When I self-published “The Last Families“, I immersed myself in this new world of book marketing. I have to be honest and tell you that I consulted a person about her marketing services, but I almost felt out of my chair when I heard the high fees. That’s when I knew it would all depend on my own efforts.
I quickly turned to social media, now the most powerful tool for marketing anything, from products to books to even people. I’ve never been good with social media; in fact, I kind of despise it. But I had to come to terms with it.
Promoting a book is hard. What are you supposed to say each time you post? Of course, you can come up with a thousand variations of promoting your book cover, as seen in some of my tweets and an abandoned Instagram account for The Last Families. But how else can you promote your book there?
Just before publishing my book, I came across this service called “Book Trailers.” If you haven’t heard of it, book trailers are short promotional videos designed to create interest in a book. Similar to movie trailers, they provide a visual preview of the book’s content. They often include elements such as voiceovers, text overlays, music, and imagery to convey the story’s essence and entice viewers to read the book. Book trailers are used by authors and publishers as a marketing tool to reach a broader audience.
Book trailers? Like movie trailers or teasers? That sounded fantastic. As writers, we always imagine our stories reaching the big screen and fantasize about how they will look. I thought having a book trailer for “The Last Families” would be fantastic. However, it was quite expensive, and I didn’t like the services that I saw online. Most of them were like PowerPoint presentations with random people and subtitles, using free stock media that didn’t accurately represent the book characters or world. Since it was too expensive and not like how I envisioned it, I decided to pass on the option.
Now, as I try to establish myself in the freelancing world, creating courses, websites, and explainer videos, I couldn’t help wondering if I could create book trailers myself. Well, now there’s AI, and it’s here to stay. Since it’s advent, I’ve been nerding with tools like Midjourney and chatGPT to boost my creativity. AI tools have advanced significantly, and if you spend time mastering them, you can do fantastic stuff.
So without further ado, this is the book trailer from “The Last Families”:
This book trailer captured the scent of what I imagined, but more than anything, it conveyed the emotion and tone of my story.
I also created two other book trailers from two classic novels. I hope Louisa May Alcott and Bram Stoker aren’t being pinged in their graves for having the nerve to create a book trailers for their books:
Of course, there’s room for improvement. The animations aren’t perfect, and you probably noticed several areas that could be refined. But this is AI and it’s continuously improving.
A professional video animator would charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a professionally animated video with all the precision that you need.
But I’m a writer, and I understand that self-published authors have a limited budget for almost everything, from websites and social media promotion to book covers, trailers, and other marketing efforts. We can’t afford to pay so much when the success of our book is uncertain. Despite the writer’s talent, sometimes being self-published means being SELF-published, and it’s hard.
I want to help other authors bring their stories to readers. Book trailers are a magnificent opportunity. While I’m not a professional designer, I have great expertise managing at least a dozen AI tools at professional level. I like to believe that I’m a good storyteller —all writers are. More than anything, I LOVE doing these trailers. You won’t find someone more passionate about bringing a book’s blurb into a short video portraying it.
If you’re an author or know any authors, I’m offering this service through Fiverr at a very modest fee.
I work with Fiverr as a platform for Orders and Delivers. By using this platform, you get a guaranteed service, reputable payment methods, delivery only after approval, and immediate access to public feedback. Fiverr ensures secure payments and holds funds until you are satisfied with the delivery.
