For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Making A Book Trailer That Makes Money

One of the latest and greatest additions to marketing your novel is the Book Trailer. These 30 second to 3 minute previews add unlimited value. Not only do you get to wet the pallet of your already interested readers, but you reach a whole new demographic. People who are on the go (with short attention spans) don't always take the time to pick up a book and read the back cover. Book Trailers are your visual synopsis for our new attention-challenged society.

The ways you can utilize the trailer are endless. You can pair it with online marketing campaigns, air it via traditional media (T.V., Cable, Local Theaters), or use it to pitch your novel as a movie or television series property. Want more people to stop by your signing table at the bookstore? Throw your trailer up on an iPad and crank the volume! The marketing potential is endless.

When producing your Book Trailer there are a few very important things to keep in mind. This visual aid is a creative and quality representation of your book. If it looks cheap and slapped together, people will assume you put the same effort into writing your story. Make it movie quality. People love watching great movie trailers and being the first to share a hidden gem with friends. Produce a trailer that people want to share. Sharing is also directly related to social media and internet trends. This means your trailer should always be made with relevant search tags in mind. Search engines are the new library index cards. Use them to your advantage. Always think about your book from the reader's point of view. Sometimes authors can be too close to their own story for advertising purposes. They already know all of the connections between complex characters and elaborate plot points, so they forget to share them outside of their mind's eye. That is why we write the scripts for our authors. Our process is longer than most because we read each book (often several times) and write a script for the trailer based on the scenes and story lines that impacted us as a reader.

My digital media company recently added Book Trailer production as a passion project for my mother and author, CN Bring. After watching her struggle with book marketing for a long time, it became a personal objective to create something effective and affordable for the indie author. “We asked friends and industry connections until we were blue in the face. We thought about what would grab our attention as people who eat, sleep and breathe online. A lot of companies were doing book trailers and we thought that was a really great idea. Unfortunately, they were just words floating over pictures. We said we should make book trailers like movie trailers! We became really excited about the idea and our clients can see that the passion grows with every production. Every author gets the “Mom” treatment.”

So I would love to hear more from authors on their book trailer experience so that we can continue to improve our process and product. Please share your thoughts!