If we were having coffee today, I’d pull out my phone and show you my latest book trailer.
You’d probably say something like, “Book trailer? You mean, like a bookmobile?”
No, it is a video promotion for my upcoming book release. Book trailers were all the rage a couple of years ago, but I haven’t noticed too many of them recently. I have two trailers for both of my other books, one I bought, the other three I cobbled together. The first one I put together myself was made by putting tother music and text in a PowerPoint presentation. I made the last two using the same app I used this time. Like I said, all of them have just been cobbled together.
It’s a good metaphor. Generally, I gather a number of static images that hopefully relate to various themes in the book, then assemble them together with brief phrases that hopefully convey content. I can’t take credit for the production. It’s all part of an app on my iPhone called iMovie. The music, the backgrounds, and all the timing is part of a “trailer template” they offer.
The “free use” photos I used were chosen because I thought they reflected aspects of specific book content. I began by inserting them into the template. There were already words in the storyboard but those are easy to replace. You have to be careful with content as the splash phrases need to fit together but you can’t be too wordy or the text size is reduced. Brevity also helps with visual appeal … a viewer has to be able to read it quickly. You can play it at any time while to see if it works or if you need to tweak. There is a lot of tweaking. I try not to overthink it. Most of my tweaking is with the text content.
I don’t know that any of my trailers have generated sales, but I have to admit that they are a lot of fun to put together. With the book release coming up, I’m excited to have it up on youtube to use in pre-release promotion. You know, like this posting!
Oh, the link! View my trailer here: https://youtu.be/yMXbZoBdIx8
Be sure to leave feedback and if you like it share it!
How about you? Did you do anything creative this week?
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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC.
His latest novel, LUCKY STRIKE, is coming out in a few weeks.
Get more information on it and his other works at http://thefensk.com
Scratching the Surface 