Book Video Trailer
Book Trailer Video Production
A book trailer has a few seconds to stop someone scrolling and well under two minutes to make them want the book. We write the script, design the visuals and edit the video, then cut it to fit every place you plan to share it.
- Script, design and edit by our in-house team
- Licensed music, footage and fonts only
- Versions for wide, square and vertical formats
- Revisions included until the brief is met
The problem
Most book trailers summarise instead of selling
The typical weak trailer is the back-cover blurb read aloud over slow-moving stock photos, with the title appearing only at the end. By then most viewers have scrolled past. Others try to look like a film trailer on a small budget and end up looking cheap, which tells a reader something unfortunate about the book.
Trailers that work treat the opening seconds as the most important part, keep the text short enough to read at a glance, and make the cover and the genre clear early. They end with one instruction: where to buy, pre-order or read a sample. A trailer is an advert, and it is judged like one.
Length and format
How long a book trailer should be
Most guidance puts an effective book trailer somewhere between about 30 and 90 seconds, and shorter is usually better. Vertical feeds such as Reels, TikTok and Shorts reward the shortest cuts, often 30 seconds or less, while a version on YouTube, your website or a retail page can run a little longer because people there have chosen to watch.
So we rarely make just one file. A typical trailer is produced as a main cut plus shorter edits, in wide, square and vertical formats. Text is large and on screen long enough to read, and the story works with the sound off, because many people watch social video muted.
Not sure which option fits?
Send us the brief. You will get a scope, a timeline and a fixed price within 24 hours — no obligation.
What is included
What goes into a trailer
Concept development
We read your synopsis and sample chapters and propose an angle: the mood, the central question and the one image or line the trailer is built around.
Script writing
On-screen text or voiceover script, written tight. Every line earns its seconds, and you approve the script before production starts.
Production
Licensed stock footage, motion graphics or illustrated scenes, depending on genre and budget, with licensed music and optional voiceover.
Custom design
Titles, colours and type taken from your cover, so the trailer and the book look like the same product.
Platform versions
A main cut plus shorter edits in the aspect ratios you need, with captions burned in where the platform needs them.
Launch support
A suggested caption and description for each upload, and still frames from the trailer you can use as posts or thumbnails.
How it works
Our trailer production process
1. Brief
Synopsis, cover, target readers, launch date and where the trailer will be shared. Send any trailers you like, from any genre.
2. Script and storyboard
A script and a simple frame-by-frame plan with sample visuals, agreed with you before anything is animated.
3. First cut
The full edit with music and text for your review. You comment on timing, wording and imagery.
4. Revisions and delivery
Changes until the brief is met, then final MP4 files in every agreed format and length.
Rights and honesty
Licensing, ownership and realistic expectations
Everything in your trailer is licensed for promotional use: footage, music, fonts and any illustration. That matters, because a trailer with unlicensed music can be muted or removed by the platform after you have built a campaign around it. You receive the final files to use on any channel you choose.
A trailer is one tool in a launch, not the launch. It works best shared consistently alongside your other promotion and placed where readers already are: your retail page where allowed, your website, your newsletter and your social channels. We do not promise views or sales from a trailer alone.
Pricing
What a book trailer costs
Trailers are quoted per project. The main factors are length, the visual approach (stock footage and motion text cost less than custom illustration or animation), whether you want a professional voiceover, and how many versions and formats you need. You get a fixed price before work begins.
If you are also planning teaser graphics, ordering both together keeps the style consistent and costs less than commissioning them separately.
Free proposal
Tell us the goal. We’ll send the plan.
Share your requirements and a strategist gets back to you within 24 hours with scope, timeline and a fixed price. No obligation, no sales pressure.
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Response within 24 hours
Usually much sooner during business hours.
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Talk to a strategist
Not a call centre — the person who scopes your work.
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Fixed pricing upfront
You approve the number before anything starts.
Prefer to talk?
[email protected]Questions
Questions about book trailer videos
Still unsure about something? Talk to a specialist — no script, no sales pitch.
Usually between about 30 and 90 seconds, and for most social platforms nearer the short end. We normally deliver a main cut for YouTube and your website plus shorter edits for vertical feeds, so you are not forcing one length onto every platform. The opening seconds matter most whatever the length.
A trailer on its own rarely moves sales. It helps as part of a wider launch, giving you shareable video for social media, your website and newsletter, and something more engaging than a static post. We will not promise views or sales, but we will make a trailer that represents the book well and ends with a clear call to action.
It can. Many trailers work with on-screen text and music only, which suits muted social viewing. A professional voiceover can add atmosphere for some genres, such as thrillers or memoirs. We will recommend an approach in the concept stage and quote either option.
You can use the files anywhere you are allowed to post video, including YouTube, social platforms and your own website. Retailers have their own rules on video, so check what each one currently permits for your listing. All music and footage we use is licensed for promotional use.
A synopsis, the cover file, a few sample chapters or key scenes, a description of your target readers and your launch date. Examples of trailers or films whose mood you like are very useful. If you want specific lines or reviews quoted on screen, send those too.
Works well with
Pair it with the rest of the stack
Ready when you are
Ready to work with the pros?
Get a free proposal in 24 hours — scope, timeline and fixed price. No obligation, no lock-in contract.
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