Today I'm going to talk about book trailers and utilizing them online and the why of it: We're competing with a whole new generation of Youtube mentalities.
First, let me tell you that in today's age, you need to think about providing some sort of visual experience to advertising your book -this includes people who are readers at heart!
If you don't believe me: google 'fan made book trailers'. I need not say anything more.
The point here is that giving a visual to your book is so important: Whether it be a vlog of you talking about your book and why readers need to read it, a book trailer, a slogan to match your theme, etc.
Making a Hollywood style book trailer can be very cost prohibitive. And if you don't have the platform to push it out there then you are probably wasting your money. Remember the goal here is to make money, not burn it. and if you're not careful when starting out, you'll end up in the hole.
I have good news. There is a company that has made it easy and affordable for you to get a book trailer going that is sharable on most online formats, including Youtube, Facebook, your own site, Twitter, Tumbler, etc.
Most of the trailers are under 30$. (That's right, it's affordable for us budget wise folks!) I gave it a shot and really, I thought it was well worth the money. *(I am not an affiliate or an an endorsement or getting $ for sharing this. this is my personal first impression account at trying them out)
Anyway, here's the site I used:
https://www.wondertrailers.com/
Here's the result of the two I picked to give you a feel of what to expect on the other end:
If you are tech savvy, you can probably use power point to do the same thing, but beware, make sure that your music doesn't violate copyrights!Beware: Make sure your video is long enough if adding it to certain sites. I had to loop mine above to get it onto some of the pages I mentioned above, because the one above was too short (I doubled it in video meld). The one below I feel is way too long. Go for about 20 seconds -half the amount of text below- and you should be good!)
I did look for a free site for everyone, but the best I could find was fanmade sites. I'm not too sure you could use those for commercial purposes. If you want to make a go at it through power point, go for it. just remember to use royalty free music and all original content!
If you've done this on your own or know of better ways, let me know. I'd love to pass on the info to my readers. After all we're all in this together.
Next Week, I'll be hitting on other ways to show your new book off, and I'll be talking about links and information you need to be thinking about adding to the inside of your kindle books and print books!
And soon, I'll be talking about how to make your own book covers and the mistakes I made, so that you can avoid those too!
Have a great week everyone,
Love to you and yours ~LuAnne