Although I never had a book trailer for Doll God, I’ve since read that they are important because readers, like most people today, are used to videos and to receiving information in that format. So I am trying one for Kin Types.
I hope you enjoy it. It’s only 53 seconds long and you can either listen to the music or keep your volume off.
Do you regularly watch book trailers? If you’re a writer with a published book or books, have you used book trailers?
Unless you are experienced at making videos, it takes a lot of time to make a short little video about your book. Rather than waste time learning step by step, I asked my daughter who already makes memory video albums for people to make the video for me. I sent her links to book trailers and book trailer articles, old family photos, and the manuscript itself. After the video was completed, I learned a few things from her.
There are a lot of decisions that go into making a book trailer. The length is one thing. Sometimes short is best: if you keep it under 60 seconds you can share it on Instagram. It’s also more likely to be watched. But you can’t put too much into 60 seconds.
A mistake some authors make is to try to give a complete synopsis of the book in the trailer, so she opted to give a flavor of Kin Types instead.
You have to make sure the music fits the book.
Do you want a narrator or just written text or do you want to showcase your own reading from the book? My daughter thought that for a short video, simplicity was best and used written text. That way, people don’t have to listen to the video if they are at work or otherwise unable to listen to audio without disturbing others.
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In case you are wondering how Perry, our unsocialized foster cat, is doing, I can tell you that he loves to play with Hot Pursuit, a game that spins a furry mouse on a stick. He’s also interested in the robot fish in a bowl of water, but Hot Pursuit is his passion. He eats Wellness chicken pate out of a bowl I hold in my hand and his nose and whispers nuzzle my hand. He sniffs and licks my fingers. But he still doesn’t want me to reach out and touch him. One day I touched his haunch, and he flinched and jumped back. Then he lay back down and tentatively touched my hand with his paw. Sometimes he lies in a cat bed on a bench in the sun and sometimes he sleeps underneath the bench or under the footstool. He’s only done two naughty things, which is pretty good considering that he is quite young. He chewed the tag off the lamp’s electrical cord. I hope he knows cords are bad to touch. He also peed on a pile of clean laundry I left lying in his territory. Oops.
Hope your week is a beauty!
I’m impressed with the video – it’s short, engaging, and appealing to my taste.
Thanks, Maggie. That’s exactly what I was hoping for and my daughter wanted to evoke the time period with a contempory medium.
I agree with Maggie and admire you for getting it together. I still find the idea of a book trailer too intimidating to try it myself. Perry sounds like he’s getting better. What trauma he must have had in his life!
Thanks so much, Anneli. If you want any help with a book trailer, my daughter works very inexpensively! I was just mentioning to Sid that last night he was talking away to me and also using his ears to talk to me. I think that is an amazing development!
I agree with Maggie, too!
Great video 🙂
Perry is growing safe and comfy with you, that’s the most important thing. Chewing cord, or peeing clean laundry, is a matter of all cats 😀
Ciao
Sid
Thanks so much, Sid. haha, so true, this is what cats do! Last night Perry was talk-talk-talking to me and wiggling his ears to talk, too, so I think he is really bonding with me.
A chatty cat! I have Tommy who chats all day long: his meowing is somehow understandable 😀
Ciao
Sid
Oh, I love it. Yes, I’m sure it is understandable!
😀
*Wonderful* trailer!! I’m hard to please – but I can truly say it’s excellent! The visuals and music match perfectly, mood, era, etc. Marvelous, good for you!!
Thank you so much, Ellie. I really value your opinion! I think I might have my daughter make one for my first collection, Doll God.
That’s a great idea! 👍🏻❤️
Nicely done, Luanne! I was so happy to see your lovely face in the trailer.
Hahaha, that’s the only part where I kind of go–uh oh–when it comes up. But notice how to avoid red neck in a headshot. Go for the very pale look ;).
Excellent trailer! I’ve been thinking about doing one for my forthcoming book, but haven’t determine which direction to take. This really helped!
Loved your trailer, Luanne. I thought it just right as far as music and length. I’ve considered doing one for All the Wrong Places (which did very well here in Florida, thanks to The Book Loft and Fernandina’s local paper). However, I’m at work on the sequel and decided that for now I’ll concentrate on writing rather than promoting. It’s just about impossible for me to do both!
Glad Perry is bonding with you more!
I am going home after a week here on Amelia Island with my stepmother. Looking forward to re-bonding with Mr. Chapman, who always acts as if he’s forgotten me if I return after being away. Silly cat!
I thought the trailer was excellent, Luanne…particularly the images and words – your daughter is quite talented!!
I’ve made a couple of book trailers and it’s not easy (your daughter has done a great job). Perry sounds like he’s settling in very well and loves the clean clothes basket! 😉
My very first book trailer! I mean the first I’ve ever seen! I love it!
I’ll have to watch the video later. It won’t show in WP reader 🙁 Thanks for the update on Perry. Sounds like you’re making great progress with him!
OK, let me know what you think when you get a chance, Marie. Perry is so cute. He seems so young!
I like the trailer! I seldom see book trailers, and those I have, generally not as impressive as this one. 🙂
I like that Perry is getting acclimated. I think your patience is admirable. Truly, you are a gentle soul. Him reaching out with his paw… What a precious moment.
He is so adorable. I mentioned to Theresa, too, that when I try to touch him and he moves away a bit he blinks a lot as if he’s trying to apologize to me! He’s getting used to the TV, so that’s good because somebody here has TV on a lot haha. But it was funny to watch him sit up very straight and stiff and stare perplexed at the screen!
Thanks re the trailer, too!
🙂
Congrats on getting your trailer done! What a great idea to leverage your daughter’s expertise – video things can be very challenging. And, thank you for sharing your tips, very helpful for some future point when I may be in that published book place!
Also, love the update on Perry! As I read your description, I recognized some of our feral-rescue kittens-now-10-year-old-cats behavior. Both still don’t like to be picked up in random locations, and one especially only lets you approach her in her “safe” spots – on our daughter’s bed, on the cat tree, on one of the padded dining room chairs. 🙂 Fun reminder of how much more unapproachable they used to be …
So good to know that he will eventually let me pick him up. Today I stroked the end of his tail for quite a few seconds before he became a little alarmed. It’s funny because after he gets scared from the touch he wants to blink a lot, almost like he’s apologizing to me!
So interesting! It sounds like you are definitely making progress, baby steps!
Baby steps for a baby cat :)!
Ah! About the trailer, I think it’s very effective. Love the teaser – just enough information to engage, and not exhaustive. I especially think the fade-ins and the roll-ups (like on the book cover) are effective visually. There was a small readability challenge with the white-subtitle over a largely-white photograph towards the end … don’t know if you could change the font color to black just for those frames or not… but overall, very effective! Congrats!
I was wondering that about the font color there, too. First I wondered if it was just my iPhone. But now I think it is too difficult there. Thanks for mentioning that, Theresa.
Ah! Yes, this was on my Macbook Pro, for reference …
OK, thanks!
I had my daughter change out those two “pages.” Unfortunately, the thinner font even in black didn’t solve the problem, so she tried a thicker font there. Other colors looked out of place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYbXSPXaDY
Hi Luanne,
I see what you mean. I wonder if it’s better just to go back to the white. Ah! Here is a thought. What if you had a black frame in between photos w the poetry on it? (like old-time silent movies) – a little different but it might not be that jarring and even add interest. Or, maybe even consider fade-in on the photos (or fade-out) … just a thought. Technology! 🙂
Haha. I just put both versions up on my Facebook page and asked. I’m hearing to stick to the white and that it’s “legible.” So I don’t know . . . . I probably will lose the newer version.
Good idea to get more feedback. Kudos!
How fun! Your daughter did a great job.
Thanks, Deborah! I think so, too!
The “old timey” music fits your nostalgic travels back into the family, Luanne. The words give us a hint of personal stories to be found within your “Kin Types.”
I really liked the way your daughter wrapped this up in a sweet and memorable gift for viewers and readers to be.
Perry is a dear cat, I would like the whiskers upon my hand as I fed him. Too bad about clean laundry though. I guess boundaries have been set and he taught you! 😉 xo
Thank you so much, Robin. I will tell my daughter you liked the video! Perry is so sweet. Haha, he did teach me! He is also GROWING. I think he’s bigger! So maybe it is true as I suspected that he was really just a baby!
I know nothing about book trailers and absolutely should know more. I think yours here is fabulous – not too long, love the music with it, the trailer entices the reader to know more. Your daughter did a great job. I like the idea that you can add this to Instagram if it’s under 60 sec. And I think most people under the age of 45 don’t tolerate anything longer than that. :-0 Thanks for educating us about this – I’m impressed!
Hahaha, that is probably true. I even find that I have a hard time watching a video like this that is two minutes or longer because I am busy and it might become apparent that I am not working but am watching videos ;). Thank you so much, Pam. I will tell my daughter. I think she will make one for Doll God, too, which will be entirely different.
Go for it!
I’d never heard of book trailers until I started blogging and some of my blogger friends shared theirs. It’s not something I’d use to help me decide on a book usually. But I love the way the images and music in yours give a real sense of atmosphere and what I think I could expect from the book. Great to hear that Perry is making progress.
Ah, thank you so much. I’ll tell my daughter you like it. That is what she was going for–just to evoke the atmosphere!!!! Perry is so cute. I swear he is growing. Not fat, but bigger. He’s going to be a big boy!
Loved the trailer! Your daughter did an excellent job.
Book trailers have been gaining in popularity over the years, but I haven’t seen a lot of them around (I guess not many authors use them?). Although I’ve seen some pretty good ones, I’ve also seen some bad ones that poorly represent how great the book is. I guess I’m old school: I rely on the blurb, back flap, and first few pages to determine if I want to read a book.
Haha, I know what you mean. The trailers are fun and maybe they reach a different, additional market, not sure. But I think if the trailer seriously doesn’t match the book that that could be a mistake, yeah? Thank you for loving the trailer. I will tell my daughter!
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Your trailer is very intriguing and I so love that hat on you! It suits you so well, Luanne! <3
Thank you so much, Carol! Because I get complicated migraines (not headaches) and am very light sensitive I wear hats a lot!!! Thank you so saying that!
I saw the photo and title of this post and thought your memoir was coming out. I thought, my goodness—I’ve been very remiss in my blog reading. But I did know about the new chapbook, so I feel better. And I love the trailer. Very effective. I used something on YouTube for the Cain’t Do Nothing with Love short story collection, as well as making all the stories available there. But no trailer. I may think about it for the novel I’m about to release in audio. Hmmmmm
LOL, so you saw the cover and thought that was me when I was in college? 150 years ago? Yup. That is almost right. You are one of the most technology-savvy writers I know with your audio versions and all! Is the one you’re releasing in audio one that is available in paperback?
Oh, no—I didn’t think it was you. But I did think how much she favors you. (And I LOVE the title). The novel I’m releasing in audio will be available in ebook. I haven’t decided about print. Everyone says to do all three platforms but, truly, I’m only doing the ebook because the audio site I’m using requires it. I am all into audio distribution these days. 🙂
I think she might be my great-great-great-grandmother Johanna Remine DeKorn. Can’t be sure, but she absolutely does have the family resemblance strongly and the tintype came from that branch. I am glad you have have it in ebook; please post that on your blog too. I can’t really read audio books because of my lifestyle these days, so I will be happy to read-read. 🙂
Will do 🙂
Greaat reading your blog post