Beth Camp Historical Fiction

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Making a Book Video Trailer . . . on the cheap!

I did it! The video trailer. A visual way to introduce my forthcoming book, Standing Stones. My budget is zero, so here's the trailer AND my journey of roughly 10 hours (at no cost at all).

How-to make a truly cheap video trailer that might be OK.

Map out your text and images. Concentrate on trailer/teaser, not plot summary. Use PowerPoint to draft content until you're happy. Now you're ready for the techie stuff.

WORK IN POWERPOINT FIRST:
  1. Draft text for slide show, gather images (I used photos I took in Scotland and one public domain image). 
  2. Work in PowerPoint until the presentation looks pretty complete (I'm using the 2007 version. The 2010 version of PowerPoint has an automatic save to movie format).
  3. Save PowerPoint and then using a different name, save the slide show as JPEG File Interchange Format.
UPLOAD TO YOUTUBE.COM
  1. Go to youtube.com, login to your account, and upload files.
  2. Use youtube's UPLOAD page and select SLIDESHOW CREATOR.
  3. Upload your JPEG files. Rearrange them, following steps in Youtube's Slideshow Creator to add music, descriptions, tags, and settings. NOTE: To save time, you can preview music selections by going to youtube's Creator Tools before you upload your slide show.

Voila! Save and share! Your video is now live and ready for your BETA viewers.
Here's my 45-second video for Standing Stones. Just click on that PLAY button to see the trailer, I hope you enjoy. And, if YOU are reading this far, be a beta viewer please, and leave a comment!

12 comments:

  1. That is a great video, although maybe a little fast? I watched it twice 'cos I had to read the words so quickly before it changed images.

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    1. Thank you for this feedback, Sally. Youtube allows edits so I will slow this down to about 6 seconds for each slide. That's exactly the kind of comment I was hoping for!

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  2. Anonymous4:42 AM

    Really great! I found it interesting and evocative.

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    1. Thank you! The music adds to the story; it was so neat to find youtube offering these added tools.

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  3. Anonymous9:27 AM

    Yours is the first book trailer I have ever seen. You did a wonderful job, but I agree, slow it down so everyone can read your text. I was impressed at what you were able to do. I guess this is the future for our books...thank you for sharing and for letting us know just how to go about it.

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    1. Thank you for commenting. I wish I could say the process was an easy one! I've just spent the last hour (finally successful) in uploading a version of the trailer that paces the slides at 7 seconds instead of 5 seconds on readers' suggestions. But the fun part is still the learning. :)

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  4. Really looks quite professional, Beth. I, too, had to read fast, and I was enjoying the images and the music so I wanted to be able to take it all in. I think it's one of the best I've seen. Well done!
    Karen

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    1. Thank you, Karen. I have changed the pacing, but mostly I appreciate your stopping by and commenting. Whew! Now for the next step. This marketing stuff takes time. I've really enjoyed your recent posts. What a harmonious influence you are.

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  5. Anonymous12:56 AM

    Beth, I loved this, and will probably love it more with slower pacing. The imagery was evocative, and fit perfectly with the music and text. Lovely!

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    1. Thank you, Shanjeniah. It took a few tries and deletes before I got all the pieces together for the slower timing, but youtube's Video Editor allows an easy change -- after you know how!

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  6. Anonymous5:00 PM

    Great effort almost inspired me to make my own!

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    1. My 'almost' took about a month of thinking and worrying about it. Now I have fiverr to fall back on IF I didn't like the result. Try it? Why not! I'm glad you liked it.

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