Let's Talk About Book Trailers by Tena Stetler

 

Let's Talk About  Book Trailers.  Love ‘em? Hate ‘em ? Kinda in the middle?

For me, a well-done book trailer tells me enough so I can decide whether or not I would enjoy the book. Kinda like watching a sneak peek into the book and I don’t have to read the back cover blurb most times. The visuals of the characters, buildings and settings are a plus. I love to be drawn into a book and experience the story right along with the characters.

I’ve done one trailer for A Demon’s Witch Series a few years ago, adding tag lines for each book.  That was fun and entertaining, but didn’t give in-depth info about the books.

I have a new release coming out, A Witch's Quandary, July 12^th, 2021, a preorder/cover reveal blitz on May 25^th with a chance to win at $20.00 Amazon Gift Card that will also introduce my new book’s trailer. So keep your eye on my facebook or twitter accounts and mark your calendars.

Anyway I digress. I had a book trailer made for this book, setting out the blurb, with the characters, scenes, and buildings I envisioned in the story. I’m very pleased with it. Choosing the pictures was a blast but time consuming.

So, I’d love to hear your take on book trailers yay, nay, or don’ t care. If  you get a chance to peek at mine on the 25^th of May, I’d  love to hear your thoughts about it as well.

So here’s a bit of a peek at the cover before my big reveal on May 25^th.  

If you are looking for something to read while you wait, got you covered.  HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC, from A Witch's Journey Series is on sale for 99 cents beginning May 28, 2021. Discover the consequences of awakening hidden Gypsy magic!  https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Gypsy-Magic-Witchs-Journey-ebook/dp/B08FXBNLW5

No I haven't done a trailer for A Witch's Journey Series yet, but depending on the feedback from this post, I may.  LOL  However it is available in audiobook.

Pictures worth a 1,000 words!

The fun part about doing a book release is all the goodies that go along with it – like blog tours. I love to get a little lagniappe – that something extra you didn’t expect. One of my favorites is a book trailer, that visual and audio tease of what you can expect between the pages of the book. Getting it juuuuust right is always a challenge. Finding the right music to set the tone, the text that packs enough impact in six words or less per flip. And the images to tie everything together.

I’ve done several trailers for my earlier “By Moonlight” books. For the first, I only supplied the text and crossed my fingers (It turned out great!). For the second, I picked the music clip as well, and offered suggestions. For the third, I got in on finding graphics (Who would have thought paging through hundreds of ‘Sexy Male Torso’ pictures could be such a chore!) and found a very cool film intro. But REMEMBERED BY MOONLIGHT was special – my first self-published book as well as the return of my favorite main couple, and I wanted (in my very OCD way!) to have my finger prints on everything. Finding my Max Savoie took hours upon hours – but I recognized MY Max the second I saw him. My cover artist and I scoured the image sights and I picked out graphics that represented the setting, the mood, several scenes, and the characters and she did her magic with them. I played match-up between text and images, found an old collection of music clips from earlier trailers, and sent the package off to my awesome virtual assistant, My Girl Friday (I draw the line somewhere. I don’t do tech!). A couple of tweaks later . . . Well, see for yourself. I think it captures my new release perfectly. How about you?

«««««

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon

Goodreads “Nancy Gideon by Moonlight” group

Follow @NancyGideon

"A Visit to Ancient Egypt" - New Book Trailer for Magic of the Gods!

Today I'm sharing my USA Today/Happily Ever After -recommended book trailer for my latest novel set in ancient Egypt: MAGIC OF THE NILE.



I have such a good time collaborating with Theresa McClinton of MakingItReel on these book trailers. We go back and forth on the music choice first and then try to settle on good stock photos for establishing the ancient Egyptian atmosphere. This time around she found one that was perfect - until we noticed the electric light hanging in the foreground LOL. Oops!

It's a bit more tricky to find the right images for the main characters, since often the actual cover models on the book itself may not have other suitable poses we can use. Someday hopefully I'll have the budget to do my own photo shoots in full Egyptian costume and commission actual mini movie trailers but in the meantime I think we've managed to do a good job of conveying the feeling of the book itself.

I hope you'll enjoy!

The story:

After a childhood spent scorned and ignored by her family because of her crippled foot, Tyema was magically healed then installed as the High Priestess of his temple by Sobek the Crocodile God. But Tyema is still haunted by her memories, scarred by the abuse she endured. Despite Sobek’s protection, as an adult she’s become a near recluse inside the temple grounds…

 Until Captain Sahure arrives in her remote town, sent from Thebes on an urgent mission for Pharaoh, requiring High Priestess Tyema’s help. From that moment on, her quiet, safe life is upended in ways she never could have expected.

 But after a whirlwind romance with Sahure, the two part as Pharaoh orders him to undertake another assignment on Egypt’s dangerous frontier, far from Tyema’s remote town.

 Heart-broken, Tyema is ready to return to her life of loneliness, official duties and, now, regret. But the Crocodile God has other plans for his priestess: she must uncover the sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh’s life with black magic. Soon enough, Tyema finds herself thrown into the chaos of Pharoah’s court, neck deep in intrigue and danger. Just when she thinks she can’t take the pressures of a very public court life and her secret investigation for the Crocodile God any longer, Sahure re-enters the scene.

 But is her former love there to help or to hinder? Can they resolve their differences and work together to find the dark sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh and Egypt? Will the love between a proud warrior and a shy priestess lead them to a future together?

Novel Available Now at Amazon   Barnes & Noble  All Romance eBooks  iTunes   Google Play Books Kobo

led astray...to the dark side

by JoAnne Kenrick

Phew. I seriously wasn't sure if I'd be able to make my first post on the Paranormal Romantics, because my baby--my Mac--decided to not start up. After a reinstall, it's time to rebuild bookmarks and rewrite the works-in-progress.

Panic over.

And, squee, my first blog post on Paranormal Romantics is perfectly timed as I have a new release next week. The first in a brand new paranormal series -- we're talking zombies and vampires and all kinds of things that go bump in the dark. Bump and hump. It's super different from my usual style. Much darker. And snarky. I honestly can say I'm amazed my imagination was even capable of... mwahahaha-ness. Or that I'd enjoy writing such smut and scares. So I've gone from sweet Irish kisses and rock and roll hotties to a sadistic vampire having a zombie lover who isn't exactly Tupperware fresh anymore, telling stories so hot and graphic that I'd blush big time if my mother ever read them.

And it all kicks off with Strange and Beautiful on 22nd May.

TALES FROM THE COFFIN official blog

So what was the inspiration that led me astray to the dark side?

An amazing artist with such unique flair and talent. I was watching one of her youtube live performances and Estella, Vampire Queen of the Rejected, just came to me. Literally. The artist is Emily Autumn. From her Neo-Victorian vibe right down to the lyrics of her songs. Ideas poked and prodded at my creative juices....

Estella was born. The fictional character I'd created in my mind simply bombarded me with ideas and plots, and wouldn't quit with her snark until I wrote her first introduction and story. This is where Lucy was created. She had to have a partner in crime. Someone who could help tell her stories and keep all her needs tended to. Well, I felt kinda sorry for her, having been left at the altar by Dracula. Yup. that's right. Estella is Dracula's mysterious 4th bride. Well, not quite. Because she never got the ring on her finger. And she's still cut up about it. Think of her as a vampire Mrs Haversham. Only her 'visitors' are folks looking for a tour of the York Cemetery house she lives in. But they get something quite different. A smutty story. Such visitors should be warned, though. More often than not, they don't make it out alive.

Where was the most surprising place your imagination has ever taken  you?

Book Trailers - Do they help sell?

Has a study been done on this? And does it really matter? Not to me.

I love to write and I have a damn good imagination. However, when it comes to celluloid I don't consider myself very creative, but it gives me the opportunity to be a different kind of artist, and I try to improve each time. You know what I’ve discovered? It’s another of those ‘subjective’ areas. Some people like them, some don’t. You Tube has capitalized on the fact someone likes homemade videos.

I've heard various ideas about trailers: keep them short because people lose interest, don't be too wordy, make them exciting as possible - all things I try to consider and I hope I've done well.

I spend most of my time on selecting music. It has to be just right (in my mind anyway). I use http://www.incompetech.com/ which is Kevin McLeod's site for music. If you haven't checked it out yet, he has some good stuff there. I've donated to him, and will again.

Once the sound is set, I begin to select photos used to represent the hero and heroine. Another long process for me. Where, oh where, are all the men with below-shoulder length, blond or black, hair? Hell, I’ll take any color so long as it’s LONG! And where are the men – you know, those who have a little body hair? I dislike the hairless, boyish looking models. Oh well, that’s another blog completely. Anyway, I use Dreamstime or iStockphoto. Both seem the same to me, so I dash back and forth searching to get the photos that capture my characters (again, in my mind *grins*).

Then there's the process of getting them in order and writing the narrative, which has gotten less and less wordy for me each time. The saying goes: a picture tells a thousand words. I’m testing that theory on my very latest.

The first trailer below, Hope in Love, was completed last weekend amidst a family running wild. It’s for the first book in my angel series and it’s being viewed across the internet. LOL. My latest, Rhythm in Love, is a piece that's been contracted to Ellora's Cave for their Dance of Desire theme which will release in February 2010. It’s making its debut here at Paranormal Romantics today. It has 3 lines of dialogue and closing credits. I’m not sure whether I consider it done or not. I like the music and the various photos, but does it tell enough of my story? Does it grab attention…and ultimately, will it help sell the book?

I don’t have the answer to those questions. I had a damn good time creating both trailers and if one person enjoys them – I did my job.

Have a look at both. Take a minute to let me know what you think about video book trailers, and if you have one, two, or three, leave the link(s) in your comment, I’d like to check it out. Remember: Growl and roar-it’s okay to let the beast out.-J. Hali Steele