As far as I know, there is a lot of debate happening among authors on the requirement of a video trailer for books. As an author, you may feel that your book doesn’t require a video trailer as it completely removes the imaginative phase readers go through when they pick up your book. You may feel that readers would stop visualizing them the way they would and only replicate the visuals you had come up with in your trailer for your book. Fair enough! However, there is a strong perk of getting a video trailer created for your book as well.
It is the digital age and we know how much time people spend online than on a conventional book or a retail store. So, you need to be on places where your target audience actually is. When you know that your audience is sitting right there on their living rooms and connecting with the world from their couch, you need to make sure your content reaches them right in their living room. That’s when a book trailer comes in handy and gives you an added advantage of getting your book noticed. Like I’ve been mentioning throughout, you’re an entrepreneur and your book is your product and you need to take every possible measure and tap into every single resource to get your book marketed and promoted among your target audience. With video trailers gaining popularity, it is a commendable idea to have a video trailer for your book and uploading it online. It just increases the chances of grabbing the attention for your book.
Tips for Creating a Book Trailer
It’s definitely one of the most popular means of promoting your book. That’s the same reason there are so many amateurish, loosely crafted, template, and poorly developed trailers releasing every day. You don’t want your book’s trailer to be unprofessional, do you? If that’s the case, check out some simple yet effective ways to come up with a good trailer for your book.
Develop a Script
One of the first things you shouldn’t do (yes, shouldn’t do) is simply typing out your book’s blurb into animated text, adding music, and releasing it as a trailer. That’s the silliest thing one can do. Instead, what you should do is sit down and write a separate script for your trailer based on your characters, storyline, setting, and the likes. You could take the help of a designer for this. A strong start and a gripping finish would make your trailer stand out from the rest. Avoid coming up with a trailer that is just a summary of your plot or blurb.
Avoid incorporating too many Elements
A trailer should be simple and neat. Driven by enthusiasm, do not make your trailer complex and incomprehensible by adding too many elements such as music, audio, text, graphics, and the likes. Develop a storyboard and handpick elements you want to incorporate. Keep it simple.
Refrain from Using Actors
Unless you are absolutely sure, do not hire actors to depict scenes from your book. Apart from being expensive, hiring amateur artists to depict the characters in your book can lead to serious trouble if they fail to pull off playing their roles. Remember, your trailer would hardly run for a minute and you don’t want readers to get judgmental about your book from the actors playing your characters. The best thing would be to make an animated version of it.
Be Careful about Music and Images in your Trailer
Music, images, and other graphic elements are mostly copyrights protected. When you choose to add them to your trailer, you may be actually infringing their copyrights that may lead to some serious trouble. So, remember to take elements from resources that are free-to-use or consider buying rights to copy-protected elements you plan to use in your book.
Besides these, there are a lot of factors that go into consideration while coming up with a trailer. But the essence is to create a trailer that is simple, intriguing, and one that would make viewers pick up your book. Look at some trailers for inspiration and come up with your own creative ideas if you really want to have a video trailer to market your book.