Now that commercials don’t necessarily air on TV, publishers are developing little films to promote books. Art students are entering contests to get funding to produce these little videos, and the good ones are getting plenty of free exposure on video web sites like YouTube. I would be surprised to discover that books haven’t been promoted via TV commercials before, but probably only blockbusters. It seems to me that the current craze for making short amateur videos is a good opportunity for many marketers to try and get some exposure for their products, but in the long run, you’ll have to pay for advertising. You can see a bunch of videos at Expanded Books.

New York Times: Publishers Try to Sell Words With Moving Pictures, 2006-Aug-3, by Claudia H. Deutsch

The Web sites have been running the videos as content, not advertising, so the publishers do not have to pay for every click. And unlike ads, the videos often have an afterlife in searchable archives, long after they have left the main home page.
“It’s so affordable that publishers are trying it for all different kinds of books,’’ said Skye Van Raalte-Herzog, a producer at Expanded Books.
The video formats vary as widely as the books being pitched.