Book Trailer Videos - A Terrific Marketing Tool!

Book trailers, or book videos, are coming into their own. And as a promotional tool, there’s no arguing their effectiveness. Placing them on YouTube or your MySpace site, and linking them to your own website, are great advertisements for your books.

There are many wonderful companies springing up who’ll make a book trailer for a nominal fee. There are also some authors who’ll help make one for friends and interested parties. But most of the time the program to make them is already available on any computer running Windows software.

Yet with all the hoopla surrounding book videos, there are good ones and there are bad ones. I am not an expert, but after watching many such trailers, as an avid reader, I have come up with a list of Dos and Don’ts to consider the next time you want to have a video done of your upcoming release.

Do...

1. Tell what the book is about. Who are the main characters? What is the conflict?
2. Give us the title, author, and publisher. And a due date if possible.
3. Make sure the pictures and music match the “tone” of the book. These give readers a sense of what to expect.
4. If you already have reviews, add a short excerpt/blurb/sentence. Even better, just a rating and the name of the review site would suffice, like “5 Cups! Coffee Time Romance”.
5. Have someone critique it for effectiveness just as you would from an editor. They may see something you’ve missed or didn’t make clear enough.
6. Upload it wherever you can. Find ways to promote it with your book. It’s a tool, so use it as often as possible.

Don’t...

1. throw sexy pictures on the screen without any explanation. And keep your shots and descriptive phrases “up” long enough to be read by those with vision problems.
2. repeat your video to run twice. Once is enough.
3. have your video run over 2 min. unless it’s part of an anthology and everyone is getting their 30 seconds’ worth, or it’s a collection of short stories.
4. add your name at the end as creator of the video, writer of the video, etc., if you made it yourself. Just list yourself as the author.
5. finish the video and think it’s done. Once the book comes out, go back and tweak it to make it better. Add another review. Or add the fact that it’s a bestseller. Any awards or recognitions won? Be sure to add those, too!