Hi, I am considering getting one made to aid in my advertisement (whenever my book comes out). I just want to know if any of you have had trailers made and who would you recommend. Thanks!!
novel trailers??
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I love novel trailers. Think they're a really neat idea -- and done well, they're fun to watch. 
BUT... personally, I've never bought a novel because I watched a trailer for it. I don't know of many people who have, actually. That's not to say you shouldn't have one for your novel, just that it might not be worth the $500 to $5000 many of the better places charge for production.
However, you can make your own novel trailer for free! I've done it; it's really not as hard as it might seem. All it takes is a bit of time...
Windows Movie Maker is what I use. I believe there are other video creation programs, but WMM comes bundled free with the Windows OS. Before you check it out (if you have it) go to the Windows website and make sure you have all the latest updates for the software -- the current free version has plenty of tools to create trailers.
You can create your trailer with photos, video footage or a combination. There are plenty of sources online for public domain images and video stock footage, as well as music (ambient and with lyrics) that you can use. Just make sure you check the type of copyright the images and/or video have before you use them in your trailer -- in some cases, you may need to ask permission from the original artist (most will be happy to grant you permission as long as you give them a credit at the end of the trailer).
Anyway, WMM is really easy to use -- you can insert titles, captions, scrolling text, and all sorts of fun animations, you can have music, record your own voice and/or enlist friends to do voices for you on the trailer. And it won't cost you anything.
Here's a trailer I made with all the free stuff I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwtymYGM1Y
Sadly, the novel I made the trailer for is going to be rewritten, but I might still be able to get away with this if I make a few tweaks.
Hope this helps!
BUT... personally, I've never bought a novel because I watched a trailer for it. I don't know of many people who have, actually. That's not to say you shouldn't have one for your novel, just that it might not be worth the $500 to $5000 many of the better places charge for production.
However, you can make your own novel trailer for free! I've done it; it's really not as hard as it might seem. All it takes is a bit of time...
Windows Movie Maker is what I use. I believe there are other video creation programs, but WMM comes bundled free with the Windows OS. Before you check it out (if you have it) go to the Windows website and make sure you have all the latest updates for the software -- the current free version has plenty of tools to create trailers.
You can create your trailer with photos, video footage or a combination. There are plenty of sources online for public domain images and video stock footage, as well as music (ambient and with lyrics) that you can use. Just make sure you check the type of copyright the images and/or video have before you use them in your trailer -- in some cases, you may need to ask permission from the original artist (most will be happy to grant you permission as long as you give them a credit at the end of the trailer).
Anyway, WMM is really easy to use -- you can insert titles, captions, scrolling text, and all sorts of fun animations, you can have music, record your own voice and/or enlist friends to do voices for you on the trailer. And it won't cost you anything.
Here's a trailer I made with all the free stuff I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwtymYGM1Y
Sadly, the novel I made the trailer for is going to be rewritten, but I might still be able to get away with this if I make a few tweaks.
Hope this helps!
WOW!!
THAT LOOKS REALLY NEAT!! How long did you take to put it together? And did you get everything (music, pics) from Freestockfootage.com?
I love novel trailers. Think they're a really neat idea -- and done well, they're fun to watch.
BUT... personally, I've never bought a novel because I watched a trailer for it. I don't know of many people who have, actually. That's not to say you shouldn't have one for your novel, just that it might not be worth the $500 to $5000 many of the better places charge for production.
However, you can make your own novel trailer for free! I've done it; it's really not as hard as it might seem. All it takes is a bit of time...
Windows Movie Maker is what I use. I believe there are other video creation programs, but WMM comes bundled free with the Windows OS. Before you check it out (if you have it) go to the Windows website and make sure you have all the latest updates for the software -- the current free version has plenty of tools to create trailers.
You can create your trailer with photos, video footage or a combination. There are plenty of sources online for public domain images and video stock footage, as well as music (ambient and with lyrics) that you can use. Just make sure you check the type of copyright the images and/or video have before you use them in your trailer -- in some cases, you may need to ask permission from the original artist (most will be happy to grant you permission as long as you give them a credit at the end of the trailer).
Anyway, WMM is really easy to use -- you can insert titles, captions, scrolling text, and all sorts of fun animations, you can have music, record your own voice and/or enlist friends to do voices for you on the trailer. And it won't cost you anything.
Here's a trailer I made with all the free stuff I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwtymYGM1Y
Sadly, the novel I made the trailer for is going to be rewritten, but I might still be able to get away with this if I make a few tweaks.
Hope this helps!
THAT LOOKS REALLY NEAT!! How long did you take to put it together? And did you get everything (music, pics) from Freestockfootage.com?
Avid, my co-author and I have used book trailers on our promo sites for over 3 years. Although I can't confirm that we sold books because of them, we have had a lot of favorable comments. I believe they add an additional element in the total marketing plan for any writer. I was one of a number of authors recently interviewed on the subject by the Sun-Sentinel. Take a look. Here's the link.
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Thanks!
I got all the video footage from freestockfootage.com. The still shot of the parchment I made myself with Paint (yay, Paint!). The music came from an artist who offers free ambient music for personal use (I'll have to watch the trailer again -- I gave them a credit
)One of the best resources I've found for music is here:
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
They have a great selection of some really wonderful pieces. It takes a while to listen to them all, though.
All told, the video took me about 6 hours to put together (and it was fun!
)
I have a book trailer for my new book LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!! available on youTube. It's very popular.
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I'd probably wait until the book is purchased and you're moving toward publication, avid_dreamer. A trailer, because it's a cheap thing to do, might be something your publisher puts together for you. I wrote up a little script, and Random House actually agreed to make one for my book.
Like swvaughn, though, I'm not sure how much it will help. The in-house publicist at my agency, however (she's worked at huge publishing houses in the past), thinks it's a good idea. So who knows.
Very cool work on this thread, BTW.
Like swvaughn, though, I'm not sure how much it will help. The in-house publicist at my agency, however (she's worked at huge publishing houses in the past), thinks it's a good idea. So who knows.
Very cool work on this thread, BTW.
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I still haven't made up my mind on book trailers... I think my problem is that I can't watch them on my computer at work, and the speakers are busted on my computer at home so I just never watch them. When I do get the chance, it usually never makes me want to go out and buy the book. At the same time, I constantly hear from people that they love them so... clearly they must work
I'm going to be a dissenting opinion here and say that I find them cheesy. I dunno, I just do. They don't "do it" for me.
Thanks people!!
Thanks for all the info and advice. I really enjoy watching trailers - books, movies, whatever. They get me all excited..especially good ones. I would really love to have one for my book..even for self satisfaction...hehehehe. Anyway, I'll wait, as was suggested. Perhaps my publishers will smile on me and create a cool one for me.
Thanks for all the info and advice. I really enjoy watching trailers - books, movies, whatever. They get me all excited..especially good ones. I would really love to have one for my book..even for self satisfaction...hehehehe. Anyway, I'll wait, as was suggested. Perhaps my publishers will smile on me and create a cool one for me.
I'm going to be a dissenting opinion here and say that I find them cheesy. I dunno, I just do. They don't "do it" for me.
They don't do it for me either. But I hate regular TV commercials too.
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Thanks for all the info and advice. I really enjoy watching trailers - books, movies, whatever. They get me all excited..especially good ones. I would really love to have one for my book..even for self satisfaction...hehehehe. Anyway, I'll wait, as was suggested. Perhaps my publishers will smile on me and create a cool one for me.
That's a perfectly good reason to have one... because they're fun!
I hope your publishers make you an awesome one -- but if they don't, you can always give it a try.It's like almost fulfilling (many) novelists' dreams of seeing their books made into movies.
Moving slightly off-topic:
I think many (most?) Hollywood trailers are better than the movies themselves. Really. I enjoy watching the previews because they contain everything in them: tension, drama, comedy, action. And they're SHORT, which is a welcome relief from the 3-hour bloatfests Hollywood is making nowadays. In fact love to show up at the theater thirty minutes early so that I don't miss any.
I think many (most?) Hollywood trailers are better than the movies themselves. Really. I enjoy watching the previews because they contain everything in them: tension, drama, comedy, action. And they're SHORT, which is a welcome relief from the 3-hour bloatfests Hollywood is making nowadays. In fact love to show up at the theater thirty minutes early so that I don't miss any.
This is going to sound really weird but there are times where I've just watched a film and I feel like writing, but then I don't for some reason.
But when I go to bed I put on my mp3 player and I lie there, in my bed in the dark listening to some either poignant piece or really epic intrumental music and imagining scenes from my stories showing up as the music plays.
It's really a "trailer" in my head, and it lasts as long as the music lasts.
this has inclusively shown me scenes I hadn't thought of before. So it does kick my imagination.
But when I go to bed I put on my mp3 player and I lie there, in my bed in the dark listening to some either poignant piece or really epic intrumental music and imagining scenes from my stories showing up as the music plays.
It's really a "trailer" in my head, and it lasts as long as the music lasts.
this has inclusively shown me scenes I hadn't thought of before. So it does kick my imagination.
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Aw, PeeDee, and I thought that video had been made by a weird, anti-social stalker fangirl with infantile delusions and --
Wait.
Hmmm.
Aw, PeeDee, and I thought that video had been made by a weird, anti-social stalker fangirl with infantile delusions and --
Wait.
Hmmm.
That's the twist of the story. It's actually a guy.
I guess. I mean, barely a guy. Born with man parts, but they've probably fallen off by now in shame.
...
On the serious side....book trailers don't do it for me either. They made a live action one in another country for Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys and despite loving the author, and the book...I thought it was the silliest thing I'd seen.
Now if you were able to film a scene of the book with a budget to make it look like an excerpt from a movie, instead of the quality of a weirdo Mexican late-night movie...I dunno. Maybe. But otherwise, they do nothing for me.
Okay, an argument could be made that I'm biased, but to the best of my knowledge, your best media advertising buy is radio. You can zero in on the demographic (age, gender, etc.) your novel is aimed at, and get a huge captive audience if you run your ad in drive time (rush hour).
But also, books and radio are both what Marshall McCluhan* called "cool mediums," meaning they're mediums that engage the recipient's imagination to "see" what's being described, so it just seems like a more appropriate medium for advertising a novel.
And it's way easier and cheaper to produce an audio "trailer" than a video...
*Man, am I dating myself!
But also, books and radio are both what Marshall McCluhan* called "cool mediums," meaning they're mediums that engage the recipient's imagination to "see" what's being described, so it just seems like a more appropriate medium for advertising a novel.
And it's way easier and cheaper to produce an audio "trailer" than a video...
*Man, am I dating myself!
ME TOO! ME TOO!
I do the same thing. I even put on a certain type of music to match the scene I am writing and my brain becomes a juicy cauldron!! My favorite song for romantic scenes is that score form Lord of The Rings - Theme for Aaragon and Arwen
I do the same thing. I even put on a certain type of music to match the scene I am writing and my brain becomes a juicy cauldron!! My favorite song for romantic scenes is that score form Lord of The Rings - Theme for Aaragon and Arwen
I have to agree. using Windows Movie Maker is great. I have 3 up for all three of my novels on my website and have gotten alot of great responses from readers on them. It helps readers to get a sense of the books and what they are about.
I really agree with you. If I had to do a trailer, I'd go for the audio, absolutely. I could have some fun with that...
I think it's fair to say that trailers are "lame," but let's not insult the novels themselves. There'll be a trailer for my book coming to a YouTube portal near you soon, and I assure you I didn't cut or paste anything.
Well, unless your target demographic can't drive yet.
I've had radio spots, produced by the publisher. Most have been pretty cool. To date, no reader has contacted me to let me know that's why they bought my book.
Doesn't prove there haven't been plenty, of course, but the point is that I've received no feedback, good or bad, on the radio spots. So I have no way of knowing whether they work, or how well they work.
The trailers (still shots, text, and sound effects, no cheesy bad actors or melodramatic music) are generating a lot of feedback, all positive.
Will they increase readership? I have no idea. Even looking at a post-trailer bump in sales won't tell me for certain if it was the trailer -- or the fact that book had a striking blue cover, or a catchy title, or just better placement in the bookstores.
Trailers are another promotional tool. Some writers and publishers will use them and some won't.
And maybe, one day, if we're very, very lucky ... we'll discover whether they're worth the cost to produce and distribute.
Maybe.
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