How to create a Book Trailer?
I wasn't convinced about book trailers in the beginning. I thought it would be expensive. But in an effort to increase the visibility of my books, I thought about video. There are millions of people on YouTube and if you've got something different, it can be helpful to bring in more readers. This is especially important for indie authors. It's surprisingly easy.
I created these ads for two of my books. More are on the way for the others. It took me four hours to create a single book trailer. If you're familiar with the software it probably wouldn't take you as long.
Seoul-Mates Book Trailer by pamela-fernandes
So what are the steps?
1. Research:
Before you can create your own book trailer, it's important to watch other book trailers of your genre. For me I saw romantic suspense book trailers and some Christian non fiction. Both of them were worlds apart. Watch at least ten other trailers to see styles, patterns, variations in what you can do. In romantic suspense, I saw some had scenes recorded and others were with pictures. The music was edgy and the pictures or scenes were dark, misty and had tons of effects. Decide what you want and choose a template.
2. Software
After you've seen other trailers and roughly figured out what you want to do, you must get the right software to create it. I've used free software given I'm an indie author myself.
First, you will need a background score that will have to be edited or mixed to your liking. So Audacity which is free is one of the best tools out there for this.
In order to create your trailer, you need Windows Movie Maker. There are plenty of options out there, but this is free and very easy to use, not to mention, very good stuff.
3. Storyboard
The next step is to create a storyboard. You have to create a story board as to how you want your trailer to look. Book trailers are roughly 1:45 mins long. Longer ones tend to be boring, as far as I saw. For the trailer to whet appetites, be enticing and engaging, it needs to be punchy and quick.
For both my trailers, I just took out the chapter headings from my book and then created the storyboard based on that.
4. Music
The background score sets the tone. If you can afford to, go ahead and buy a tune or score. Since this is an Indie author talking, I decided I was going to look for free stuff. There are many sites that provide music, vocals, beats and free loops. I went to looperman and searched for loops based on the mood and feel of the book. I didn't want vocals, loop and beats were fine. Once I selected the loop, I used audacity to create a long track 1:45 mins long.
Here's a tutorial I used on how to do that?
5. Pictures
Now I used pictures, because there was no way, I was going to assemble a cast and make them act out scenes and stuff. If you have access or know a drama club or drama students maybe you could record them and shoot a video, but I knew I was going the picture route so just went looking for pictures. Like the music, you want to search for pictures where the creative common license allows you to use it for your own work without legal issues. I used Pixabay. Based on the storyboard I created, I collected twenty one pictures for Seoul-mates and about ten for TRFTCU. Don't forget pictures of your own book.Images with a resolution of 1920x1440 are best.
6. Video
Open your Windows movie maker, import all the pictures into the program. Arrange the pictures in order, add music. Make it fit to your track. Then arrange transitions. Here's a video that helped me do this.
7. Narration
Now you could also add narration as I did for my Christian non fiction. I don't know about others, but it helps to create a script, practice and record. I did 4 takes using the Windows movie maker, my best was my second narration. Everything after that was just worse. If you want to know how to add narration, then check this video.
7. Conversion
Review the video with fresh eyes a day later. I stress on this, because after you do all this work, you will need a break, you're going to be very tired, and errors aplenty will escape your tired eyes. After reviewing THE NEXT DAY, save it as an mp4. YouTube and Dailyvid do not accept raw files. So save it as a high definition video.
8. Upload
Upload your video to video sharing sites. You have to join them, but I'm assuming you already are a member. Embed them wherever possible. Send it to your publisher and readers. Tada! Book trailer done.
It's an absolute blast. For me it was super fun. For Seoul-Mates, offering a view of Korean life and showing that through pictures to my readers was fantastic. So many people can visualize this book and get a feel for it through the music.Though I do have a dedicated Pinterest page for it.
As far as Ten Reminders went, I loved adding my voice to the book, so that people know how genuine I am. They can feel a connect with me on the subject.
So what's stopping you from making a book trailer. Trust me, it's absolute fun!
I created these ads for two of my books. More are on the way for the others. It took me four hours to create a single book trailer. If you're familiar with the software it probably wouldn't take you as long.
Seoul-Mates Book Trailer by pamela-fernandes
So what are the steps?
1. Research:
Before you can create your own book trailer, it's important to watch other book trailers of your genre. For me I saw romantic suspense book trailers and some Christian non fiction. Both of them were worlds apart. Watch at least ten other trailers to see styles, patterns, variations in what you can do. In romantic suspense, I saw some had scenes recorded and others were with pictures. The music was edgy and the pictures or scenes were dark, misty and had tons of effects. Decide what you want and choose a template.
2. Software
After you've seen other trailers and roughly figured out what you want to do, you must get the right software to create it. I've used free software given I'm an indie author myself.
First, you will need a background score that will have to be edited or mixed to your liking. So Audacity which is free is one of the best tools out there for this.
In order to create your trailer, you need Windows Movie Maker. There are plenty of options out there, but this is free and very easy to use, not to mention, very good stuff.
3. Storyboard
The next step is to create a storyboard. You have to create a story board as to how you want your trailer to look. Book trailers are roughly 1:45 mins long. Longer ones tend to be boring, as far as I saw. For the trailer to whet appetites, be enticing and engaging, it needs to be punchy and quick.
For both my trailers, I just took out the chapter headings from my book and then created the storyboard based on that.
4. Music
The background score sets the tone. If you can afford to, go ahead and buy a tune or score. Since this is an Indie author talking, I decided I was going to look for free stuff. There are many sites that provide music, vocals, beats and free loops. I went to looperman and searched for loops based on the mood and feel of the book. I didn't want vocals, loop and beats were fine. Once I selected the loop, I used audacity to create a long track 1:45 mins long.
Here's a tutorial I used on how to do that?
5. Pictures
Now I used pictures, because there was no way, I was going to assemble a cast and make them act out scenes and stuff. If you have access or know a drama club or drama students maybe you could record them and shoot a video, but I knew I was going the picture route so just went looking for pictures. Like the music, you want to search for pictures where the creative common license allows you to use it for your own work without legal issues. I used Pixabay. Based on the storyboard I created, I collected twenty one pictures for Seoul-mates and about ten for TRFTCU. Don't forget pictures of your own book.Images with a resolution of 1920x1440 are best.
6. Video
Open your Windows movie maker, import all the pictures into the program. Arrange the pictures in order, add music. Make it fit to your track. Then arrange transitions. Here's a video that helped me do this.
7. Narration
Now you could also add narration as I did for my Christian non fiction. I don't know about others, but it helps to create a script, practice and record. I did 4 takes using the Windows movie maker, my best was my second narration. Everything after that was just worse. If you want to know how to add narration, then check this video.
7. Conversion
Review the video with fresh eyes a day later. I stress on this, because after you do all this work, you will need a break, you're going to be very tired, and errors aplenty will escape your tired eyes. After reviewing THE NEXT DAY, save it as an mp4. YouTube and Dailyvid do not accept raw files. So save it as a high definition video.
8. Upload
Upload your video to video sharing sites. You have to join them, but I'm assuming you already are a member. Embed them wherever possible. Send it to your publisher and readers. Tada! Book trailer done.
It's an absolute blast. For me it was super fun. For Seoul-Mates, offering a view of Korean life and showing that through pictures to my readers was fantastic. So many people can visualize this book and get a feel for it through the music.Though I do have a dedicated Pinterest page for it.
As far as Ten Reminders went, I loved adding my voice to the book, so that people know how genuine I am. They can feel a connect with me on the subject.
So what's stopping you from making a book trailer. Trust me, it's absolute fun!
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