Questions 3: Teasers and Previews

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

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I was going to try a ‘Ye Olde Teaser Shoppe’, but the concept kept failing.  The reason is because everyone seems to have their own take on teasers.  Some people love them to reveal a lot while others hate them in general.  I couldn’t come up with anything that was cohesive and appealing, so I’m going to open the floor:

  1. What do you look for in a book teaser?
  2. What is a common mistake made in book teasers?
  3. What do you think about book trailers (videos)?  I genuinely haven’t seen these for a long time.
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About Charles Yallowitz

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.
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10 Responses to Questions 3: Teasers and Previews

  1. noelleg44's avatar noelleg44 says:
    November 21, 2025 at 10:09 am

    I think a teaser needs to be short and sweet. No one had time to read anything lengthy and might give up before they start. Trailers are wonderful, but I have no date on whether they impact book sales.

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  2. L. Marie's avatar L. Marie says:
    November 21, 2025 at 10:11 am
    1. A quick scene that intrigues me enough to read the book.
    2. I’m not sure. I can only think of movie teasers that show too much. As for book teasers, I haven’t seen any in which I could point out mistakes.
    3. I have seen a lot of these. Just about all of the ones I saw were pretty fun. They had a few sentences about the book (if that many) and some intriguing art. Most of the ones I have seen were around one minute to two minutes long.

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  3. John W. Howell's avatar John W. Howell says:
    November 21, 2025 at 3:26 pm

    I look for a brief description of the book and then an excerpt.

    A common mistake is the teaser is too long or complicated. It should give the reader an idea of the story and a sample of the writing.

    Book trailers are usually too long and way too dramatic. I don’t think they sell books but do provide a sense of the story.

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    1. DebyFredericks's avatar DebyFredericks says:
      November 22, 2025 at 10:41 am
      1. What do you look for in a book teaser? Who are the characters, where are they (a glimpse of world building) and what is at stake.
      2. What is a common mistake made in book teasers? Too wordy (ironic when talking about books, but there you go).
      3. What do you think about book trailers (videos)?  I genuinely haven’t seen these for a long time. I haven’t either, but I also don’t hang around You Tube, TikTok, or other platforms that focus on short videos. Possibly they were a thing for a while and then we all moved on.

      As a side note, I always wrote my own back cover copy as part of the submission process. So, a kind of teaser? I wanted the back cover to match the verbal style of the text and focus on what I thought were the unique facets. It bugs me when a publisher re-writes my copy using longer sentences or imprecise language that slows down the teaser.

      Since I’m substantially self-published now, my cover copy gets to stay!

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