My husband pointed out an interesting article to me the other day – How Scott Sigler Used Free Media to Become a Best-Selling Author. The idea of a book trailer piqued my interest. Sure, I’d heard of them, seen some even, but I’d never thought of making one of my own. (Warning – the trailer for his book that is imbedded is rather horror genre gruesome, so don’t watch that if you’re not prepared. The little video on how the trailer was made is not graphic but has some great music so definitely watch some of that.)
Anyway, most of us don’t have the ability to make our own animated book trailer and if you’re struggling to start a writing career, you don’t have the money to pay for it to be done either. However, most of us have the ability to take a short film these days. My little digital camera will take a short video and my husband has a Flip camera that will take extended videos. Blair Witch Project here we come!
It’s simple, enlist family, friends (and anyone else you can get with free food) to do a very short scene from your story. Create a Youtube account and make your very own book trailer! Okay, maybe you don’t know anyone with enough acting skill to even make a really shoddy commercial. You can still make one.
One of my writer’s group, G.H. Monroe, shared his first attempt at a book trailer for his collection of short stories, That’s My Story! He used still images and a voice over with music to create a book trailer. (A word of warning – just make sure the images are your own or in the public domain before you use them.)
There you have it! DIY book trailers to help get people interested in your books. I’m definitely going to be trying this myself.
Melora Johnson's Muse 