A Different Kind of Book Trailer

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Fan Book Trailers

Writers, we all know book trailers (When done right and tight) can bring readers a thrilling tease for their book, and we commonly think of book trailers for books we’ve written recently, trailers for books a little long in the tooth can be a great way to recharge and renew interest in backlist titles.

Authors (Such as Katie Davis, who we profiled during Picture Book Month 2013, and created “Video Idiot Boot Camp” where I learned to tackle and eventually embrace the power and reciprocity of video) uses this tactic to great effect.

But for readers, or writers who are pre-published or struggling to build a platform, making book trailers for your favorite books can be a great way to show the author your support and show your potential readers what you’re like through what you love to read.

For authors and illustrators, it’s a great way to support your colleague’s work and helps your visibility as well, especially if you write in the same genre. It’s also a great way to crossover to a new audience and show your current audience and platform in a new light.

 

Recently, I did a trailer for a book I didn’t write, but love and want this first book in a four book series to get more love and attention-

[sz-youtube url=”http://youtu.be/cJIIAcJubZs” userdata=”Taury” /]

 

It’s a way to “promote” T.A.A. and my author brand without it being directly about me or my writing specifically.

Today, I share yet another fan-made trailer for a book close to your Literary Rat’s Heart-

 

[sz-youtube url=”http://youtu.be/dQDJe2b_teY” userdata=”Taury” /]

I’ll soon be writing a feature series on how readers and authors can support the unsung authors and books that don’t get “Bestseller” attention by creating book trailers of books you love, especially if they’re older titles that don’t have ones of their own (In the “Old Days”days when trailers were only for movies)

While I love doing book reviews on T.A.A. and plan to do more in 2014, fan made book trailers are another way to engage your audience and (For authors and/or illustrators) build one’s platform (I prefer to call it “Community”) without pushing yourself in annoying or uncomfortable ways.

This is also positive way we can share our love and fandom to authors and our circle of avid book lovers, be they fellow writers or lay readers.

Since most authors don’t read any comments or reviews of their own books (For varied and personal reasons), this is a way we (Be it author or lay reader) can share our love for their work without the critical factor reviews (Even positive ones) can have.

What do you think of my newest fan book trailer? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. T.A.A. loves hearing from its readers.

That’s all for today. Until Next time, may the fantastical fauna be with you

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  • It’s so cool that you do these, Taurean. :)

    • Thanks for stopping by, Kelly, and I do enjoy doing them as these are books I love and go back to and so deserve more attention than they’ve gotten. But I also think anyone who can do trailers for their own books can do one for books they loved as adoring readers themselves.

  • Great job, Taurean! I don’t know how to do book trailers but would love to learn.

    • I didn’t know how to do book trailers either, Allyn, before taking “Video Idiot Boot Camp” (VIBC) last May, but now I’m hooked on video, so much so I have to now make the conscious effort to not let it keep me from writing, and the point of this post was just another way we can hone our video creation skills and promote our platform without it being solely about our own stuff.

      I was offering authors a new way to use book trailers, which are typically for our own books, but they can also be a great way to support other author’s in our genre who write books we loved reading (and at least in my case, often WISH I could’ve written) without the critical factor of doing book reviews, it’s a great way to support authors you love, and a way to let them know however tangentially their work strikes such a chord a grateful, but while this can be great for authors to do for other authors, readers can do them, too, to find other like-minded readers and form book clubs among readers with similar tastes in books.

  • This is a great way to pay tribute to writers we love and their works. A wonderful idea, Taurean, and I like your music selection!

    • Thanks for the kind words, Claudine, I hope this idea catches on, and thanks for noting the music.

      I take great care to find the music the reflects the feel of the book showcased in the trailer, and it’s HARD to find it within my limited budget and that’s available for use without copyright issues or paying high fees, and still fit the book’s tone.

      I often scout various sites for trailer ideas long before I actually work on them because that’s often half the battle, it’s now easier than finding affordable video footage.

  • You did a great job with this – love the music, images, pacing, it’s superb.

    • Thanks for stopping by, Julie,
      I worked hard on these videos and I’m glad it shows.