen one online before, though I’m sure they’ve been around for a while. I know they experimented with commercials for books before, but an online trailer?

What do you think of the concept? I’m not so much of a fan… then again, I choose books in a completely different fashion than most find prudent. A book should capture your attention right? These definitely do – as long as you know where to look.

A friend (who reads my blog but only comments through email) recently asked me how I find new books…

So in looking for a new book, the first thing that will grab it is the cover. It can be very simple or ornate… but in the end, if it doesn’t catch your attention it has failed in it’s duty. Yes, a book cover is there to keep the book together and protect the pages, but it is also the book’s biggest advertisement – so really, you CAN judge a book by it’s cover and in fact you should. It’s just another product to buy after all.

After a book has actually caught my eye, it’s the title’s turn. If a book doesn’t have a particularly intriguing title how can you assume that the rest of the book is interesting? It’s up to the writer (or publisher, editor, etc.) to come up with a title that continues to hold your interest, gives a basic idea of the book’s contents, and gets you to buy the book.

Now, if I already know the author and like their work, I’ll buy the book no matter what. I have a habit of finding authors I enjoy and buying every single book an author has written – even if the following books aren’t as good. I tend to be an optimist and think they’ll magically get better. I usually stop after about 5 mediocre – bad books.

There are, of course, normal and more popular methods of choosing a book – asking for recommendations, borrowing favorites from friends, and such. But, to find a new author, you sometimes have to step out of the box. You can also try reading the back/inside cover to get a quick summary of the story rather than judge on a quick five second glance through. I have found most books, once you’ve read them all the way through, tend to not follow the summary on the back.

One of my favorite books (well, three of my favorite), the Black Jewels Trilogy, by Anne Bishop, does this. The summary of the story sounds great – and the books are fantastic. It’s just, after you’ve read the story there is so much more than can be packed into the summary… and the “bigger story” can get lost in the actual telling of the tale – and in the case of this trilogy, made it even better. In my opinion, in these books you get pulled so far into the story, you can forget you’re reading. But then again, I have a very active imagination.

Going back on topic, I’ve probably picked out over 100 bad books due to this method, but have found so many more good/great books I never would have thought to try otherwise. I actually found quite a few of my favorite authors due to this method.

One thing I did figure out along the way - you may want to try actually reading the first few pages of a book, just to make sure you like the writing style. I’m very picky when it comes to how the author writes, and have found as I read more, the pickier I become. Make sure you can stick with the book even if the author’s writing style is not what you prefer.