How To Make A Book Trailer

My eBook, Making Headlines

There’s a lot more to writing a book these days than just writing a book. Especially an eBook!

Yep, promotion is essential. It’s vital to spread the word however you can, encouraging the interest of would-be-readers to take that all-important step of buying your book online. There are endless possibilities for promoting your work, but it does take time. There’s Blogger and media interviews to pursue; social media posts on a regular basis and public speaking engagements.

On top of all that – you can even produce a BOOK TRAILER. I thought this was a fairly new concept but it turns out production companies have been making them for several years.

Being a child of the TV industry, the thought of a book trailer for my eBook MAKING HEADLINES was very exciting so I contacted a friend of ours, Stig Wemyss, who owns MEZZANINE PRODUCTIONS to see if he could help.

Luckily, he managed to find the time in his hectic schedule to fit in one more project and here is the result!

If you want to know more about Stig’s thoughts on the production of a BOOK TRAILER, read on…

JEN: How many book trailers have you made?

Rachel Bentley reporting ‘live’!

STIG: Making Headlines was our first book trailer. Over the years, we have made a number of movie trailers, including several shorts and one for the Australian feature film Rogue. The principle is the same, except with a film trailer you already have the material to work with. It’s a matter of teasing out the story without the whole thing ending up as one big spoiler alert. With a book trailer, it’s a blank canvass, a licence to be creative with how you choose to visually present the work. I found that an exciting prospect.

 JEN: Is this a growing trend?

STIG: When I found out we had the job,  I googled book trailers and I couldn’t believe how many are out there. It seems mandatory for every new release to have a visual on-line presence. It certainly makes sense for e-books and on-line releases and it made me realise what a huge market it is. We would love to more work in this space.

JEN: What do you think makes a good book trailer?

STIG: I think it’s about capturing the essence of the story in an engaging and concise way. At it’s core, a trailer is really an advertisement for the book, its job is to excite  the viewer  into wanting to read it but I also think it should stand alone.  A self-contained mini-movie with a start, a middle and an end that flirts with the story and leaves the audience wanting more.  It should reflect the essence of the book. If the book is a comedy, it should be funny – if it’s a murder mystery, it should intrigue.  Most importantly, it should take you into the world in which the book is set so the viewer already feels a connection to the story.

JEN: Do you think t’s important to read the book before making the trailer so you have a good understanding of what to produce?

A scene from the MAKING HEADLINES Book Trailer

STIG: In the case of Making Headlines, I read the synopsis and Jen briefed me on the narrative. I think it would be helpful to read the entire book but not absolute necessary.  Speaking directly to Jen gave me a pure sense of the book, not flavoured by my own version of it and that’s the most important thing, to capture and present the author’s vision in a clear and concise way.

JEN: Is it expensive? Roughly, what sort of budget would an author need to hire you?

STIG: Like with any film, the cost is dependent on the script, style and production. If you want a car chase and exploding buildings it will cost more than just having the author speaking to camera with the odd bit of text on screen. Animation is time consuming and therefore adds to the cost but we like to think that whatever your budget, we can create something that will engage the audience and promote your product. Of course, we love car chases and exploding buildings the best.

JEN: Do you always use animation?

Animation from the Book Trailer

STIG: We use animation more and more in the videos we make. Sometimes the entire piece is animated and sometimes it’s a mix of animation and real life. In the case of Making Headlines that blend worked particularly well. The animation allowed us to create a visual representation of Rachel’s world that was stylised, therefore leaving room for the reader’s imagination.  And using real life footage of Jennifer at the computer, meant we could tap into her celebrity and credentials as a TV Newsreader.

JEN: What makes book trailers a successful marketing tool?

STIG: Getting traction with any product in an overpopulated market place is not easy. In a world where everyone has a social media profile and a click and play mentality, this form of visual marketing is the most successful. The trailer got shared, liked, copied, tweeted and re-tweeted without the expense of formal advertising. A short, catchy, video is far more palatable to media-hungry consumers than any other form of promotion.

JEN: What other production work does Mezzanine Productions do?


STIG: We make Corporate Videos, web videos, TV commercials and short films for a raft of different clients and applications. We take care of every aspect of the filmmaking process, from the initial creative and scripting right through to the final edit and sound design. To find out more or to view more of our work, go to mezzanineproductions.com.au


THANKS STIG AND I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE BOOK TRAILER!

My eBook, Making Headlines

Don’t forget, if you want to buy my book, MAKING HEADLINES is available at all good eBook retailers! (Including iBooks, Amazon and Google books.)