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Book Trailer Resources for Authors
Video is in. Few of us had heard of TikTok in 2016, and today over it gathers over 1 billion views per day. In this visual age, authors can take advantage of this trend by using book trailers as one more marketing tool to engage potential readers.
If you want to create your own book trailer but don’t know where to start, I’ve pulled together a collection of resources to help. I’ve learned a lot by research and creating trailers for my books, and I’ll share those lessons learned with you.
Personal Experience
To make it easy (ha!), I used different software applications to make each trailer. It wasn’t entirely my fault, as I created my first trailer so long ago that Microsoft no longer supported the same software (MovieMaker) when I went to make my second trailer. So, after watching Kevin Stratvert’s 5 BEST FREE Video Editors tutorial, I experimented with several programs and ended up using OpenShot to create my second trailer. If you want to know more about that, please see my previous blog post—Book Trailers – Yes, or No?
For my most recent trailer, I researched current video editing programs again, played with a few, and ended up using Microsoft’s Clipchamp. I consulted my go-to YouTuber Kevin Stratvert (again) whose Clipchamp Video Editing Tutorial: FREE Windows 11 Video Editor provided me the guidance I needed to create a short clip that worked for me.
My top lessons learned during these three efforts?
• Shorter is better
• Music selection is important
• If one type of technology is not working for you, try another
• Don’t be afraid to experiment
• At some point, call it doneOutsourcing
I’ve had colleagues who have hired professionals to make trailers for them, and if that works for you, by all means do it. If you don’t know someone who creates videos, sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer have people who provide these services.
I haven’t personally used any of these sites because I like to do things the hard way, evidenced by the three different video editing programs mentioned above. So I decided to try one of the sites I mentioned before I passed the information along. In less than a minute on Freelancer, I answered three questions, and here is what Freelancer generated for me:
Project name
Historical Fiction Book Inspirational TrailerProject description
I’m seeking a professional to create a compelling 30-second book trailer for my historical fiction novel. The trailer should convey an inspirational mood and include the following key elements:- Voice Narration: The narration will play a significant role in delivering the trailer’s message and should be performed by a female voice.
- Inspirational Tone: The overall feeling of the trailer is to be suspenseful yet uplifting, instilling a sense of hope and inspiration in the viewer.
Ideal candidates for this project should have prior experience in creating book trailers or similar video content, with a strong portfolio demonstrating their ability to convey emotion through visuals and audio. They should also have access to high-quality audio equipment and editing software to ensure the final product is professional and polished.
At least that part seemed easy.
Additional Resources
• A good place to start is Jason Hamilton’s step-by-step post on the Kindlepreneur website, which has a ton of helpful book marketing and sales advice: Book Trailers: How to Make Them in 6 Easy Steps.
• Rocket Expansion, an author marketing business that offers a variety of services, shares good tips , a variety of trailers, and an explanation of why they like them here: 22 Epic Book Trailers (Inspiring Videos and Why They Work).Believing In Horses Book Series Trailers
All of my book trailers are on my Believing In Horses website’s landing page, my YouTube channel, and in blog posts. I’ve shared them on social media and use them for live events, when it makes sense. Here is my third trailer, for Believing In Horses, Too, created earlier this year. I would love to hear anyone’s thoughts and tips on book trailers!
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Salute to Veterans
As we approach Veterans Day, I wanted to share a special news report where I had the honor of telling part of my story. Melanie Hastings, a news anchor at the local Washington, DC, NBC News affiliate had come across my story online and asked if she could interview me.
Of course I said yes, and she couldn’t have been more gracious, kind, and easy to work with.
I sincerely appreciated Melanie Hastings, WJLA, and their Salute to Veterans series for making that such a special Veterans Day for my family, my friends, and me. And most importantly, I hope it then reached, and will now reach, veterans who will decide to write their stories.
Here’s the story…please forgive the “hot mic” moment in the middle.
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Writing Memories
Last week, my brother brought over a cardboard box he found tucked away in a corner of our mom’s house. The box had a sign on it, “Valerie’s Stuff – Please don’t throw away.” When I removed that sign, the first item I saw reminded me that I’d been at this writing thing longer than I thought.
I pored over the top relic from 1976, Exploring Writing Careers – a student guidebook. I wasn’t sure where the booklet had come from, although I suspect it was from my mother and not a guidance counselor or teacher since it had a $1.40 price tag on it. Although the writing landscape has changed since that time, so much of the content and advice is still surprisingly relevant today.
I continued rummaging through my treasures and came across an old poem that wasn’t bad for an immature teenager during a tumultuous period of life. I even plan to tidy it up and release it to see the light of day outside its cardboard home for over forty years.
I laughed when I saw the cover of a spiral notebook from my freshman year of college. I listed the subjects as Dull, Boring, and Worse. I didn’t have to open the notebook to instinctively know those described my non-English classes. Sure enough, I checked, and the contents included disinterested notes on History, Sociology, and Speech courses.
My stroll down memory lane uncovered classes I hadn’t consciously thought about in years—English Literature, Poetry, Short Story, Oral Interpretation of Literature, Business Writing, American Realistic Literature, Shakespearean Tragedies, Journalism 101, and more. Yes, this writing hobby was not something I just picked up when I retired from the Navy; the seeds had been sown long ago waiting for the right weather and seasons to germinate and grow.
I read comments on papers from instructors full of enthusiasm who encouraged students to learn and to develop. It brought back memories of a fun professor I nicknamed “Hippy Dippy Dezen” who understood an effective way to teach poetry to college kids in the ’70s would be to study the lyrics of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” rather than study Chaucer. I marveled at the stark contrasts of those like Professor Dezen to others who obviously enjoyed their positions of power and criticized students without offering solutions for improvement. These reflections reinforced my commitment that I would never offer a writer useless comments like “you could have tried harder.”
Another poignant find in the collection was the final letter from my grandmother, dated November 11, 1981, Veterans Day. My grandmother had been one of the first to encourage me to keep writing, even scribbling next to the Langston Hughes poem “Dreams” that she liked his poem, but she liked my poems better.
The old box appeared at the right time and for reasons I’ll never know. The musty notebooks, annotated blue books, occasional typewritten papers, and a special letter reminded me—you are a writer.
