Guest Post: Doing Your Own Book Trailer (Rebekkah Ford)

I’m in the process of self-publishing my YA paranormal book, ‘Beyond the Eyes,’ and recently discovered I can make my own book trailer, which totally rocks. To be honest, though, I am less than proficient at computers. However, I think I can do this.

Seriously.

I think I can.

Yeah, I know. I sound like the little engine that could. But check this out so you can see why I think this.

Oh, and as a side note, there are several ways you can make a book trailer. You can make it as an actual movie with actors portraying your characters, you can use animations, or you can use still photos, set to music with the storyline written on the photo, which is what I’m going to do.

My computer has the Windows Movie Maker software in it, and I’ve read that most computers do. If yours don’t, I think you can download the program for free. There are other programs you can use as well, but I’m mentioning Windows Movie Maker because that’s what I have.

Now obviously, I don’t know the first thing about Windows Movie Maker, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn on my own, right? There are YouTube videos on how to use the program. So after I have everything put together, I’m going to watch those videos, and then go into that program and play around with it until I know what I’m doing.

Once you decide to make a book trailer, here are the things you’ll need to do first . . .

1.) Go to YouTube and watch the book trailers there so you have an idea on how it works and what other people have done. Take notes on your likes and dislikes. It’ll help you generate ideas for your own book trailer. Pay attention to your feelings, and what type of music and pictures arouses the type of emotion(s) you’re seeking to convey to your audience. Write it down because that’s what you want. You want people who watch your book trailer to feel a connection with your character(s) and the story. Write ideas down for your own book trailer.

2.) Next step is selecting the pictures. There are free photo stock images out there that won’t violate copyright laws. You can google "royalty free photo." Choose images that fit the theme and setting of your book. Save them in my picture’s folder.

3.) Now you get to choose your music. I didn’t know this until recently, but there’s music available you can download for free without violating copyright laws.

How cool is that?

Like everything else, the selection of the type of music you’re going to use is very important because it connects the audience with tone of your book, and hopefully stirs enough emotions, to get them to take interest in your book.

4.) Next is summarizing your plot. Honestly, I think that’s going to be the hardest part. Right now, I’m still struggling with the blurb for the back of my book, so I’m guessing this might be a challenge as well. Just remember when you write the text for your book trailer, not to get too wordy. As long as you can put across the premise and characters of your book, you’ll be fine. And of course, the text needs to match the pictures you put it on, but that’s a given, right? It’s not rocket science.

5.) And finally, you need to learn how Windows Movie Maker works and putting it all together.

And then . . .

Ta da!

You’re all done.

Yay!

Now you have a book trailer you did all by yourself that you can be proud of, and is a great marketing tool for your book.

Contributor Bio

Rebekkah Ford grew up in a paranormal family. Her parents’ Charles and Geri Wilhelm were the Directors of the UFO Investigators League in Fairfield, Ohio, back in the 1970s. They also investigated ghost hauntings and Bigfoot sightings in addition to UFO’s. Growing up in this type of environment and having the passion for writing is what drove Rebekkah at an early age to write stories dealing with the paranormal. At one point in her life, she thought she wanted to be a journalist, and although she enjoyed writing articles, she quickly discovered her real passion was writing fiction. Her fascination with the paranormal is what led her to write the ‘Beyond the Eyes’ series. Visit her online and read her blog.