My First Ever Book Trailer

Have you ever created a book trailer, or any YouTube video to promote your writing?

No?

I sure hadn't. I hadn't even thought about it.

Sure, I had heard people suggest making videos for this or that, or even vlogging, but that just wasn't me. Well, I decided that I wanted a video to promote my latest devotional book (Teen Devotionals... for Girls! Vol. 2) that came out earlier this month, so I broke. I created my first ever book trailer and it was so simple!

I can't tell you how much fun I had. It's not perfect by any means, but for my first ever attempt, I thought it was pretty successful. Check it out:

What do you think? 

Really, I'd love your feedback because I'm hooked! Short videos are great (free) ways to promote our writing. Even if it's just announcing your blog, or yourself as a writer. 

Here's what I did:

I went through my book and decided what I wanted to highlight. Was it quotes from the book, or devotion titles? I chose subtitles and the corresponding Scripture that went with it. I started out with 6 of each, as well as 6 feedback quotes that I had received about the book. I designed those in Adobe Illustrator, then took pictures of them with my snipit tool (I would have gotten higher quality photos by converting them in photoshop, but my husband wasn't home and that's not my forte...). 

Then I uploaded them to the free movie making software that came on my computer (Windows Live Movie Maker), and put them in the order that I wanted them to appear in. 

Next, I choose my background music. I searched through some royalty free music that came with "Get Your Audio Book Done!" a course by Self-Publishing-Coach, Shelley Hitz - which I highly recommend by the way - and found the beat that was most fitting for the books niche. And then worked with the pictures to match the beat. I ended up shortening it quite a bit, and adding a few slides about the devotions themselves.  I also go to have fun playing around with the special effects. And the voila! I had a book trailer! 

It really was that simple. I'm thinking of making more... I just need things to make them for.

If you're interested you can download Shelley Hitz's free report "YouTube Strategies for Authors" here.

P.S. "Teen Devotionals... for Girls!" Vol. 2 was released earlier this month. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Teen-Devotionals-Girls-Volume-2/dp/0615631622/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1335416168&sr=8-3