Book Trailers - Make One Yourself or Pay Someone to Do It?

Who should make my book trailer?

It's question I didn't need to ask myself since I have some graphic design know-how, Photoshop, and was able to work my way through the process using Animoto. They've got an easy-to-use platform, nice templates, subtle effects and a large selection of license-free music.

I'm not suggesting I've made my two book trailers with the production level of a professional service. But in deciding between the make-your-own and pay-someone options you'll need to consider two things.

Mostly, you'll need to consider how much it will cost to make your trailer. If you're willing to pay someone, I found two sites online, The Books Machine and Circle of Seven Productions.

Between the two, The Books Machine has the prettier website, and offers other services to both readers and authors. I didn't investigate further on those other services, but looked at what they do for you in terms of a book trailer. Their package comes in currently at $390.

Circle of Seven Productions has an awful looking website (if you care about such things) but is easy to navigate. Their basic book trailer package includes a lot for $525.

Both sites make great looking (if a bit over-designed for my taste) book trailers.

I've never added it up what I spent to make my trailers. I'll do that now, calculate what I spent to make my book trailer for Loveweaver.

I previously had spent a lot of time at Dreamstime searching for images of my hero, heroine, and background images that I used to make my book cover.  Even though the money was already spent, for sake of this calculation, here's the total for those plus two additional images I needed: About $100.  For other needs, I did hunted around online for "free" low res images that I could blur or revise for background detail.

I used Animto's trial version online until I got the hang of it and then purchased one month of official use for $42.

So, it cost me just under $150 to make my own trailer. The trailer for The Maiden Seer was done via the same scenario, although, I had already purchased the month of Animoto.
The other thing to consider is do you have the skills and talent to design a trailer yourself?  You'll need to search for images that suit you, choose the appropriate music, and create an effective storyboard.

Anyway, what I'm getting at a dozen paragraphs later, is that it's very possible for you to create your own trailer if you want to save some serious cash. It's at least worth going to Animoto to play around and see.

Jenna's Christmas Wish by Debra Parmley - Book Trailer

I make no comments or opinions about the book since I have not read it. What I write is about the trailer only.

This is a rare one: a light, sweet book trailer: Jenna's Christmas Wish by Debra Parmley

I can't complain about much here. In under a minute, we know the setting, the main characters, the plot and what gets in the way of our hero and heroine's happily ever after.

The score is appropriately jingly and the video clips pull together to make a tight little film.

As you know, I like to see the book cover at the beginning and end. Here, it's just at the end.

Typo: Put's should be Puts.

All in all, the trailer does a nice job.

The Guardian by M.J. Kobernus - Book Trailer

I make no comments or opinions about the book since I have not read it. What I write is about the trailer only.

The book trailer for The Guardian by M. J. Kobernus illustrates both some features I like in book trailers, and some I don't.

First the good news. It's thematically consistent with its images, color palette and fonts. The score is pitch perfect for the subject matter. The creator makes fantastic use of existing Amazon reviews, and in communicating through the captions. We get a cover image in the beginning, and while I like to see a cover image again at the end, we do get the title in bold at the end, and also the author's name in bold on a single slide.

The bad news: I'm not a fan of the special effects of the jiggly credit slide with the ink disintegrating off the page. That in combination with the captions leads me to think this is a documentary on the History Channel about lost ancient civilization rather than fiction.

However, on the whole does it all work in piquing my interest in the book?

Absolutely!

The Treasonous by Rachael Ritchey - Book Trailer

I make no comments or opinions about the book since I have not read it. What I write is about the trailer only.

The book trailer for The Treasonous by Rachael Ritchey has the making of my favorite flavor.

The video is book-ended by the cover image with the author's name visible. The video is made up a still images rather than action clips. The score is just right - dark, not overly dramatic.

I don't care for all the vertical images, however, with the black spaces on the sides. One has a find a way to format all the slides horizontally for a seamless flow.

There may be a tad too much to read, but here I quibble. The captions actually do a good job of outlining the plot and in asking the story question.

Pontifex Maximus by Damian North - Book Trailer

I make no comments or opinions about the book since I have not read it. What I write is about the trailer only.

This trailer is fun in how it straddles the fine line between creating dramatic suspense and being a parody of a movie trailer.

It is successful, in spite of the "cheese factor" in asking the story question through an array of similarly themed images underpinned by a dark cinematic score. I like how care was taken matching up the effective captions with the music.

My main critique is that the author's name is not easy to find. It's there at the final credits, though I had to pause the video to see it. My advice to those making book trailers is to ALWAYS bookend your video with an image of your cover with your name visible.

Or even have a single slide with the author's name.