I might be in denial, but the view is pretty from here.

By Gayle Carline
Author of Humorous Mysteries and Mysterious Humor

I'm sort of re-cycling a post I did on my own little blog a while ago, not because I'm lazy, but because I'm in the middle of writing my newest mystery and my characters are pretty anxious to get this party started. I've got to kill someone in about a chapter and a half, so you see I'm pressed for time.

I want to talk about book trailers. I keep puzzling over them, noodling if you will, because in theory, I think they should be part of a book's basic pitch to the masses, one of the things we include with a media release. In practice, most of them end up in the YouTube Black Hole, where no one can find them and no one is looking for them.

Kind of like playing tag with your mean cousin.

Actually, I should refer to them as "book videos." Believe it or not, the term "book trailers" is a registered trademark and its owner can take you to task (or to court) for using it. Hand to God, it's true. See here, under the question "What is a book trailer?"

I know some authors eschew them. They rightly point to the fact that most book videos get lost in space and tell you it's time/money wasted. Well, except for James Patterson who gets his videos on prime time TV (usually during Castle), and he's got more money than God, so seriously, why is he bothering to advertise at all?

But I remember the day that MTV went live and changed the music landscape (I remember the first video, too). Now musicians had to either photograph well or hire clever folks to build music videos that didn't include pictures of them. I haven't watched MTV in quite a while, but every time I look up a song or band on the internet, it looks like videos are still being made.

Now I'm looking at the changing face of the book. It seems to me that ebooks, if they haven't started already, will soon be including links to places and people that are mentioned in them, or videos of events, etc. The reader is not only using their imagination as we take them on our fictional journey; they can be immersed completely in our world. I can envision everything from soundtracks when I read, to the ability to create my own idea of the main character and role play as the story goes.

And no, I'm not a gamer. I'm just a reformed engineer.

What I think this means is that we haven't been pushing the book video envelope far enough. It's not enough to throw your vid on your website and YouTube and hope for the best. That and five bucks will get you a latte. We need an outlet for ALL book videos to get air time in front of readers.

Some of my ideas are:

- A Book Video Channel. On TV and the internet, like MTV in its early days. Maybe split up some of the book videos with author interviews, book signing events, readers' picks, book reviews, etc. It could sell advertising space to the people who support writers, like computer makers and sellers, bookstores, Amazon... and James Patterson.

- A weekly/monthly feature of book videos on other programs that feature book reviews.

- Access to videos by bookstores (either brick and mortar or online) that allows them to display them on a monitor in the store or in a corner of their website.

Got any other ideas? Let your imagination run wild. Mine is.

In the meantime, here are my videos for my three mysteries. Yes, I made them myself. No, I'm no Martin Scorsese. I'm just a gal with a weird sense of humor and a son who has a killer voice and writes music.

FREEZER BURN




HIT OR MISSUS



THE HOT MESS



For bonus points, and a free e-copy of my latest, The Hot Mess, what was the first music video shown on MTV? (Shame on  you if you Googled it!)

Trailers: Trophies or Trash?

by Peg Brantley, author of RED TIDE

For those of you who do not want to watch trailers, even hate the things, today's post is not for you.

Several people have asked me about my process and what I think the results have been. The big and most important question is this: Did my sales increase because of a trailer?

First, here's the trailer:

The pieces: 

• Music was chosen from Free Music Archive. This site allows you to search for music by category and keywords: a fast and easy way to find the right music for the mood you're trying to reflect.
• Photos were selected from both iStockphoto and Shutterstock. I used the least expensive versions available for all of the images.

The glue:

• I have a Mac and through trial and error (a lot of both) I figured out iMovie. Of course I'll probably forget everything by the time I make another trailer. (Hint: I will be making another trailer.)
• For PC users, Windows Movie Maker has produced some stunning trailers.

The cost:

• If you have the time the equipment and the talent you can create your own trailer for free. 
• A professionally produced trailer can cost $2,000 or more. 
• I don't happen to own a way to create video and I didn't want only static photos. I also wanted it done as quickly as possible. I also didn't want to have to sell a gazillion books to pay for the trailer. Mine ended up costing less than $200 and it took me about two days.

I have made my trailer available in all of the obvious places:

• My blog, Suspense Novelist.
• My author page at Amazon.
• My author profile at Goodreads.
• YouTube.
• Facebook.

L.J. Sellers provided me with this link that has a list of other places to consider posting your video:

• Book Marketing and Book Promotion.

Now to answer the big and most important question: Did my sales increase because of a trailer? Given that there's not a box readers check to indicate why they've purchased your book, it's a little bit of a guess and comparison of numbers and timing kind of thing. But I believe my sales have increased because of the trailer. I'll make another one for Book #2.

What has been your experience with trailers? What worked for you and what will you do differently next time? Feel free to post a link to your video in your comments.

What Am I Thinking?

by Peg Brantley, Author of RED TIDE


My first book has been out for almost two months. I'm still trying to figure out how to let people know about it without being obnoxious. It looks like the least obnoxious options involve a lot more time. By far. I have a list of several advertising possibilities but I haven't had a chance to really investigate them. And I'm betting they all take money.

I have worked through the initial edits of my next book but know there's still work to be done before I  ask beta readers to commit time to helping me make it even better. Time.

A wonderful group of writers who seem to have some traction, Indie Chicks, invited me to join them. Before they had a chance to reconsider, I told them I was in. A blog here and there (they have very precise requirements which I'll need to learn), participation in an anthology (just agreed to a travel anthology—due June 1st!) and support for my fellow "chicks"—all good stuff. All manageable. But there's the time thing again.

I'm working to find a balance. Really. I am. I understand that there will always be something more that could be done while my eyes are still open. Really. I do. (Actually I thank God every day for giving me a husband who is as independent as I am and supports what I'm trying to accomplish.)

And then (cue mysterious, threatening music) this past Wednesday morning I decided I want to create a trailer. (the sound of lightning striking the earth punctuated by thunder) Right now I'm more interested in video clips than I am still shots. For still shots I'd be hanging out at Morgue File or Dreamstime. But because I'm focusing on videos right now I've spent hours at iStock. Add more more hours at Free Music Archive and Incompetech. Since the music was free I downloaded a bunch then had to figure out how to get it to my iTunes library. At this point I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Time. Big Time. But I think it will be enormously satisfying to do this. Right?

So far I have spent HOURS on this project and have a solid THREE SECONDS of trailer to show for my efforts. I'm using iMovie and it's probably the easiest out there, but I still run into questions I can't find answers for.

Writers, have any of you created your own trailers? Any advice?

Readers, do you enjoy trailers? Do they annoy you? Do they encourage you to check out a book?

The Trouble with Trailers

By Peg Brantley, Writer at Work, Stumbling Toward Publication

Do book trailers really do what they're intended to do, or are they more of an ego trip for the author?

This post originally appeared on my personal blog, Suspense Novelist, but I still feel pretty much the same way.

Book Trailers
What makes a successful book trailer?

I'm beginning to believe that just as one person loves a book while someone else puts it in their DNF (Did Not Finish) pile, it's pretty much the same with book trailers.

With all of the creativity, time—and often expense—that goes into the creation of trailers, the bottom line has to be sales. Does the book trailer make you want to go out and buy the book? Or, at the very least, check into it a little more?
Here are some things I like:

• Short. Maybe as long as 2 minutes, but 1 minute or less is best. Sort of like a visual Twitter program.
• Endorsements. If you've got some name-candy to throw around, throw it around early in the trailer. I'm shallow enough to pay more attention to something endorsed by Dean Koontz than well . . . Peg Brantley, or no one at all.
• Live action. Unless your still photos are super spooky and filled with tension, I'd much rather see living beings in action. I don't need to see their faces, but I want a sense of real people, not photos or statues or drawings. Even with historicals.
• Set the mood. If the trailer is for a cozy, it shouldn't be dark and evil. Music is huge, but so is color choice and pacing.

These are my personal preferences, and I'm curious . . . do you have any? Are there book trailers you love? Some you hate?

Have you ever bought a book because of its trailer?