How to Make a Book Trailer: 6 Tips
1. Erase from your mind the ambition to make a movie trailer. The result will inevitably look amateurish (even if you enlist the help of your nephew who majored in film). You have to aim for an attainable aesthetic. The nature of this aesthetic will depend on your book, your audience, and the skill set you (or those assisting you) have to draw upon, but articulating it clearly to yourself is the most important first step.
What does a trailer look like? See 2 examples of book trailers here:
Guest column by author Helen Phillips and Adam Douglas Thompson.
Helen is the author of HERE WHERE THE SUNBEAMS ARE GREEN
(Delacorte, Nov. 2012), a middle grade for ages 10 and up. Adam
has exhibited his work at Regina Rex Gallery, Sara Meltzer Gallery/Projects,
and Studio 10 Gallery, among other venues. In 2010, a book of 100 of
Thompson's drawings was published by Regency Arts Press, Ltd. His
work has appeared in The Believer Magazine and other publications.
Thompson lives in Brooklyn with his wife, writer Helen Phillips.
(See the book trailers to both of Helen's books above!)
2. It is better for your book trailer to be super simple and beautiful than lavish and cheesy. The more visual, auditory, and verbal elements you incorporate, the greater the likelihood that your trailer will be a mess. Your book may be a novel, but your trailer should be a poem.
3. Labor over the script. Don't just use the jacket copy. We digest text very differently when we are watching a video than when we are browsing at a bookstore. The script has to be ultra-pared down, ultra-clear, and very thoughtfully aligned with the imagery.
4. Don't assume that you need to summarize the plot. It may be appropriate (again, depending on the particular book and particular target audience) to summarize the plot, but consider a more impressionistic approach that strongly communicates the aesthetic of the book while only hinting at elements of the plot.
(What are overused openings in fantasy, sci-fi, romance and crime novels?)
5. Depicting your characters using amateur/non-actors can lead to trouble. You don't want the nuanced psychology of your protagonist rendered banal by poor acting and filming. Using actors can also crowd out room for the imagination (illustrated images are less likely to cause this problem). If you use photographic/video-graphic images, either have them not show people, or not show the actual characters, or at least not show the actual characters' faces in a clear way.
6. Have your book cover, blurbs, and publication information appear at the end of the trailer, not sprinkled throughout it. Have the meat of your trailer be an evocation of the book itself, separate from the explicitly promotional content.
---------------
Check Out These Great Upcoming Writers' Conferences:
- Feb. 6, 2016: Writing Conference of Houston (Houston, TX)
- Feb. 19, 2016: Alabama Writing Workshop (Birmingham, AL)
- Feb. 20, 2016: Atlanta Writing Workshop (Atlanta, GA)
- March 25, 2016: Tampa Writers Conference (Tampa, FL)
- March 26, 2016: Fort Lauderdale Conference for Writers (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- April 9, 2016: Philadelphia Writing Workshop (Philadelphia, PA)
- May 14, 2016: Chicago Writing Workshop (Chicago, IL)
- June 4, 2016: The Writers' Conference of Cleveland (Cleveland, OH)
- Aug. 12-14, 2016: Writer's Digest Conference East (New York, NY)
Join the Writer's Digest VIP Program today!
You'll get a subscription to the magazine, a
subscription to WritersMarket.com, discounts
on almost everything you buy, a download,
and much more great stuff.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
- When Can You Call Yourself a Writer?
- Read a Query That Worked and Snagged an Agent.
- "How I Got My Agent," by Novelist Carsen Morton.
- Sell More Books by Building Your Author Platform.
- Literary Agent Interview: Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary.
- Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and how to write a query letter.
Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.
