Whew! What an exciting week it’s been. So many things happening, changes going on with my publisher as well as my self-publishing – fortunately, they’re mostly good things. Or I should say, blessings in disguise. 😉 Last week I promised to share some non-mandatory options you can use for pre-marketing your book before the big day. The three most popular choices are:
- Book Trailer
- Teasers
- Book Playlist
I loved the idea of having a Book Trailer, so I shopped around, read “How To” articles, then opted to make my own for my first novel The Zen Lounge (the trailer is right down there on my side bar —->). I used the ‘slideshow’ feature on the free online movie maker Kizoa, because the Windows movie maker was both too complicated and didn’t have half the features I wanted. Here are the pro’s & con’s from my experience:
Pros:
- I spent $30, rather than $400.
- I got the experience, worked through all of the kinks, bugs and learning how to do it (was frustrating at times and I almost quit) and can now make my own trailer with confidence.
Cons:
- I haven’t received a single book sale from having a book trailer.
- It’s extremely time consuming, having to shop for the right stock photos and videos, on top of actually making it and then finding the right song for it, adding the credits at the end, etc. It took me a week or more before I got to the finished product.
So, there you have it. You’ll have to decide on your own if it’s worth the time to make your own or even the outrageous price for a professional trailer when it probably won’t help you sell any books. I’m now completely ambivalent about book trailers and am in no hurry to make another one.
Teasers are far easier and a fan favorite. As you all know, I made all of my own Teasers for Collar Me Foxy using the free design site Canva. I signed up for a membership through the stock photo site Dreamstime, because they were offering the first 5 photos for only $0.05/each and they’re about $5 cheaper a month than iStock or its sister site, Getty Images. So, shop around for those bargains!
Another option is that if you’re going through a professional cover designer, they might offer Teasers for an additional price. My designer for my upcoming novel, Avarice, offers a package of 5 Teasers for $75. Considering that if you don’t have a membership with a stock photo place, most pictures are upwards to $45 a piece, that might be worth it. Or, simply if you don’t want the hassle of making your own.
Either way, I highly recommend having Teasers for your book to use not only for pre-promotion, but with your Release Day tour.
You may have already seen Book Playlists on other author’s tours. These are fun to make and 100% FREE. Some people make them from the songs they listened to while writing their book, I chose songs that best represent what the book is about, or that matches my character’s personalities. I never made one for Collar Me Foxy, but my Hell on Earth series has one for each book that I’ve already started. It’s just another fun thing to include in your book’s Release Day tour for fans to check out.
All you have to do is sign up for a “Channel” on YouTube. You can create however many lists as you want under your “Library” and name them after your books. Hint: When you’re searching for the music videos to add to your list, make sure to have YouTube open in two different tabs, because the search bar that comes up while “Creating” the list will not list the official videos, but other people’s “covers” of that particular song. I don’t know why, but it happens. Use the regular search bar provided by YouTube on the second tab and then copy and paste the URL into your “Add to List” box on the first tab.
If you’re interested you can check out my YouTube Channel here.
Well, that’s all for this week. Just some things to consider and keep you busy while your MS is in the capable hands of your editor. Next week we’re going to be getting into the nitty-gritty work that comes between editing and publication. This will be the busiest time in your journey, so get ready to roll up your sleeves and turn your MS into an actual publishable novel. 😀
♥ Weekly Accomplishments: I got the first mock ups for an upcoming novel through my publisher, Hearthstone Alpha, and it is smoking hot! 😀 I also got a new publication schedule worked out with them, so now my series will be publishing consecutively (a book a month) starting next summer, rather than 1 book every couple of years. I’m also super excited to see the first book I ever beta read, His Hostage by Anna Adler, getting released this week on the 15th! What are you celebrating this week? Please share with us in the comments so we can celebrate with you!
A.C. Melody 
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