The book trailer for Bernie and the Putty turned out well. I will be the first to admit it isn’t going to compete with the big budget trailers, but I you have to remember it only cost me $15.
Basic Design
This is the information I did to script out what my book trailer should look like:
www.TheUniverseBuilders.com/trailer-detail/
Image Gathering
After I knew what I wanted my trailer to do and to say, I knew I needed to have some images drawn for my characters. I went to www.Fiverr.com and surveyed the vendors who offered to draw characters for books. I shared with them a page with background information on my characters:
https://theuniversebuilders.com/characters/
I contracted with three different vendors and paid them to draw four images of my characters ($5 per image, $20 per vendor). Arguably, this was an additional cost for the trailer, but I needed these images for my website and some other promotional materials.
I considered having them draw other things for me, such as scenes, but decided not to do that.
Vendor Selection
I went to www.Fiverr.com to find a vendor to do my work. If you look around, you will find there are quite a few people who will build a book trailer for you for $5. They will ask you for ‘extra gigs’ if you want them to do something special for the trailer. In my case I paid an extra $5 to pay for them to seek out additional images and a second $5 to pay for them to incorporate video into the trailer. Payment is made through PayPal.
I contacted several who offered the service, showing them my trailer detail. I chose a vendor who is listed on the site as ‘goodgift’. Her name is Jaela.
Vendor Interaction
Jaela did a great job with her music selection and use of the images I gave her. You can see some changes between my specs and what she produced. Some of that was because I didn’t have a couple images I mentioned in the script.
I asked her to modify the initial work after I had a chance to look it over. Some of the words were changed to make it flow better. I also asked her to lengthen the amount of time spent on certain slides.
She made the adjustments I requested, but I discovered the slides and the music were no longer perfectly aligned. What I learned was she had no ability to control the music (making it longer or shorter), so we re-synced the timing of the slides to fit with the music once again.
Jaela did a great job and I can and do recommend her to others.
Upload to YouTube
I had to create a YouTube account so I could upload the video. Once that was done, I was given a URL to the video. My website is build with WordPress, so I installed a module called “YouTube Free” and used the link to display the video on my web page.
Final Result
I am very pleased with the final result.
https://theuniversebuilders.com/trailer/
Feedback
You can see from the comments, people really like the trailer. I have also had nearly 100 more comments from people who sent me messages instead of posting their comments there. With 2-3 exceptions, the comments have been very positive and I feel like the trailer has been a good investment for me.
https://theuniversebuilders.com/trailer-comments/
Further Enhancements
My book is not yet published, and I have not yet finalized the book cover, so I still need more changes to the trailer. At some point, I will ask Jaela to add my new book cover. I have been considering using real pictures of my characters instead of cartoon characters; this would represent additional cost, but I may do it if I can find good images.
Final Update
My book was published in June 2014 and the print book in August 2014. The trailer has proven to be a good way of promoting the book.
Please check out the rest of the website for more information about the book.
