Getting Started On Your Book Trailer
If you’re an indie author a book trailer is an attention-getting way to promote your book. An effective trailer can hook potential readers like nothing else. I knew I needed one for Heroic Care, but creating one seemed overwhelming. When I dug in I learned it really wasn’t. I made mine in less than a day. I’m no expert, but I thought I’d share my insight to help you guys get started on your own book trailers.
Research
Before you begin, watch a lot of book trailers. Watch some in your genre and some outside of it. Some that are indie and some from traditional publishers. Look for books that share your target audience and listen to what they’re saying to target that audience. Jot down ideas. Think about what you like and what you don’t. Even after an hour of watching book trailers, you’ll gain a world of knowledge that will inform your trailer.
You can find trailers all over. Here’s one YouTube playlist to get you started.
Brainstorm
Now that you’ve got a taste for what a book trailer could be, take some time to brainstorm what your book trailer might be. Remember the trailer should convey the voice of the book. Try to think of ideas that connect to how the book feels and reads.
What visual words relate to your book? (Ie. Dark. Bright. Fast.)
How do you want viewers to feel? (i.e. Tense. Warm. Connected. Curious. Anxious.)
How should it sound? (ie. Music. Voice over. Dramatic reading.)
What key information about the story do you want to convey?
How might you want to convey all this?
This last question is where that research you did comes in handy. Will your trailer be a series of still images? An animated graphic? Actors portraying a scene from the book? Write down anything you can think of. You’ll narrow it down later.
Also, think about the resources you have to use in the trailer. A book cover image. A photo of the setting. A friend with a great voice. A knack for collage art. A little money to hire an animator. What do you have available to you to bring your ideas to life?
Finally, take a moment to decide how you will make this trailer. Are you a master of iMovie or MovieMaker who can handle creating it from scratch? Or is it worth checking out what websites like Canva, Biteable, Animoto, Vimeo, and others might be able to do for you? Spending a little time research what you’ll use now so you can tailor your play to work with that resource.
Select
A trailer should be 30 seconds to 90 seconds long max. So the next step is to take your brainstorming and narrow it down to your very best ideas.
To guide your choice, look over everything you’ve pulled together and jot down a concept statement for your trailer. The concept shouldn’t be “to sell books.” If that’s your only goal the trailer will feel forced. A good concept statement relates to the story of your book. My concept statement for Heroic Care was to convey the variety and heart in the anthology. That’s it. Simple, but it kept my selection process streamlined and straightforward.
At this point, you’ll also need to cross off any ideas you simply can’t pull off well. Remember, even a good idea will harm your book if you can’t make it look professional. It’s better to go with a simpler idea that you can make look flawless.
Storyboard
Layout your best ideas in an outline or sketch them frame by frame. Before you dig into the computer just use good old paper and pencil to figure out the flow of your trailer. It doesn’t have to be fancy. No one will see it but you. Think through how long each frame will take so you know you’re on that 30-90 second target. Trust me, doing this will save you hours of wasted time in the long run.
Here’s where my advice gets a little more specific. Most successful trailers follow this format:
Hook the viewer
Give specific details about the book
End with an image of the book cover and purchasing info.
That leaves a lot of room to play so use it as a jumping-off place to start building your trailer.
Gather Your Assets
Collect everything you need in one place on your computer. Download license-free still images from Unsplash or other image sites. Take photos. Shoot video. Record soundbites and voiceovers. Download suitable royalty-free music for BenSound or elsewhere.
Production
Now that you’ve got everything assembled it’s time to put it all together. There are many ways to do this. You can go into iMovie or Movie Maker and make it from scratch. You can also go online and use some of the resources that will get you halfway there. I used Canva, but there are lots of others out there. I can only talk about Canva so that’s what I’m going to reference.
Canva (and most of the others) allows you to select what size and ratio you want the video. Horizontal is most common but do square if you think you’ll be using it primarily for Instagram. I heavily modified a Canva video template to get the look I was after. Then started adding frames for each idea of my storyboard. Next, I played with each frame to get it just right. I animated the text, adjusted the time on each slide so they were fast enough for pace but slow enough to read, and layered in photos and music. Then I just kept playing it over and over and over until I thought it was perfect.
Review
Very Important: Make sure you show the trailer to a few friends for feedback before you send it out into the world. Trust me they will catch something you missed.
Share
You’re now ready to share it with the world. Put it out on social media. Post it on your book’s FaceBook page. Upload it to your Amazon Author’s Central Page, YouTube, and your website. Send a link to with your emails to book bloggers and bookstores.
A trailer will help set your book apart as that little bit more professional and appealing. I’m not particularly tech-savvy but I managed to pull off a simple but effective trailer. I hope this article helps you get started making a great trailer, too.
