Book Trailers:

Today I made a book trailer for Assassin P.I. My first ever. And it got me thinking. WHY?

Why in the world was I spending time on creating a video about my book? Was I wasting my hard-earned money on a useless venture? Would anyone care? Would it help entice others to purchase my story? Would anyone even watch it?

I should have been at a soccer tournament today, cheering my son on. Or at the birthday party my daughter was invited to and attended without me. Or decluttering my house in preparation for putting it on the market. But I wasn't. Instead, I was creating a book trailer.

Book trailers can be a great way to spark interest in potential readers. Sort of like a commercial would. Now, in my mind, a good book trailer should do 5 basic things.

1. Match the tone of the book by using the right music and images
2. Get people curious and asking questions about the plot
3. Leave readers wanting more
4. Get people talking 
5. Entice people to buy your book

Here's an example of a great book trailer for a picture book I happen to have in my classroom. It's a great story and a good example of how effective a trailer can be. 

Effective, right? I hope you all run out to buy this picture book. I promise you'll love it!

So it was this marketing mindset that I attempted to create my own book trailer. Now mind you, it was my first time but in truth, it wasn't all that hard. Time consuming, certainly, but not difficult. I spent my morning scouring the web for suitable, noir-inspired images (which I then had to pay for). I used Fotolia and spent a whopping $20. Once I'd selected the perfect pics, I had to figure out how to wrangle them into video format. I used Animoto.com because I've used it before. It's pretty simple and straightforward. The only problem was that I was using a trial version. In order to remove the "Free Trial" watermark, I had to sign up and pay for a month-long subscription to Animoto. No biggie. $14 well spent. (I found an online discount code)

Or so I thought. Both the song and theme I'd used, were not included in that "Personal" level of membership. In the end, I wound up paying additional money ($27 and change) to upgrade to the "Professional" level in order to use the song I'd selected. But it was worth it.

By the time end of the day, I'd spent a grand total of $62. Hopefully it was money well spent, money I'll recoup in the form of book sales. At the very least, I had fun creating it and wound up with a product I'm proud to show off. 

So here it is. You tell me. Was it worth the time and money I spent? 

Book Trailer for Assassin P.I. 

Cover Reveal: Assassin P.I.

This past weekend was a flurry of excitement for me. While I scrambled to complete my final edits in under four days, pen an eloquent back blurb, condense it down to a witty-but-short Facebook hook, write my acknowledgements page (while trying not to forget anyone), and come up with a heartfelt dedication page,  my son had a yard sale for his Mountain Bike Club (which I missed), and a soccer game (which I also missed). 

AND as if that wasn't enough to deal with, my Mister and I took time out to tour a new model home, which we then decided to purchase. We're buying a new house! EEK! 

But despite all the chaos that is my life, I survived. Good thing too, because there's only two more weeks until Assassin P.I. hits Amazon's virtual bookshelf! Although a little birdie told me it will be up for presale very soon. Can you believe it? The suspense is killing me. I have so many fun scenes I want to share with you all. But I can't. Not yet. But soon, I promise. 

In the meantime . . . would you like to see the cover for Assassin P.I.?

You ready for this?