The Crown in the Heather book trailer at The New Covey Trailer Awards

The book trailer for The Crown in the Heather is Entry #28 at The New Covey Trailer Awards for September 2010. Be sure to vote for The Crown in the Heather or whichever book trailer you find intriguing. This site is run by David Boultbee and they also have the awesome New Covey Cover Awards.

If you're an indie author, this is another great place to gain some free exposure for your book and see what others are doing as far as cover design and trailers - speaking of which I'd also like to recommend Blazing Trailers, where you can also submit your book trailer for free or just get ideas. As of earlier this week, The Crown in the Heather's trailer on YouTube is nearing 700 hits! Honestly, I never even thought that many people would find it. I heart YouTube.

How do you make a trailer? To start with, your book's short synopsis will serve as a guide for the storyboard. You also need a program for making videos, music (royalty-free), and pictures or video clips.

• Think of it as a commercial for your book. Book trailers should be short enough to retain the attention of viewers, but long enough to let them know what it's about. You can convey a lot about the tone of the story in one minute. Two minutes is reasonable. Three or more and it's getting a bit long.
• Don't have a crew of actors and cameramen lined up? Still shots can still be used to good effect. Spend some time at iStockphoto and find eye-catching professional pictures that give a fair representation of your story.
• Need royalty-free music? Try Incompotech.com. This step is important. Find a score that conveys the mood of your book.
  
• Software? I used Windows MovieMaker. Spend some time learning all the effects that come with it: fade in/out, pan, zoom, etc.
  
• Time your transitions and place your pictures to match the music. It can take a heap of time to synchronize everything, but it's worth paying attention to.

Do book trailers actually sell books? That's hard to gauge. There certainly may be more effective ways to spend your time and money. However, if you have the means to do one or know someone who creates them, it's one more means of advertising your book. I had a blast making mine.

Until later,
Gemi