Picture this: you’re chilling in an elevator, minding your own business, when Matt Lauer (host of the Today Show and my favorite celebrity example) hops onboard. He’s yammering away on his phone, lamenting the loss of an author guest. As the doors close, he tells the person on the other end to find a replacement quickly and hangs up.
He turns toward you and catches your eye, prompting him to ask, jokingly, if you’re an author. Your heart leaps! This is your moment, your chance to make it big!
You clear your throat and say, “Actually, I am an author.”
“Really?!” he exclaims. “What’s the name of your book? What’s it about?”
Crap. Your mind goes blank. How can you possibly condense the merits of an 80,000 word novel into a few sentences? How can you convince him to learn more? Before you know it, 20 seconds of silence have elapsed and your floor is rapidly approaching. You rush to get the words out.
“Well, ahem, see, there’s this, well, girl — and, um, she –” *ding*
The elevator arrives at your floor.
Matt gives you a wary look as you step out, sheepishly. Your moment, your golden opportunity, is gone. (more…)
When executed properly, a book trailer can be the sharpest tool in your media kit.
When executed properly, a book trailer can be the perfect attention grabber for potential readers.
When executed properly, a book trailer can make your self-published title a legitimate, professional piece.
Do you see the common thread? It’s all about the first three words: When executed properly. A great book trailer can really set you apart from the competition, but a bad book trailer can set you back from the competition. That’s why it’s so important to be honest with yourself in deciding whether or not you can create a good a book trailer. Specifically, you need to ask yourself three questions:
photo by katerha
1. Do I have the time to create a book trailer?
Odds are, you’re already up to your eyeballs in writing, managing your social media, soliciting reviews and performing other marketing tasks. Making a (good) book trailer takes some serious time and focus, if you don’t have much of either to allocate for the project it might be wise to hire someone who does have the time.
2. Am I skilled enough to create a book trailer?
Look, there’s no nice way to say this so I’m just gonna say it: Some people don’t have the skillz to make a book trailer. You know who you are, don’t try to pretend like I’m talking about someone else. Whether you don’t know your way around the computer, you don’t have a knack for visual creativity or you struggle learning new things, it’s okay to acknowledge that your forte lies in other areas and leave your book trailer up to a professional.
3. What is my book trailer budget?
Even if you’re making your own book trailer, there are still costs involved. From stock photos and video to visual equipment and editing software, depending on how involved your book trailer is you could easily be looking at an investment of several hundred dollars.
The bottom line is this: If you don’t have the time, ability or budget to create a good book trailer, you should consider using a professional or not using one at all. But if you DO have the time, ability and budget to create your own book trailer, by all means dive in and create something spectacular!
Example book trailer from one of my favorites, Chris Bohjalian:
How to Make Your Own Book Trailer
Step One: Write the script
Just like a regular movie, a good book trailer starts with a script. Your trailer should be no more than three minutes long and have a beginning, middle and an end. Begin with something engaging — text, music, video, etc. — that will grab viewers’ attention (usually a question or quote from the book works best). Bring their interest to a boiling point with a climax (the main problem addressed in your book) and then wrap up with a call to action. Do NOT give away all the details of your story, but put enough bait on the line to catch some fish.
Step Two: Put together your content.
Photos, video, text and music are the meat of your book trailer. You can choose to take your own photos and film some video yourself, or you can opt for stock images. iStock has a good variety of video and photos to choose from, as does Fotolia, but they’re not cheap. You can get away with the web quality video (no need for HD) but even so, a 30 second clip can cost $100. When you’re trying to fill 2 – 3 minutes, that adds up in a hurry. Still, it lends a professional quality to your trailer that might be worth the investment. As an alternative, you can also check out Flickr’s Creative Commons for some free photos (but many do require attribution so be sure to check).
Your music choice is also a critical element. Copyright is a big (BIG!) issue when it comes to using someone else’s songs in your trailer (as you’ve probably noticed when trying to view a YouTube video only to find out it was pulled for a copyright violation). You can choose to download some public domain music or visit iStock to purchase music clips or if you are musically inclined (or have generous friends who are musically inclined) you can compose your own music.
Keep your text to a minimum and for Pete’s sake make sure it’s legible! Unless your intention to create a subliminal message, don’t use a fancy font or blow up your text so its pixelated and unreadable. Most importantly, leave the text on the screen long enough for an average person to read it. Nothing’s more frustrating than text that blinks off the screen before you’ve had a chance to read it all.
photo by Racum
Step Three: Add effects and transitions
Here’s where your movie editing software of choice comes into play. If you’re fortunate enough to have a Mac with iMovie you can probably skip this section because your computer will probably automatically add the perfect professional transitions and effects to your video with the touch of a button. But for us PC folks, we have a little more work to do. You don’t have to get over the top editing software to create a decent book trailer. Windows Movie Maker (included on most PCs with Windows) will suffice.
Available effects range from a standard zoom in/zoom out (perfect for adding movement to photos) to more advanced effects like film grain and adjustable speeds (slow mo or fast forward). Effects can enhance video and photos while transitions will smooth the flow of your trailer as it moves from pictures to videos and title screens. Transitions include simple fade ins/outs, page turns, breaking glass, and page insets.
Play around with your effects and transitions, but never make them the central focus of your trailer. When done right, they should accentuate your content, not become your content.
Step Four: Upload to YouTube and share!
When you’ve got your video done, open up a YouTube account and upload that piece of art! YouTube is the best place to both store and share your video, but you should also embed it on your website, share the link on your social media accounts, and add it to your media kit.
What’s your experience with book trailers?
Have you made a book trailer before?
Do you have a favorite book trailer you could share?
Have you ever worked with a professional to create a book trailer?
Leave your tips, links and recommendations in the comments below, we want to hear from you!
Let’s face it: much of book marketing is rather, well, static. Enter book trailers — much like the familiar trailers (previews) you see for movies and television shows, book trailers bring your book to life with visuals and a soundtrack. The best trailers build anticipation and encourage sharing by offering the viewer/reader something capitvating, unique and different.
Book trailers come in all shapes and sizes, from professionally-edited in Premiere to a slideshow in Windows Movie Maker. We want to know: what do you think about these prolific promotional tools? Tell us:
Have you created (or do you plan to create) a book trailer for your book? If so, what tools did you use? How long did it take you?
Has a book trailer motivated you to check out a book? Has one ever turned you off of a book?
Are book trailers an effective promotional tool? Are certain genres better suited for book trailers?
Why are book trailers growing in popularity?
Are the most effective book trailers those professionally made? Can you tell the difference between professional and amateur trailers?
We can’t wait to hear your responses! To join the discussion, please leave a comment below addressing any (or all) of the above questions. Also, mention the discussion to your indie author friends — we’d love to hear from everyone!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could sell thousands of copies of our books just by sharing the raving reviews we received from our family and friends? Can you imagine these gems on the back cover of your book?
photo by brandijordan
“Best thing she’s written since she scribbled her name in crayon on her bedroom wall.” - Dad
“It was the first book I read that wasn’t required for school, so I guess it was pretty good.” - Brother
“The book was great, but I knew it would be. She’s always been a talented child. Now if only she’d get married and give me some talented grandchildren.” - Mom
While those are all moving endorsements, unfortunately our families don’t carry enough weight in the writing community to boost our sales with their honest opinions. Instead, we are forced to look elsewhere, to popular bloggers and news outlets whose opinions have value outside our household in order to let our potential readers know that we are every bit as good as we say we are.
But how do we get those reviews? What’s the secret to getting someone to write a review of your book? What hoops do you have to jump through? Who do you have to beg? Where is the key to the secret under world of book reviewers?
Don’t panic, the secret to getting a great book review is in fact very simple. All you have to do is ask! (more…)
Anytime you request an interview, you use it. Anytime you contact a blogger, you use it. Anytime you solicit a review, you use it. Anytime you create an online dating profile, you use it.
Okay, maybe that last one was a stretch…but the first three and a long list of others are all situations in which you will need an updated, well designed, engaging media kit. When properly executed, your media kit should work for you like a hired Hollywood publicist, promoting you and your books. It should leave potential interviewers, reviewers, and bloggers impressed by and interested in your work.
So the question is, does your media kit get the job done?
If the answer is no, you’re not alone. Upon conducting an honest review of their media kits, most authors find that their promotional package is not actually promoting them very well. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, but in most cases we authors struggle to answer two critical questions about our media kits:
1. What in the world do I put in it?
2. How am I supposed to use it?
Does that strike a familiar chord with you? If so, I have good news. By the end of this blog post you will have the answers to both of those questions and access to a detailed sample of what a good media kit looks like, which will put you well on your way to creating a successful media kit.
So let’s get down to it. Here are Duolit’s three easy steps for building a media kit that rocks! (more…)
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Picture this: you’re chilling in an elevator, minding your own business, when Matt Lauer (host of the Today Show and my favorite celebrity example) hops onboard. He’s yammering away on his phone, lamenting the loss of an author guest. As the doors close, he tells the person on the other end to find a replacement quickly and hangs up.
Let’s face it: much of book marketing is rather, well, static. Enter book trailers — much like the familiar 
We're 
