World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Luckily my wife is a video/audio editor and can do graphics so Im going to try and do a trailer for my book.

Has anyone done one for their book ? Got a link ?

Do you have a favorite ? Link ?

Any recommendations on length or techniques that work and dont work ?

Resist the urge to make your trailer longer than 90 seconds. Resist the urge to tell your story. A trailer is supposed to leave an impression. Resist the urge to produce your trailer as an artistic vanity piece. Your trailer is a marketing tool. If people are blown away by it but still don't know where to buy it you've wasted your time.
.

I don't have a link, but YouTube has the trailer for Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, narrated by Pynchon
himself, that is my favorite.

Do you have a link to a trailer that nails it ?

Im kinda open to anything at this point. I dont really have direction.

What do you mean by "artistic vanity piece?"

TheLongWait wrote: "I don't have a link, but YouTube has the trailer for Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, narrated by Pynchon himself, that is my favorite."

Here's the link for anyone that would like to watch it...

https://youtu.be/RjWKPdDk0_U

I have to ask, why did you like it ? What did you like about it?

I actually just created a trailer for my newest book. I make all of mine.

https://youtu.be/bmmJBHSrrIQ

Michael wrote: "Do you have a link to a trailer that nails it ?

Im kinda open to anything at this point. I dont really have direction.

What do you mean by "artistic vanity piece?""

By vanity piece I mean a trailer that only shows off how great you think your book is as opposed to creating a trailer designed to sell.

Tara wrote: "By vanity piece I mean a trailer that only shows off how great you think your book is as opposed to creating a trailer designed to sell. "

Oh, no of course not. I thought book trailers were more like movie trailers.

Michael wrote: "Tara wrote: "By vanity piece I mean a trailer that only shows off how great you think your book is as opposed to creating a trailer designed to sell. "

Oh, no of course not. I thought book trailer..."

Yes they should be. But the best book trailers leave people really wanting to read your book. They create a mood that captures the essence of your book, they don't necessarily tell the story.

Justin wrote: "I actually just created a trailer for my newest book. I make all of mine.

https://youtu.be/bmmJBHSrrIQ"

I have to say I really like the imagery - well done, but maybe its my 47 year old ears, but the music was tough to sit through. I do like how you ended it with a question and the imagery in your answer.

Why did you decide to use still images as opposed to video ?

I just love the way Pynchon narrates. The scenery that flows by. Plus his joke at the end. "27.95...that used to be...like...three weeks of groceries."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out after I saw this.

Michael wrote: "Justin wrote: "I actually just created a trailer for my newest book. I make all of mine.

https://youtu.be/bmmJBHSrrIQ"

I have to say I really like the imagery - well done, but maybe its my 47 yea..."

Thanks. Yeah I can see how the music might be a bit off-putting. I always go with still images because I like the old fashioned way to make videos and I don't have the skills or know the right people to use video. Either way I just enjoy making videos the way I make em :)

Tara wrote: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out after I saw this."

yes! this is really effective. the dramatic music and the film footage evoke the mood of the murder mystery genre. the text reads like a blurb as sales copy. there's also an endorsement, which adds the weight of authority. it then ends with a call to action and a picture of the product. to improve it i'd embed a link in the last image with the book cover. i might also add that same product image at the very beginning.

Alex G wrote: "Tara wrote: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out aft..."

We loved the same things about the trailer. I would share my trailer but its only on facebook as of now...

Here's my trailer. Sorry you'll have to scroll down to find it. I'll have it up on youtube soon.
https://www.facebook.com/tara.turner....

Tara wrote: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out after I saw this."

Excellent! That was very well produced with high production value.

Michael wrote: "Tara wrote: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out aft..."

That trailer earned the author an award but that company charges upwards of $800 lol. Um...no.

Here is my book trailer, for an action espionage adventure novel, The Benevolent Deception, which I created myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG03Y...

I watched a lot of James Bond and Jason Bourne movie trailers closely, to see how they were structured to create something similar, fast and choppy, with realistically only a couple of lines to present the concept behind the book.

In my case, The Benevolent Deception starts with the U.S. President being assassinated in Afghanistan, then a terrorist begins impersonating him through all the world’s media. That is the crux of the mystery in my novel.

I built the trailer using stock video footage and photography from www.canstockphoto.com while the words and graphics I created in an animated Microsoft PowerPoint presentation formatted and saved as a movie file. Then I spliced it all together using Microsoft MovieMaker. The royalty free music I sourced from www.incompetech.com/music/.

I’m thinking of redoing it, now that I have a testimonial from Rob Sinclair and I’ve worked out how to get better resolution. But otherwise, I’ll keep it how it is. So far, feedback on the trailer has been positive.

Tara wrote: "Here's my trailer. Sorry you'll have to scroll down to find it. I'll have it up on youtube soon.
https://www.facebook.com/tara.turner...."

Nice, simple and too the point. Get's across exactly what your book is about.

Michael wrote: "TheLongWait wrote: "I don't have a link, but YouTube has the trailer for Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, narrated by Pynchon himself, that is my favorite."

Here's the link for anyone that would l..."

The trailer was pretty good. But too long. As Tara mentioned, trailers need to by 90 seconds or less.

Aiden wrote: "Here is my book trailer, for an action espionage adventure novel, The Benevolent Deception, which I created myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG03Y...

I watched a lot of ..."

Excellent trailer and thank you for citing your sources!

Tara wrote: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAfo-T... Here is one of the best book trailers I've come across. This book is not even in one of my favorite genres but I was eager to check it out after I saw this."

Thanks Tara, great trailer.

Aiden wrote: "Tara wrote: "Here's my trailer. Sorry you'll have to scroll down to find it. I'll have it up on youtube soon.
https://www.facebook.com/tara.turner...."

Nice, ..."

Thank you! I did a bit of research because I knew my instincts would have been all wrong ha ha. I used Windows Movie Maker and did it in less than a day.

This is one of my favorite book trailers, and I believe the author Erik Mackenzie created it himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnpee...

Same genre as what I write in, geopolitical espionage action.

Aiden wrote: "Here is my book trailer, for an action espionage adventure novel, The Benevolent Deception, which I created myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG03Y... "

I really liked it. I like quick cuts and lots of imagery. The music was good too. I didnt understand all of the imagery - "the girl running" - but Im sure it would make sense if I read the book.

Tara wrote: "Here's my trailer. Sorry you'll have to scroll down to find it. I'll have it up on youtube soon.
https://www.facebook.com/tara.turner...."

I really liked your trailer. Like Aiden said, simple and too the point. Because its a non-fiction I think that works the best. You want to get a point across and yours does that very well.

I think with fiction you need to create emotion. Which is somewhat more expensive and complicated.

Tara wrote: "That trailer earned the author an award but that company charges upwards of $800 lol. Um...no. "

I dont think that's a lot to spend for quality video production. Its does a great job of making the viewer feel something.

It might not produce $800 in sales but look, it got us talking about it, and thats never a bad thing.

Tara wrote: "Aiden wrote: "Tara wrote: "Here's my trailer. Sorry you'll have to scroll down to find it. I'll have it up on youtube soon.
https://www.facebook.com/tara.turner......."

I think the next generation of authors are going to have to be marketing savvy, and work out how to promote their own books. Well done for putting this together so quickly.

Mine took a little longer, but what I learnt during the process makes it faster to do new videos now.

Michael wrote: "Aiden wrote: "Here is my book trailer, for an action espionage adventure novel, The Benevolent Deception, which I created myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG03Y... "

I r..."

Hi Michael. Thanks for the feedback. The hardest bit about building the trailer was in finding the stock footage that matched scenes from my novel, so some challenges there. :)

Aiden wrote: "The hardest bit about building the trailer was in finding the stock footage that matched scenes from my novel, so some challenges there. :) "

Yes that is a challenge. That is what Ive been doing all this afternoon! Its not easy finding just the right clips!

I guess I love the trailer for Inherent Vice so much because Pynchon avoids the public so much. The last known photo of him is from 1954!!

And he narrates it with such a flair. But, I'm a fan boy of his so take with a grain of salt.

TheLongWait wrote: "And he narrates it with such a flair. But, I'm a fan boy of his so take with a grain of salt."

the Inherent Vice book trailer did a good job. it was more personal than a typical mass marketing piece and that is probably okay for Pynchon being household name.

Michael wrote: "Aiden wrote: "The hardest bit about building the trailer was in finding the stock footage that matched scenes from my novel, so some challenges there. :) "

Yes that is a challenge. That is what Iv..."

yep, it's the same for the book cover, right?

Alex....it doesn't really SELL the book, but it does set up the story pretty well.

Cheers Alex. The covers for my book I did too, which is splicing together several images on Photoshop and InDesign. I found if I used a straight stock image lots of other authors had used it too. For example the guy on my cover is my protagonist Simon Ashcroft but Alex Shaw used the same model and he recons in is his protagonist Aiden Snow. Can't be helped. Main objective was to make the cover, like the trailer, as catchy as possible.

Good luck with your trailer Michael.

Alex G wrote: "yep, it's the same for the book cover, right? "

No actually I had the cover designed already before I even starting outlining. I have the next 5 covers in my head already designed.

The trailer is exponentially more difficult.

What a great thread. Thanks everyone!

Here is another book trailer I like for Blue Remembered Earth by Alaister Reynolds. Publishers spent a lot of money on this one.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lIbf2Rc...

Good luck with a trailer, Michael.
I guess the next logical question(s) is whether those who have a trailer can attribute sales to it (like in comparison before and after) and where they use it?

I've started the process to put a trailer together.

Aim to have something within the next few months.

Good luck Graeme, please share it when you are done.

https://youtu.be/gBXiV-F_t74

Nik wrote: "Good luck with a trailer, Michael.
I guess the next logical question(s) is whether those who have a trailer can attribute sales to it (like in comparison before and after) and where they use it?"

if you can release the trailer w/o doing any other promotions and/or use a booklinker URL to track how many people click thru to the buy link, then you might be able to get a decent metric.

Aiden wrote: "Good luck Graeme, please share it when you are done."

Michael and Graeme: let us know how it goes!

Based on this snippet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KR5A...

There is no sound. The vamp us played by my niece's husband who is the main architect of the work.

Look closely at the watch face...

While creating my own book trailer for The Benevolent Deception, I spent time research what had been done before me. Many book trailers are really not that good, but there are exceptions, and they are definitely getting better. In no particular order, here are ten book trailers that show the diversity of book trailers out there from many different genres, that I thought were rather neat.

https://aidenlbailey.com/2017/01/28/1...

If anyone is interested in a fairly inexpensive but somewhat good and short trailer I found this for $69.99 - less than a minute. Some of their work is okay, not great but good. For $69.99 you cant really beat it. Just licensing videos clips and the music will cost more than that.

http://thebookpromoter.com/add-more-s...

Here's some of their work on YouTube. Gotta hunt around for it and find the videos marked (book trailer)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC8u...

I thought this one was the best one but I cant believe this one is $69.99...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZfWM...