creating a great book trailer on a budget

Creating A GreatBook Trailer on

A Budget

By Will Kesling Pennwriters 2013

#pennwriters @willkesling

Hello!

My Story

Budgets

Is this even a good idea?

http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/kesling/creating-a-great-book-trailer-on-a-budget/1

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What can we do with what we have?

How do we do it?

How do we promote it?

How do we measure our results?

What did we learn?

What will we do next?

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My Goal.

– Is to give everyone a better understanding of what a book trailer is and what it is not.

– I want to provide links and resources

– I want to talk realistically about book trailers

– I want to talk about using a Lean process

– I want to talk about going beyond the Tupperware circle.

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Q. What on earth is a book trailer?

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Hint:

It’s not the the back of a semi truck making deliveries to Barnes & Noble.

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A book trailer is a video advertisement for a book which employs techniques similar to those of movie trailers to promote books and encourage readers to buy the book.

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No, Really. What is it?

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–It’s the well designed label that compels you to buy a bottle of wine you’ve never had before.

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–It’s the hidden jungle path that sets your curiosity into overdrive.

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–It’s the atomic wings that your friends dare you to try.

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A book trailer is NOT...

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A book trailer is NOT...

a magic bullet

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A book trailer is NOT...

a secret formula to success

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A book trailer is NOT...

a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket

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“Tell me more about thismagical book trailer thatwill make me famously rich!”

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They don’t exist.

A book trailer is a tool. How you use that tool can make all the difference.

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Well hell, how do I do that?

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Step One: Write a great book.

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I know it sounds obvious but even if you have an enormous budget you can still...

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Water World the bed!

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Step Two:

Software. video editing

For Mac: ( free )

–Apple iMovie http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

–Avidemux http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

–Blender http://www.blender.org/download

–ZS4 Video Editor http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/20754/zs4-video-editor

–HyperEngine-AV http://sourceforge.net/projects/hyperengine/

For PC: ( free )

-Windows Movie Maker Windows Movie Maker 2.6

- Virtual Dub VirtualDub

-Zs4 Video Editor T@b ZS4 Video Editor

-Wax Wax

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Step Three:

Software. sound editing

For Mac: ( free )

–Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

–Wavosaur http://www.wavosaur.com/

–Wavepad Wavepad Sound Editor

–Dj Audio Editor http://www.program4pc.com/dj_editor.html

–Power Sound Editor Power Sound Editor Free

For PC: ( free )

–Waveshop http://sourceforge.net/projects/waveshop/

–Acoustica Basic Edtion http://acondigital.com/

–MP3 Gain http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

–MP3 Quality Modifier http://www.inspire-soft.net/

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Speaking of Sounds!

Where can I get music, ambient backgrounds, and effects?–Audio Jungle http://audiojungle.net/

–Free Stock Music http://freestockmusic.net/

–Free Public Music http://freepublicmusic.com/

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Now that we have video and sound editing software we need to answer some questions.

What kind of trailer our we making?

Are we shooting our own video?

Will the video(s) be stock?

Are we just using moving pictures?

Do we have the equipment to shoot our own video?

What is our budget?

Is this a D.I.Y or are we paying professionals?

What is the average cost of a trailer?

Should I even do this?

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Answering those questions is easier when you have the end goal in mind.

What is the goal of your trailer?

Usually it’s to drive awareness and sales.

How are we measuring success and what does success look like?

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How do we tell a compelling story in only 60 seconds or less?

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In order to make a good trailer for your book you have to take your book apart. Break it down into some basic blocks.

What is the core story?

Who is/are the important character(s)

How can we visually tell this without giving too much away?

Think of the trailer as it’s own story. Independent from the book.

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After you have your story broken down into pieces....

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Edit, edit, edit....

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If each block gets 5 seconds then you only have 12 blocks.

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1.title and author2. BlockA 3. BlockB 4. BlockC5. BlockC6. BlockD7. BlockE8. BlockF9. BlockG10. BlockH11. Block H12 title and author

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There aren’t any rules but you should probably at least have the title of the book, the author and a call to action.

Then with the remaining time, sell your story.

Make the user feel something.

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Once you have your basic idea in mind. Pick some music that fits into the time.

In your head image the sequence that match music. This will change your sequence order and lengths.

It is much easier to storyboard with music then it is to hire a composer or find music to match afterwards

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Make a proof of concept. You don’t need an expensive camera. Most smart phones will give you a pretty decent video to test.

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The idea is to get a prototype video out and to test it with readers. Get their feedback and iterate on the video.

The bigger the time loop between the start and finish, the bigger the chance fro failure. Fail often and fail fast.

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Once you have a video that is getting good response, then we can think about spending money to promote it.

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