A Conversation with Bryan Thomas Schmidt Part II
Today is the conclusion of my conversation with author Bryan Thomas Schmidt. If you missed Part 1 don't worry, you can find that HERE. As in Part 1, my responses begin with SBK and Bryan's responses begin with BTS.
SBK: Yes, it was difficult to find space battle scenes and making sure you have permission for these items and the music or verifying that they are, indeed, free is critical. I remember you sent me two samples of music. I think the one we went with fit your desired mood better. The voice over added so much depth to the trailer but it took time to get done. I remember the first take, Randy read the script a little to fast so we had to re-record it with him reading a little slower. That slower pace worked out very well. I believe building a book trailer is rather simple once you are comfortable with the program you're using. What makes the trailer stand out though is the details - the small stuff. We really spent some time on the small stuff like: adjust this picture so it starts 2 second sooner or 1 second later or add this sound here...things like that. In the end though it turned out really well. What do you think?
BTS: Yeah, although those Hollywood special effects really would have added a lot. I don’t know why you say computer graphics are so hard to do on the fly. Some people. Actually, I’m quite proud of it although we did miss the trim on a couple of the pictures. I think it does represent the story well and I think it’s a fun trailer. I wish I’d had that video footage of kids playing space battles from my youth. I really wanted that in there. But some day...on another book. My biggest question is whether book trailers sell books. I’m not the type of person who buys books based on that. On some occasions they intrigue me, but I find my books other ways. I do know there are people for whom book trailers are really big selling points. What do you think? And what are the keys to a good booktrailer?
SBK: Does any promotion truly sell anything? I think this is a big mistake, made by many, when it comes to promoting their books. You see, exposure is the key. The true art of a successful promotion is in the exposure. Book trailers are great for grabbing attention because everyone is so keen to watch a two minute home video in hopes of being entertained. It is another avenue to generate word of mouth and that is the sweet spot. For example, let's say Jane visits her best friend, Brenda, and as they are talk Jane mentions reading a great book called The Worker Prince. Brenda asks "what's it about?" As Jane begins to describe it Brenda interrupts with "hey, that sounds like this video Jim sent me at work. That was pretty cool." Now Brenda is more inclined to buy the book because she has seen the trailer and a friend has confirmed the book is good. Yes, book trailers generate attention. My trailer was in a video contest recently and the views for the trailer jumped greatly but so did the search results on Amazon and the Likes. This is what we want, attention, exposure, word of mouth....
What are the keys to a good trailer? It has to be entertaining and grab the attention of the viewer quickly. It should tell a story of what your book is about. Every aspect of the trailer should compliment each other. Pace is critical, you don't want it to be to fast or to slow. Bryan you hit on an important aspect earlier, even though many will use free music and images you still want the trailer to be unique and convey the feel/theme of your book...not remind the viewer of an earlier book, song, or movie. Finally, be careful of the length - you don't want a 10 minute book trailer unless Spielberg is directing it. What kind of feedback have you received for your book trailer?
BTS: Well, people have told me they liked the unique approach of focusing on story rather than theme or blurbs and I’ve seen other authors doing that now, so perhaps I started a trend, I don’t know. I haven’t seen as much traffic for it on my blog but I do see some on YouTube and Vimeo. Still, I wonder what the best ways are to spread it out there for exposure. What sites do you recommend? What techniques for letting people know it exists?
SBK: If your looking to purely gain exposure for your book trailer I recommend entering it in video contest. I recently entered mine for Born of Blood in the You Gotta Read Book Trailer Video Contest. That garnered a lot of views but I can't tell if that translated into book sales. If you are on social networks like Google + or Goodreads you can actually upload your trailer to your profile. You can also link it on your Facebook account. The important thing is to have it on your website. When you promote your site you promote your trailer at the same time. If you know someone who is a fan of posting videos ask them to include yours. Just like anything else with your book - you have to think outside the box to gain exposure.
BTS: Indeed. That's why using a variety of methods is the most effective way to market. You have to reach people where they are and that means getting outside your own box into theirs. A variety of approaches is the only way to do that. Thanks for all of your thoughts on this, Brian, and for your help with putting together a great trailer for my book.
SBK: Thanks for the fun conversation Bryan and good luck with your books. Maybe in the future we will work on another book trailer again.
SBK: Yes, it was difficult to find space battle scenes and making sure you have permission for these items and the music or verifying that they are, indeed, free is critical. I remember you sent me two samples of music. I think the one we went with fit your desired mood better. The voice over added so much depth to the trailer but it took time to get done. I remember the first take, Randy read the script a little to fast so we had to re-record it with him reading a little slower. That slower pace worked out very well. I believe building a book trailer is rather simple once you are comfortable with the program you're using. What makes the trailer stand out though is the details - the small stuff. We really spent some time on the small stuff like: adjust this picture so it starts 2 second sooner or 1 second later or add this sound here...things like that. In the end though it turned out really well. What do you think?
BTS: Yeah, although those Hollywood special effects really would have added a lot. I don’t know why you say computer graphics are so hard to do on the fly. Some people. Actually, I’m quite proud of it although we did miss the trim on a couple of the pictures. I think it does represent the story well and I think it’s a fun trailer. I wish I’d had that video footage of kids playing space battles from my youth. I really wanted that in there. But some day...on another book. My biggest question is whether book trailers sell books. I’m not the type of person who buys books based on that. On some occasions they intrigue me, but I find my books other ways. I do know there are people for whom book trailers are really big selling points. What do you think? And what are the keys to a good booktrailer?
SBK: Does any promotion truly sell anything? I think this is a big mistake, made by many, when it comes to promoting their books. You see, exposure is the key. The true art of a successful promotion is in the exposure. Book trailers are great for grabbing attention because everyone is so keen to watch a two minute home video in hopes of being entertained. It is another avenue to generate word of mouth and that is the sweet spot. For example, let's say Jane visits her best friend, Brenda, and as they are talk Jane mentions reading a great book called The Worker Prince. Brenda asks "what's it about?" As Jane begins to describe it Brenda interrupts with "hey, that sounds like this video Jim sent me at work. That was pretty cool." Now Brenda is more inclined to buy the book because she has seen the trailer and a friend has confirmed the book is good. Yes, book trailers generate attention. My trailer was in a video contest recently and the views for the trailer jumped greatly but so did the search results on Amazon and the Likes. This is what we want, attention, exposure, word of mouth....
What are the keys to a good trailer? It has to be entertaining and grab the attention of the viewer quickly. It should tell a story of what your book is about. Every aspect of the trailer should compliment each other. Pace is critical, you don't want it to be to fast or to slow. Bryan you hit on an important aspect earlier, even though many will use free music and images you still want the trailer to be unique and convey the feel/theme of your book...not remind the viewer of an earlier book, song, or movie. Finally, be careful of the length - you don't want a 10 minute book trailer unless Spielberg is directing it. What kind of feedback have you received for your book trailer?
BTS: Well, people have told me they liked the unique approach of focusing on story rather than theme or blurbs and I’ve seen other authors doing that now, so perhaps I started a trend, I don’t know. I haven’t seen as much traffic for it on my blog but I do see some on YouTube and Vimeo. Still, I wonder what the best ways are to spread it out there for exposure. What sites do you recommend? What techniques for letting people know it exists?
SBK: If your looking to purely gain exposure for your book trailer I recommend entering it in video contest. I recently entered mine for Born of Blood in the You Gotta Read Book Trailer Video Contest. That garnered a lot of views but I can't tell if that translated into book sales. If you are on social networks like Google + or Goodreads you can actually upload your trailer to your profile. You can also link it on your Facebook account. The important thing is to have it on your website. When you promote your site you promote your trailer at the same time. If you know someone who is a fan of posting videos ask them to include yours. Just like anything else with your book - you have to think outside the box to gain exposure.
BTS: Indeed. That's why using a variety of methods is the most effective way to market. You have to reach people where they are and that means getting outside your own box into theirs. A variety of approaches is the only way to do that. Thanks for all of your thoughts on this, Brian, and for your help with putting together a great trailer for my book.
SBK: Thanks for the fun conversation Bryan and good luck with your books. Maybe in the future we will work on another book trailer again.
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