MAKE YOUR OWN BOOK TRAILER VIDEOS
Using short video 
“trailers” as promotion and marketing aids for books has become so common among authors–especially authors published independently or with small presses–that it’s almost become a “must”. You see these trailers, ranging from beautiful and intriguing to awful and off-putting, all over the internet. But how many are being used effectively? And how many cost the author $250 or much more to have them made: money that might not even show a productive return?
Beyond that, professional trailers from “video mills” usually have a very “samey” quality about them: they look fine, but have no special reason that people should watch them, much less email them or repost them to people who might enjoy them. And that’s where the “viral” element of trailers comes from: people finding them enjoyable and unique enough to pass along. The author, even without special skills, has certain advantages over the pros when it comes to creating viral videos. For one thing, you know your material and mood. You aren’t just working from a blurb and formulae, hurrying to search databases for clips or graphics to slap it together. Also, you know your audience, and have your own creativity working for you. Many things that writers do to get around their technical limitations produce videos that work better than the slicker product from the “mills”.
There is no need to spend money to have a video trailer made for your book. And no need to let the finished trailer lay around producing nothing in the way of traffic to your sales points. Many authors are sadly unaware that they can easily produce their own trailer videos, even very high quality ones–with free technology and tools that are easily available (you probably already own some of them and don’t know it), easy to operate, and fun to use.
There are no special creative skills required to do this, and no specialized technical knowledge. Much of video-making is literally child’s play, as the grade school kids around here have demonstrated. Much can be done in a hour or so with only your cover art to work with.
My manual, “How To Make Your Own Book Trailer Videos FOR FREE!” covers the ways you can easily create the visual and audio components of a video with free programs, and has long lists of online resources: art, clips, music and sound effects, support forums, free programs, and so forth. It also discusses ways to put your video out and get the attention that makes it effective as promotion for you your book. It has been very popular and produced some contest winners.
It sells for only $3.99, but I am starting to publish the material free for readers of this blog. You can read along (subscribing helps keep you in the loop and not miss material) or buy the manual if you’re in a hurry.
Good luck doing your own book trailer: it’s easier than you think, and lots of fun.
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