Why Authors Need Book Trailers

Let’s be honest. Usually they’re bad. Really bad. Low quality and even lower views, cheesy graphics, corny acting, and over-modulated elevator muzak. Most authors don’t see any return on their investment when creating a book trailer because it isn’t worth watching.

The truth is, most book trailers are created with loads of optimistic mythology but not much strategy. Many authors do it themselves, and although their hearts are in it, they’re writers, not filmmakers. The failure of both independent authors and big publishing houses to recognize video’s power for advertising stories is often attributed to the fact that no one watches these awful book trailers, and publishers conclude that no one wants to watch book trailers.

But they are all wrong.

Book trailers, if done right, are incredibly effective. In fact, they can increase your audience, improve fan engagement, find you new readers, and drive book sales through the roof.

What’s the secret? Simple. Forget that you’re making a book trailer. Instead, you have to learn how to make a book commercial. The world is filled with successful commercials for everything, from furniture to food, cars to cologne. And if someone can use video to sell a smell, you can certainly find an effective way to advertise for your book.

And I’m here to show you how.

I Produce Book Trailers

It’s become my mission to help authors understand that book trailers don’t have to be terrible. As an author and a video producer, I am driven to show the world that book advertising can be just as lucrative and impactful as any other type of advertising. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve written a terrifying thriller, passionate romance, sci-fi epic, or even a non-fiction book.

I take my professional film experience, my marketing and editing skills, and the incredibly talented film and advertising folks I create with, and work directly with authors like you to build a successful advertising campaign, no matter your budget.

But I’m not just hocking my own productions. I understand many authors are self-published or lacking in any type of marketing budget. Some of us are flat broke. Trust me, I understand; I’ve been there and it’s okay. Because my main mission isn’t to make money off of desperate authors. I want to fill the world with incredible book trailers, to elevate book trailers to the same level movie trailers currently occupy in the zeitgeist.  There is absolutely no reason the world can enjoy television commercials for the taste of gum, and yet laugh off the idea of advertising for something as moving, important, engaging, and consumable as a book.

I have been so affected by the incredible stories I’ve read that I want authors to spread that joy to others. No matter what. I want authors all over the world to show audiences the power of reading, the sheer enormity of their own stories, and to get their work out there changing people’s lives. 

Let’s show the snobs of the world that books deserve well-made trailers.

As part of this mission, I’ve created a Youtube channel where I will be releasing videos to help authors navigate the world of book trailer production. I will teach the basics of what makes a good video, how to improve your own book marketing, how much trailers cost, how long they should be, how to find professionals to help you, how to use trailers to grow your audience, where to put trailers for the biggest punch, and most importantly, how to use book trailers to sell more books.

I want you to succeed. I want book trailers to be as enjoyable as every other commercial. I want to be exposed to excellent books. Help me do that. I believe in you.

Want to produce a trailer for your book? Hit me up.

Help Me End the Scourge of Abysmal Book Trailers

IN A WORLD is my response to the constantly expanding glut of awful book trailers. As both an author and a video producer, I wanted to offer some of my production knowledge to help fellow writers make book trailers that don’t suck. Because currently, most do.

Whether you’re epublishing, traditionally publishing, or trying to snag an agent, using professional video production techniques to up your game and help sell more content is a strong and often unexplored way to market your books.

In A World is more than a quick guide to teaching you how to make your own book trailer. It’s a way to help you market your book so you can create something that’ll get more attention than those 25 views from your Great Aunt Mildred. It’s an easy-to-follow guide to the basics of video production, including how to script your trailer, budget, find actors, crew, locations, light and film a scene, edit and create graphics, and what to do with it once you’re all done. You’ll be surprised with how quickly you’ll see the quality of your marketing (and maybe even your writing!) improve.

I want to help authors. That’s why I’ve written In A World: How to Make Book Trailers that Sell More Books. I hope you use it.