Archive for January 19th, 2010
Nathan Bransford – Literary Agent
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| Guest Blog Week: How to Make a Book Trailer
Posted: 18 Jan 2010 08:00 AM PST Myrlin A. Hermes is the author of THE LUNATIC, THE LOVER, AND THE POET, which will be published on January 26th by HarperCollins
Book trailers are all the rage these days, but it can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have one professionally made—an expense your publisher will probably be reluctant to shoulder unless yours is a genuine blockbuster. And most of them, quite frankly, still end up looking generic, cheap, and dull. But it’s not that hard to put together your own book trailer for next to nothing; and many of the same creative issues we deal with as writers–such as establishing tone and setting, creating vivid characters, pacing, and remembering to edit–are also applicable to creating an effective video. You don’t need fancy equipment, either–I put together mine using Windows Movie Maker on a tiny 10″ MSI Wind netbook. Just a disclaimer: I am not endorsing any product–of course, if you have Photoshop and professional video editing software, or even a Mac with iMovie 2, the mechanics will be easier. Nor am I claiming any particular expertise–in fact, I had never done any video editing before–but I’m willing to share what I learned through trial-and-error as I put together the trailer for my novel The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet. It took me about four days to make–in retrospect, I would recommend scheduling a bit more time for the project, especially if your plans also include eating or sleeping! Be sure to go check out the rest of this article.
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