The Value of a Book Trailer

Pitch me your book in just a couple of sentences.

Ugh! Really? How am I supposed to condense the epic drama of my novel down into a few brief sentences? It's not an easy task, but definitely one that authors need to master.  The best I could do for my novel Asylum Lake was.

Memories are like water. Some float at the surface bright and clear. Some lie deeper – obscured by time and distance. Others rest far from the light in the depths of the darkness. These memories are best forgotten.

Trust me – it looks great on the poster. But even that brief description leaves so much unsaid. Fortunately, there's a solution for the teaser – it's called a book trailer and it's a vital part of an author's marketing strategy.

Sadly, we writer's don't always come equipped with the technical skills to produce our own trailers and some production companies charge an arm-and-a-leg for the service. With a little ingenuity and patience, however, there are plenty of options  to develop a trailer that helps you promote your book and strengthen your author platform.

I stumbled across Animoto and instantly fell in love. It's an interactive website that helps you turn your photos and video clips into stunning videos. The best part – you can create thirty-second videos for FREE!  I did upgrade to the paid service for only $5 a month so I could create longer videos, but either way it's a real bargain.

The process is really quite simple. Upload photos and music, create text slides to tell your story, and Animoto does the rest. You can choose from different presentations that adjust the speed and transitions.

Sure, Animoto has its limits. But you can't beat the price of FREE – and even their paid subscriptions are quite reasonable. With just a few clicks your videos are uploaded to Youtube and you can start sharing them.

Don;t just take my word for it – take a look at the trailer I created for Asylum Lake!