My marketing ramp-up continues! I have created a list of reviewers to contact about the book, but the contacting has not yet begun. I still have a few pieces to put in place before that can get started.
However, I HAVE started work on my book trailer!
Since I was a professional video editor, I figured I could do a passable trailer myself. The hard part always is getting good audio and good visuals. For me, the audio is the more difficult of the two. I often have some ideas of the visuals, but the audio is sort of “I’ll know it when I hear it.”
That doesn’t make searching for audio easy.
However, Keith Strunk (who had given book trailer pointers at the Liars Club Writers Coffeehouse last month) directed us to the music of Kevin MacLeod. Mr. MacLeod’s music is diverse, searchable by type or mood, and (in exchange for attribution) free! Because I was able to search by mood, I narrowed down my choices quickly, and found one that worked with only an hour or so of searching. I knew it when I heard it!
I had already compiled the visuals I wanted to use, since I have already created 12 quote memes for the book. When I chose background images for the quotes, I purposely chose ones I thought I could use in the trailer. I did some Photoshop work on a few of them, added some movement to the still pictures, and voila! A rough cut of the trailer.
Why is it a rough cut, not finished? For several reasons.
First, I am waiting on the cover to my novel. I am hoping to replace a couple of the current visuals with elements from the cover, and to use the same font for any text on the screen.
Second, I am still toying with using a voice over (VO), or simply text, or a combination. Text only is certainly less expensive, but a VO can carry emotion that text alone can’t. So I am mulling.
Finally, I of course need to run the trailer past my publisher and get input from them. Since we are coordinating marketing efforts, we need to know what the other is doing, and we should harmonize wording and blurbs and taglines when necessary.
I have enjoyed returning to my roots as a video editor for this project. It’s always a thrill when what you envision in your head comes to life on the screen.
Do you use book trailers in your marketing? Feel free to post trailers you like in the comments below.
