90 seconds to convince

Do you need a book trailer? A short, arresting burst of colour and sound that advertises your book, like they do for Ocean’s Eleven or Mission Impossible? In the arsenal of book promotion tools, it’s one more to consider. You could live without one and be none the worse, but on the other hand, it can’t do any harm (unless it’s atrocious).

I was inspired to experiment when a composer friend asked me to write the lyrics for a song and then sent me the video he’d made to go with it. Though I knew book trailers existed, I’d never given them much thought till then, but I set to work immediately. Now I’ve finished the first, the second is almost done, and I’ve started on the third. My main conclusion so far? Don’t expect any spike in sales, but putting one together is a real blast.

So how does one set about it? Well, the simplest way is to pay someone to do it. But you’re then looking at a budget of anything between $300 (for basically nothing more than an entertaining slide show) to $15000 (for a scripted film shot on location with actors). If you’ve got money to burn, fine. But since I haven’t, I did it myself, and the result cost me hardly anything – except a lot of time. So if the do-it-yourself route appeals, here – gleaned from my limited experience so far – are a few tips.

Start with a rough idea of the content and progression. Keep it simple – go for mood and atmosphere rather than try and tell a story. It’s not a synopsis but a teaser.

Search for the content – pictures, clips and sound. This is the most time-consuming part, and depending on what you find, your rough idea may need to be adapted. The particular image you had in mind may not exist, so you have to go with what does. Here is a list of sites providing videos and photos, many of them free. The ones I use most are Pixabay and Pexels, while Videvo also has sound effects, as does the YouTube audio library.  A wider variety of sound effects can be found at soundsnap, but at a cost – $29 for 20 downloads or $15 for 5. For music, again YouTube has a reasonable selection, though so far I’ve stuck with Purple Planet.

When you put it all together, aim for a clip of 90 seconds maximum, with an opening that grabs the attention within the first few seconds. The editing stage is where my only cost came in, since I used Adobe Premiere Pro, part of a subscription Creative Cloud I share with a graphic designer. But there are free alternatives, listed here. Depending on the software, there can be quite a learning curve involved.

And Bob’s your uncle! Or will be once you’ve uploaded the clip, not just to YouTube but to Amazon (note that certain specific conditions apply), and your own website. So far, those are the only places I’ve put it, but there are others, listed at the end of this article, which also details the various types of trailer that exist.

 

Like everything else, of course, the trailer will only be effective if people see it, so we’re back to the problem of promoting the promotional item itself. But I’m not too bothered about that – I just enjoyed doing it, and if a few people come across it, so much the better. I’m still finding my way around the software, and I’m not happy with a couple of points, but for a first effort, I’m reasonably satisfied. And now, of course, you’re dying to see it – and I’m dying to know what you think – so here it is as it appears on my website. Comments welcome!