Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 5 (The Book Trailer)

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Writers these days make (or have made) "trailers" for their books. These are put up on YouTube and on web sites. Here are a few examples:

Claude & Camile; A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell


The Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Series


Mary Sharratt's, Daughters of the Witching Hill

 Some authors get a lot of Net attention by creating a funny video. This one continues to get quite a lot of "buzz":

This emotional author video got over 1.5 million viewers and created a bestseller for author Kelly Corrigan:

Videos don't have to be expensive. With George's knowledge of film, his natural wit and Hollywood background, I imagine that he could come up with something catchy and off-the-wall.

Related posts:

Net marketing for Ludites: Part 1

Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 2 (Cracking the Social Net)

Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 3 (Blog? Website? Both?)

Net Marketing for Ludites: Part 4 (Friends & Followers)

How to promote your book without giving up writing

A wonderful article by Margaret Atwood on discovering the Twitterverse and other foreign realms: How I learned to Love Twitter.

Next up: Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 6 (Your Fans)

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Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 1

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I always knew my good friend George Whiteman was talented: his paintings are amazing; his CV includes album cover designs for the (now) classically famous. But now he has published a memoir (the first in a trilogy) — The Perennial Freshman — and it turns out he's also an amazing writer.

But now that he has a book out, he needs to know how to promote it. He's never seen a Facebook page, thinks Twitter is what birds do, and doesn't know what a blog is. Where to begin?

First, I would say: the old-fashioned way, by pitching his book face-to-face with bookstores. No successful author hasn't set out on that humiliating road without a box of books in the trunk of their car (John Grisham, Margaret Atwood ... ). Independent bookstores are best (although harder to find). Put together a flyer on the book so that you have something to leave with the clerk and make a dignified exit. (The book has rave Amazon reviews, so he should be sure to quote them in the flyer.)

He should give readings: it's good practice, even to an audience of two (his wife and the bored store clerk). This, too, is part of every writer's experience. If he is in a particular area, his publicist should be able to contact bookstores and set it up. Remember, with readings, it's about practice performing, and about having something to hang promotion on — a reason to put up posters and contact local media, etc. It's not about turn-out (but nice when it happens).

One idea is to film these readings, edit them and put out a short clip on YouTube. George is a natural comic, and this could be a home-run way for him to find his audience. Heck, splice in hecklers and a laugh track!

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An excellent book on the practical side of from-the-ground-up promotion is How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights, by Ariel Gore. She also discusses putting together a book tour, which many authors do, although the trend now is toward a "blog tour" (more on that later).

Next up: Net Marketing for Luddites: Part 2 (Cracking the Social Net). Watch this space.

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Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
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Editing sings the blues

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For writers in the throes of revision, this is a wonderful You Tube author video.

(Thanks to the Twitter suggestion of writer Ami McKay.)

Book trailer goes viral

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I'm both moved and inspired by novelist Kelly Corrigan's home-made book promotion trailer: it made me weep. Gone "viral," it's had 4.5 million viewers so far — and rising, no doubt. Watch it: I think you will see why. Kelly's words pull at the heart in key ways. She expresses herself so movingly, so poetically, the video made me interested in checking out her novel, The Middle Place.