Monday, August 10, 2009

Promoting Part 2: Book Trailers

As I shared last week, there is a great deal involved in promoting your book. Writing is not all. Authors now need to get their books into the hands of readership so they can enjoy the fruit of one's labors - which is an entertaining story. This week I want to explore other areas of author promotion, specifically through the use of media. Above is the book trailer that Trailer to the Stars produced for my new release this fall, Love Finds You in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Many authors are now resorting to this new use of a multimedia presentation to promote books. It is like a commercial, if you will, to showcase the important aspects of the book and allow a glimpse between the pages through the use of visual arts, music, narration and special effects. Some choose to produce their own video trailers while others use professional companies such as the one that produced this video to make a quality product. While this avenue did require an investment on my part, it is a way to reach readers much like ads on television do to reach consumers. The money invested also pays for copyrighted material of photography and music (which authors need to be aware of when producing their own trailers) as well as a professional narrator. Having the trailer then allows for creative outlets to advertise the book on the Internet through web sites such as Christian Book Videos which then displays videos for potential readers to examine. You can also make DVDs of the trailer to pass around to interested readers and in bookstore promo packets, or to embed in other sites such as your Facebook account and web sites.

One day I have a desire to see a book brought to the big screen. For now this is my tease, if you will, a glimpse through photography and music that I hope will bring interested readers into the pages of this historical novel.

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