Unboxing Books
Tips and ideas for book unboxing videos
Okay, we are all tired of the social media slog, but unboxing videos for your new release feel like a requirement these days! So what’s the benefit and how do we approach them?
First off, of course making an unboxing video is not a requirement! But are you missing out if you don’t make one?? From my end, I feel like unboxing videos are mostly just one more opportunity to get your book cover in front of your network. The post itself is not going to sell books. But maybe over time, your book becomes more visible to your audience, and it has some cumulative effect? So, if I feel like it, I make them, but if I don’t feel like it, I don’t. I’ve gotten a little bored of making and watching my own videos, so I’ve started getting more creative. Here are some examples and approaches that I’ve enjoyed, from myself and others!
The Classic
The classic unboxing is great! Just put up a camera and tape yourself opening the box. Honestly, people really like seeing your face, so it already helps just to see you unbox. It can be nice to include the full unboxing, from getting through the tape to first reaction, like Faith Kazmi’s heartwarming unboxing for her debut, BOX OF DREAMS. Or you might have the tape already open, like this classic take from Christine for DEAR MR. G:
The Light Edit
If you don’t love showing your face, I like this approach from Shelley Johannes for her book THIS JOY!, where she does a light edit for a fun unboxing:
Short and Sweet
I tend to try to keep my videos short, but that’s my personal preference. It can actually take a little more prep to do something shorter—sometimes I’ll even just skip the whole box and cut to the chase (that box tape can be so pesky and awkward!) I enjoyed this short and sweet unboxing by Max Greenfield, where he plays up a bit of physical performance in his unboxing of I DON’T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK ALOUD:
The Family—Including Pets!
Incorporating your family or your pets can be a great way to make an unboxing video more heartwarming, as you get shared, real reactions. I love seeing Joanna Ho’s family unboxing her books or Jenna Waldman’s stylized videos with her cats. Kari Gonzalez included both her family and her chickens in her unboxing for HOW TO HATCH A READER:
Stop Motion
For my ALPHABOT book, I had the idea to make a little stop motion video of the books unboxing themselves. It turned out to be fun to make and fun to watch! I should have shot this in portrait rather than landscape, but lesson learned.
Inspired by this, Lindsay H. Metcalf created this adorable stop motion animated unboxing for OUTDOOR FARM, INDOOR FARM, incorporating the idea of farming:
Above and Beyond
Sometimes, creators take things a step further than you might imagine! This one is not a unboxing, but Cindy Derby’s bold and hilarious promo video for BLURP’S BOOK OF MANNERS is an inspiration! It definitely stood out in my mind as one of the most creative promo videos I’ve seen, so I had to include it. If you have an original and creative idea for your book, you should go for it!
For my unboxing for FRIENDBOTS: BLINK AND BLOCK BUILD A FORT, I was itching to play with the Procreate animation tools and had a burst of inspiration, so I decided to create a live action animated unboxing! This is definitely my most involved unboxing video to date, but when inspiration strikes…
TLDR: Just Be Yourself!
That’s a wide range of unboxing examples for you, but I think the best videos are the ones that feel natural to the creator—so just be true to yourself! You can be as simple or elaborate as you like. (Or really, don’t record an unboxing video at all, it’s okay!)
Have fun and happy book launching!
Ah! Love all of these so much! They are getting my creative juices flowing, for sure!
These are great ideas! Your fort building unboxing is so sweet!!