Book Trailers + Ads
A multi-sensory experience that brings your book to life
One of the most innovative and compelling tools at an author’s disposal is the book trailer.
With countless books vying for readers’ interest, particularly in genres like romance, thriller, and fantasy, authors must find unique ways to stand out. A trailer serves as a powerful means to cut through the noise.
By combining visuals, audio, and text, a well-crafted trailer can instantly draw viewers in, sparking curiosity and engagement. It provides a multi-sensory experience that traditional marketing methods — like static images or text ads — often lack.
An engaging trailer can make an immediate impact, increasing the likelihood that potential readers will remember your book.
It allows you to convey the mood, themes, and unique aspects of your book far more effectively than a written synopsis.
Music, voiceover, and visuals come together to paint a picture of your story and immerse viewers in its world.
Whether it be self-help books, graphic novels, or historical non-fictions — RDV Media partners with authors across genres to create audio-visual experiences that bring the masses to their stories.
Types of Book Trailer Video Services We Offer
1.
Teaser
Trailers
< 30 seconds
Short and sweet.
Captivating clips that grab attention and spark curiosity about your book. Exactly what you may need to generate excitement well before its release.
2.
Full-Length
Trailers
1-2 minutes
The complete story.
Extended videos that provide a comprehensive overview of your book’s story and tone, helping readers grasp its essence. This makes them more engaged with your writing
3.
Character
Spotlights
< 90 seconds
The hero (or villain’s) tale.
A brief, but impactful, deep-dive on a single character — offering readers fuller insight into their identity and the part they will play in your book’s narrative.
4.
Author
Interviews
1-2 minutes
A look at you.
Straightforward videos where the author discusses their book, inspirations and what readers can anticipate. These videos enable authors to connect directly with their audience.
Types of Book Trailer Video Styles We Offer
1.
Stock Footage
(basic)
Stock footage, kinetic typography & voice over
This option will lean more on using the stock footage to tell the story, with any added motion contained to the text elements (captions, quotes, etc.)
2.
Stock Footage
(Elevated)
Stock footage, motion graphics & voice over
This option will have heavier motion graphics used throughout — from the way the stock footage is presented, to the text, to the addition of other custom animated elements (depending on the final storyboard.)
3.
2D Animation
2D animation, stock footage, motion graphics & voice over
This option will feature 2D animated scenes and/or characters — either on their own or dynamically blended with stock footage — to boost the storytelling beyond standard motion graphics alone.
4.
3D Animation
3D animation, stock footage, motion graphics & voice over
This option will enhance the look of your trailer further with 3D animated scenes and/or characters — either on their own or dynamically blended with stock footage.
Packages We Offer
From production to performance,
we build book trailer videos that do more than look good — they support real marketing outcomes.
1
The Essentials
(Create)
Best for authors and publishers that need a polished book trailer and already have an in-house team or agency to handle distribution.
This tier focuses strictly on conceptualizing, filming/animating, editing, and final file delivery.
Includes:
- Creative brief and production planning.
- Script or shot list development.
- Video shoot, direction, lighting, and audio capture.
- Editing, color correction, sound mix, and basic motion graphics.
- One master video deliverable plus a set number of cutdowns or aspect ratios.
Best for:
- Authors/Publishers with internal marketing teams.
- Authors/Publishers who want a standalone asset.
2
The Social Launch
(Distribute)
Best for authors and publishers that want the video created and optimized for social channels, with some strategic support around distribution.
This tier adds platform-specific versions and social marketing consultation.
Includes:
- Everything in “The Essentials”.
- Multiple video exports for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and paid ads.
- Caption and hook recommendations.
- Thumbnail or cover frame options.
- Basic launch guidance for organic and paid social posting.
- Optional stills pulled for supporting content.
Best for:
- Social-first marketing campaigns.
- Authors/Publishers testing creative across channels.
- Teams that want help turning one video into multiple assets.
3
The Full-Suite
(Optimize)
Best for authors and publishers that want an end-to-end partner, from creative development through audience testing and post-launch reporting.
This is the most comprehensive tier and best means of getting strategy, production, optimization, and ongoing marketing support at an affordable rate.
Includes:
- Everything in “The Social Launch”.
- Amazon A+ content for book listing (hero banner, featured and sidebar images).
- Pre-launch audience or consumer testing on video concepts, edits, or messaging.
- Feedback summary with recommended revisions.
- Launch strategy across organic, paid, and owned channels.
- Post-launch performance monitoring.
- Reporting on views, engagement, click-throughs, conversions, and content learnings.
- Optimization recommendations for future edits, ads, or follow-up campaigns.
Best for:
- Pre-order book launches.
- Authors/Publishers with larger media budgets.
- Authors/Publishers that want measurable performance, not just content.
- Teams needing both creative and analytics support.
Contact us for a free quote
Frequently Asked Questions About Book Trailers
Are book trailers worth it?
When done right and promoted well, we believe so! Book trailer videos can help with branding, social sharing, and outreach to media or booksellers.
However, as with most things, the return on investment is tied to not only the effort we put into creating your book trailer, but also the effort you put into marketing it after final delivery.
How long should a book trailer be?
Long-gone are the days where people are willing to sit for multiple minutes on end — so shorter is better.
Keeping it under two minutes is the general rule of thumb, with many effective trailers landing around the 45 to 90 second mark.
Should a book trailer explain the whole plot?
No. A good book trailer teases the concept, tone, or conflict without giving away too much, so viewers want to learn more.
What makes a good book trailer?
Strong writing, professional execution, good sound, and a clear sense of genre or tone, are at the top of the list for what you want to see in your book trailer video.
Your trailer should feel polished, dynamic, and emotionally engaging… not like a slideshow with music.
Is audio or video more important?
Both matter equally, and both should be on point in your book trailer video.
Music, narration, and dialogue often drive the emotional impact more than visuals, so sound design should be treated as a core creative element.
Can I get a book trailer video for my eBook?
Absolutely. Whether paperback, hardcover, or digital, a book trailer video can be put to great use in promoting your work.
Can I choose the music and visuals for my book trailer video?
You certainly can. If you have set visuals and sound in mind, definitely let us know ahead of the storyboard phase and we’ll craft our concepts with your directions in mind.
What should the trailer focus on?
It should focus on the book’s emotional hook, central conflict and characters, tone, and what makes it distinctive.
Showing the “movie inside the book” instead of summarizing the book like a blurb is what will make your book trailer most impactful for your audience. You want potential readers to want to be drawn into your book’s world.
Where should authors share their book trailer?
Common channels used by authors to showcase their book trailer videos are YouTube, Vimeo, the author’s website, social media profiles, Goodreads, email newsletters, media outreach, and event presentations.
Should authors make the trailer themselves or hire someone?
Honestly, it depends on the author’s skills, budget, and goals.
A self-made trailer can possibly work if it looks polished, but if it’s low-quality or a template-style video that can be found across multiple different author’s sites or social media you run the risk of your book trailer feeling amateurish.
By going with RDV Media, you’re not only getting a professional quality book trailer video — you’re getting one that has been custom-made to fit your book’s story and tone completely, and in 3 different size formats to ensure you can share it across a multitude of platforms.
How do authors know if the book trailer was worth it after posting?
Success should be defined in advance, as it means something different to everyone, and you should also set up a means of measuring said success ahead of posting.
Whether it be driving sales on a book that’s already been released, teasing a pre-order list or increasing traffic to your website — you can stay on top of hitting those goals by tracking a custom URL, monitoring clicks and shares, and measuring whether the trailer helps with sales, media interest, or engagement.
Our Process
1. Pre-production
Laying the right foundation is essential to building any strong structure. Pre-production is where we figure out the best plan for your business. We decide on the concept(s), look, feel and style; and lock down all the details involved with how the content is going to sound and perform.
2. production
Now that we have the road map developed, it’s time to put it all together. This is where we do what we do best – create amazing content. Through editing we shape your story. Depending on the package selected, we add music, create text graphics and make sure your book trailer video(s) look how we planned in pre-production. It’s at this stage that you’ll see the first cut.
3. Revisions
Revision requests will be fulfilled within 24-48hrs of receiving them. There are up to three rounds of revisions allowed at this stage, within reasonable expectations and within the scope of the original book trailer video concept(s).
4. THE FINAL OK
With the final cuts complete and your approval signed-off, we create high quality files of your book trailer video(s) that can be used for a variety of formats, be it for web or television.
RDV MEDIA production packages are
tailor-made to fit the needs of each client.
Full service package features include, but are not limited to:
Script writing
Storyboarding
Voice over actor(s) casting & booking fees
Background music production / sourcing
… and more.