Creating Book Trailers - Part One

Introduction

On Demand, the buzz word of the day in media marketing, that also allows viewers the control of what they will watch and what they won't, right down to downloading to their cell phones and iPod to view a video. Wow! Have we come a long way.

You can become a part of the advertising blitz which at recent numbers tops $12 billion, and do it on a shoestring budget without paying the high price tags associated with Internet marketing.

Working within our means sometimes requires us to be creative in our efforts with an eye toward promoting our work to best advantage. As a writer, you're already an artist. Creating trailers is simply an extension of that art form through images, music, and narrative.

If we are with a small press, our promotional dollars can be rather shoestring oriented-and a narrow, rather delicate one at that. Today, promotional book trailers have already become almost a given in the advertising package for marketing a book and are readily available in many places on the Internet. A 2007 survey estimated that over twenty million visitors view videos on Youtube every month. It's also indicated that viewers watch approximately six minutes or more of online videos every day and obviously these numbers are on the rise.

What kind of budget would reasonably facilitate creating a trailer that sells books? The first trailer I created was for Zytarri 1: Virgin Blood (published by Loose Id) and cost, out-of-pocket, approximately $22.50 to create, plus my time. I spent another $50 to have it shown at the 2007 Romantic Times Convention Book Fair and I know through feedback at least a few people stopped at my table because of the trailer. How many actual sales I've made based upon the trailer is not really possible to determine. One buyer at the book fair did tell me directly that she wanted the book shown in the trailer.

The point to utilizing a video trailer as a promotional tool is visibility, particularly to an audience who might not be your usual target readership.

The Zytarri trailer is one minute, thirty-three seconds. It can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43HXsich8P0 among other places. The trailer was created with the program, Muvee autoProducer, which was a pre-loaded program on my HP Laptop.

A Little Book Trailer History

In trying to track down some of the earliest forms of actual trailers designed for marketing a book, I came across one article indicating that 1994 may have possibly seen some of the first uses of this form of media for dedicated book promotion. Created by Judith Keenan of the Hyperion Publishing House, the three-and-a-half minute trailer was created to promote the release of Amnesia, a novel by Canadian writer, Douglas Cooper, and was apparently a successful avenue for marketing this book. (Read more at http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/viewtothrill.html)

Today

With the latest software, often supplied by manufacturers and pre-loaded on most computers, and a little bit of imagination and creativity, today it is very easy to create video trailers on a limited budget to help in promoting a book. If you don't own the software, there are several sites that offer the flexibility to create a slide show online and then to publish it. I've included a list of website links at the end of this document where you can gather more knowledge about creating book trailers both online and off-line, and will also take you through the process in a more detailed fashion.

There are also many royalty-free¹ stock photography and music sites to help in designing on a budget. (Hint: Do keep in mind that your digital camera can be your best friend. Take it will you every place you go.)

Keep in mind that royalty-free does not mean "free." Do read the disclaimers on any site about what use is permitted for the music you choose. Copyright is not a simple matter and today there are varying degrees of protection that an artist may use to protect his or her work and yet allow it to be used for noncommercial ventures. The term non-commercial is a very gray area, so do make certain you understand what terms you are agreeing to.

For more information on the Creative Commons Use Licenses, visit http://creativecommons.org/. Information can also be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons.

Engaging the Prospective Buyer

Just like the first sentence of your story, you will need to grab the audience immediately with the first frame of your trailer. Statistics indicate that you have less than a second to engage your audience. Scary, I know, but don't we all know how important the cover of a book can be in promotion to get a prospective reader to stop to find out more? Same thing holds true here.

The Advertising Research Foundation defines this reader engagement as "turning on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context."

In other words the images and text must resonate and emotionally engage the viewer of the video as quickly as possible. Just as passion and emotion must fuel narrative and impact story, so should it do the same in a trailer in order to make the reader want to immediately go to the website to purchase your book. And to do it right this minute. A combination of a few dramatic images and thirty to sixty seconds or so of powerful music can go a long way to offering just a taste of the story to the reader. Think of the power of a good excerpt and the impact it can have on a potential reader.

Ask yourself a few questions before you begin. Trailers can be used not simply for a release that is currently available, but also for upcoming releases, or simply to advertise you as an author and/or your website.

1. What is the purpose of the video?

2. If it's for a specific book, what genre is this book and who is my target audience?

3. Is this video meant to impact impulse buyers to get them to purchase now, or is it meant to simply wet their interest for an upcoming release or get them to visit your website?

4. Will this be an interactive video? Will the buyer need to do something--maybe tie in a contest, or request feedback from the viewer? Keep in mind by asking for feedback and giving reward, you lend this video more to a "viral marketing" opportunity, where the video will be shared with others to offer them the same opportunities.

Part Two will go into the actual steps for creating your own book trailer.

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¹A definition for the term royalty-free can be found at: http://webclipart.about.com/cs/msubmenuaz/g/royalty.htm.