Literally Lynne Marie: Book Trailers: Bringing Your Book to Life! by Heather Macht

http://amzn.to/1U5Y4E5

About three months before my first book was released, I started to think of all the fun ways to promote it. I really fell in love with the idea of creating a book trailer. They are such a great way to give everyone an exciting glimpse of your book. Plus, YouTube and all of the social media channels make it so easy to share and spread the word. I soon decided this was a route I wanted to take and began the process.

Since my husband and I have I.T. backgrounds, and can quickly learn new software, we decided we’d create one. I’m going to give some prepping and creation tips I found helpful along the way. However, I do want to mention that if you pay someone to create a trailer for you, that’s perfectly fine! I’m sure the planning and collaboration process is very similar.

First things first, Review, Review, Review! : To get a good feel for book trailers, you must watch as many as possible. What did you like about each one? What would you change? Take notes and let the brainstorming for your trailer begin!

Storyboard your idea: Trailers should be no longer than 2 minutes (any longer and you’ll probably lose your viewer’s interest). What do you want to relay about your upcoming book in this time? Do you want narration in your trailer or do you want music and text to do that for you? Do you want it animated or any special effects? Write it all down! That way, you’ll have a clear concept before you move forward.

Choose your images: I was able to choose five images from my book to use in the trailer. This was tough because all of the illustrations were amazing. But, I narrowed it down to the images I felt best conveyed the message.

Time to create! : There are free trailer-making programs out there, but we chose to purchase a program called Pinnacle Studio. We also purchased royalty free sound clips and a royalty free background image to use. Once we uploaded and arranged everything in the application, we were able to add our desired effects.

Give proper credits: Don’t forget to credit the publisher, author and illustrator in the trailer so the viewers know who’s behind the awesome book ;)

Share, share share! : First, share with friends and the publishers to make sure they approve and there is nothing you’ve missed. Once you get the approval, share with everyone! I shared my trailer on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Good Reads… You get the idea! I received a lot of positive feedback, and it has been viewed over 2,800 times.

I hope you enjoyed this insight and I wish you the best of luck if you decide to take this path! Overall, it was a fun and rewarding process. If you’d like to take a look at my final product, you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sRpvx2Ygqw

Author Bio:

Heather Macht is an active children's author who has been creating rhyming stories, specifically about dinosaurs, since the third grade! She earned her AA in fine arts from Florida State College at Jacksonville and held a career in the I.T. world before becoming a full-time writer and mom. She couldn’t be happier with her new profession! For more: visit www.heathermacht.com

Book Bio: You May Just Be a Dinosaur

How do you know if you’re a dinosaur? Well, if you’re bigger than a school bus, can eat everything in the fridge in one bite, and have dozens of razor-sharp teeth, it’s possible you may just be a dinosaur! This playful look at these ancient animals contains fun facts about sail-backed Spinosaurus, horned Triceratops, spiky Stegosaurus, and more. Tiny T. rex everywhere will enjoy the earth-quaking, tooth-chomping antics of these unique beasts. You May Just Be a Dinosaur is a prehistoric parade that you won’t want to miss!

Written by Heather Macht, Illustrated by Jason Gillard, Published by Pelican Publishing, Sept. 2015.