Trailers?

[P.W.]

Hi,

I have my first novel coming out later this year ( ghostfleetbook.com ) and wondered the group's advice on trailer videos, ala a short online video about the book, similar to how movies promote. Have any of you used these in your projects? If so, what worked and what not?

Thank you!
P.W. Singer

[Justin]

Hi, P.W
First off, congrats on the book, the cover looks great and the book sounds interesting. I feel that book trailers are one of the most underrated and underused tools of promoting. I myself have made three trailers for my books and I plug and post links to them wherever I can. The best thing to do is give a brief description and tell the story of your book briefly within the trailer which of course will be by using fitting images and quick and catchy captions.

I enjoy making book trailers and always have fun with them and that's what you want to do, don't treat it as a must or and shoud I but have fun doing it as well. A good trailer is usually between 1:30-2:30 on average. Again, you want to tell a little bit about the story but you don't want to give anything away. It's sort of like any movie trailer, you piece together certain parts as a teaser to build up interest with potential readers.

I posted all my trailers on Youtube, gave them music(choosing the right music is key and there's plenty of free music sites including Youtube that provide songs) and while they aren't being liked as much as i'd like I know they are there for anyone interested in knowing more, people who watch trailers and it helps them decide on whether or not to choose a book or if their browsing and just happen to come across them.

I say a trailer is an essential point in a book's promoting and marketing, they don't take that much to make and you'll find them fun and people really do take to them.

[P.W.]

This is so useful, many thanks!

[J.D.]

I've done three book trailers in the last few months. 2 for my books and 1 for one of my wife's books. I just use Logic Pro X for the music and iMovie for the trailers themselves, relying on the various usual places to get stock footage and images. I'm not even really proficient with the tools but it sure was fun learning.

I've got them up on youtube, here at goodreads and over at Amazon along with a couple other sites I participate in. I know that I've generated at least a few sales with them.

One of the things I noticed while doing them was that I really had to sit back and examine my books with a fresh eye. What parts of the story did I want to key on, what themes did I want to mirror. A book trailer is relatively speaking quite short so you have to pack it with as much meaning and excitement as you can.

I've even been thinking about possibly working on a trailer for the book I'm writing right now. It might help me to crystalize some of the things that are hazy in my mind still...

At any rate, I'm not a pro and have limited experience but I say if you can find the time for it, it's an enjoyable exercise and can really help you in many ways.

[J.D.]

I spaced answering one of your direct questions. In my trailers I really worked hard to build a rhythm between powerful images, footage and more relaxed images. Choreographing the changes and transitions to map to points of interest in the music helps to build emotion. In a lot of ways it becomes something like a puzzle—fitting all the pieces together tightly.

I overlay text in various places, especially where I want a particular punch. On one I just basically did a short 3 sentence version of the blurb for the book. In one I did for my wife I grabbed a passage from the book and use that prose as the titles.

If you're looking for good places to find images and footage I can point you at a few good ones. Make sure you have all the rights to that content or you can get burned...

[John]

I had five trailers for my last novel. It made absolutely no difference in sales. Unfortunately, not having a book trailer is like admitting you have leprosy.

TMWLTM - Book 1 (1st Trailer) … http://bit.ly/1wsAxQx
TMWLTM - Book 1 (2nd Trailer) … http://bit.ly/1usNyKs
TMWLTM - Book 1 (3rd Trailer) … http://bit.ly/1qup9Of
TMWLTM - Book 1 (5-Stars!) … http://bit.ly/1v1kmbi
TMWLTM - Book 1 (The Perfect Gift!) … http://bit.ly/1yP835S



Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[John]

Here's the trailer for Book 2 ...

http://bit.ly/1ExOi3k

Am I doing something wrong?

[J.D.]

@John

I wouldn't say that you're doing anything wrong. I think I approach these things differently. One thing I try to key on is music as the driver for the trailer. I have an intensely emotional reaction to music without really setting any firm expectations, so I choose music I think goes with my story and then I work from there. I also don't put voice overs in my trailers--I try to keep the communication textual on the video with titles and transitions. And I try to make it similar to the blurb for the book.

I can't tell you which approach is better though. I am so 100% not a professional at this sort of thing :)

here's the ones I've done so far. The first two are for my books and the last one is for one of EM Kaplan's books.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1M_I...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4pQl...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y19bM...

In the first two I put the music together with Logic Pro X and the last one I just bought a track. The author wanted something cinematic and that's not my specialty so I went and found something.

I'm not sure if these have done much for me either but they were a blast to make and I tweet them every few days. I did have a couple people see it and tell me they immediately went out and bought the books, but they might be the only two people in the whole world.

Anyway, just my 2cents. That and $4.98 will get you a latte...

[John]

J.D. wrote: "@John

I wouldn't say that you're doing anything wrong. I think I approach these things differently. One thing I try to key on is music as the driver for the trailer. I have an intensely emotional ..."

I think your trailers are phenomenal. But that's irrelevant. Can you attribute book sales directly to your excellent video work or not? That in my mind is the only germane question.

I live in Japan $5.00 = 600 yen, which might buy a latte without a cup to put it in.

[Suilyaniz]

Here are the two trailers for my novel Windswept.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_hAhs...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOC01E...

[Veena]

Here's the link to my book trailer.

http://youtu.be/OHclP0Zp95Y
or
http://www.facebook.com/TheUncommonMe...The Uncommon Memories of Zeenat Qureishi

Difficult to assess what difference it really made to sales

[J.D.]

@John

Thanks for your kind words.

I honestly can't tell if the trailers have generated significant sales, but I'm so early in my life as a published author that I'm trying to do every little thing I can think of to create a "presence" for myself. I know at least 2 people bought my book after seeing the video and one left a glowing review of the book. Every review helps immensely :)

Couple that with how much fun as it was to make them, and I've no regrets about the time and energy I spent on them

[John]

J.D. wrote: "@John

Thanks for your kind words.

I honestly can't tell if the trailers have generated significant sales, but I'm so early in my life as a published author that I'm trying to do every little thin..."

I think you have hit the nail on the head. It's about establishing "presence". It's about creating and promoting your (and I am loathe to use this term) brand. So just throw it out there, as much as you can, and see what happens. Don't expect anything. Because I have found the "marketplace" both fickle and unpredictable. Some things catch on fire, some don't. You might try putting kittens and babies doing cute things in your trailers.

Keep up the good work!