Interview with Sheila Clover English

 

Bookhitch.com has recently added a new feature in which authors can upload their book videos to their pages, and we encourage all of our members to take advantage of this unique marketing tool. The April 2007 Hitch News featured an article titled "Book Video - The Evolution of a Marketing Tool" written by Sheila Clover English, founder and CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, the first company to create book trailers. Sheila is one of the pioneering individuals of the book trailer market, actually trademarking the term "book trailer" in 2002. Since the subject has grown increasingly relevant to our members, we're following up that article in this month's newsletter by interviewing her about her company, book videos, and the future.

 

How has Circle of Seven (COS) evolved since it began in 2002?

 

     The primary evolution of COS has to do with technology, social media and utilization of the videos. In 2002 there was no YouTube, no MySpace. We did 2 videos that year and had one production partner. Book videos were primarily a novelty item that could be used on websites that would take them or played at conventions and book signings.
     Today there's so much more you can do with digital video in addition to putting them online to social sites, library sites and bookseller sites. Our videos were the first to play in movie theaters and in malls. We can use them for commercials both online and off. The utility of book video has grown exponentially.
   Now we have 36 employees; 13 of those are production partners. In 2009 we did 200 videos.
     Our distribution service is the top in the US. We have contracts to get videos into places you can't just upload to. We have many booksellers that take our videos for use on their own sites and over 5000 libraries.
     The growth in utility has been the greatest evolution.

As they become more common, book trailers seem to be predominantly posted on web pages, and we see a few big name authors using commercials to market their titles. What do you think it will take for more of them to be featured on television as well, or is the price barrier too high?

 

     Great question! Televisions are now made with ethernet cards, which means they are internet ready. We have watched our videos on television through blu-ray players, Wii's and other devices. There are some television stations that take online video that we have contracts with and there is no cost at all to the client. There will be more of that coming in the future. And because of that COS now makes all of videos television-safe by default.
     Also, with more and more television stations using digital the cost to place video on TV is much less than it has been in the past. Even placing video in movie theaters is not as expensive as you might think. COS was the first company to put book video in movie theaters and we secured a contract that grandfathered us in to lower prices and better placement for the next few years.

It is clear that there are a lot of benefits that come from creating a book video, and it's been shown that they increase traffic on authors' websites, but how, in your opinion, do book videos affect sales?

 

     There's an old saying in marketing that says, "50 percent of all marketing works. You just don' t know which 50 percent." If I place a $10,000 ad in USA Today, which is what it costs, how many books will I sell as a result of that? No one knows.
     There are several of our clients who have sent us numbers, from a 13% increase to 3 times what they had expected, and the only promo they did was their book video with us. But, not everyone has a good way to track that kind of thing.
     One thing to realize is that book videos have greater penetration than most promotions since they can get to a wide audience online and off. Plus a book video, once distributed online, will continue to promote and sell your book 24/7 for as long as you leave the video online. A week after that $10,000 USA Today ad runs it ends up at the bottom of the birdcage and is of no further use to you.

Book videos can't really be considered mainstream yet, because they are still not a part of every author's or publisher's marketing plan. What's preventing them from becoming mainstream? Could cost be a factor?

 

     Since our videos start at $350 and get generous distribution as part of that price there's really not much of a cost barrier. I can tell you that we get more and more publishers contacting us and ordering videos in bulk. The more utility they find for the videos, the more benefit they see to having one in their marketing campaigns.
     Yes, we do have more expensive, high-end videos and those get more media attention, but there's something for every budget, every need.

What's the most unique idea you have seen so far for a book trailer? Is different necessarily better?

 

     Anytime you can do something new and different it will get more media attention. If you're looking for publicity, then that is very important. But, if you get your publicity in other ways you really just need a good, effective trailer.
     I love Christine Feehan's video "Turbulent Sea" because it is a music video/book trailer with a song created just for the book video. I love "The Thirteenth Princess" because it is so unusual in style with a real actress made to look illustrated. I love Lisa Kleypas' "A Wallflower Christmas" because it is a poem set to Christmas music. There are a lot of great book videos out there.
     I love some videos done by other companies too, like VidLit's "DogTown". Author Jessica Brody did one called "The Fidelity Files" that made me buy the book! And have you seen "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"? It is hilarious!

Can you describe the other options authors have for creating videos other than book trailers?

 

     Book trailers are technically full production videos that look similar to movie trailers. Book teasers are what most people are familiar with and they are photos with text. VidLit makes some fantastic videos that are stylized and flash based.
     Author interviews can be tricky. If the author is famous or does something unusual people will watch an author talk about themselves and their book. Otherwise an author interview should be more documentary-style with a theme to keep the viewer interested. But that's just my opinion.

What implications do you think that multimedia devices like the iPad have on book trailers and book videos in general?

 

     Another great question! Multimedia devices are going to have an impact on book videos. We just saw one of our videos get over 2000 views from cell phones! We get a lot of views from cell phones and PSPs. We provide book video to the Stanza eReader for iPhone and we will continue to work on making our videos device-friendly.
 

What do you see in the future for book marketing, beyond book and videos?

 

     I think online games are going to be big, creating actual communities and doing other things that will create relationships. I think book marketing will become relationship-based more than advertising-based.