So we have completed our trailer or movie, and now it is time to display it to the world, BUT NOT YET.
I know you are anxious to display your completed book trailer to the world, but there are several steps you first must complete.
Go through your movie, look at all the music, sound FX and illustrations or pictures you used. Go back to the source where you obtained them and make sure that they do not need accreditation, or if they do it is placed correctly at the end or beginning of the movie.
Have a beta audience look at your completed trailer. They can be friends, or family, or acquaintances; the important facet you must keep in mind is they must be honest. Friends and family tend to be friendlier with you than a stranger, you must tell them to be brutally honest. If they come back with suggestions, consider doing them, after these renditions; resend it back for further review.
If you have a publisher, you present them for approval. As an author with a publisher, your contract usually states you must submit any promotional materials to them for approval, so keep this in mind.
Now, you should be ready to display your book trailer, NO, NOT YET. I would suggest you make an event of your book trailer. Let people guess about it, look forward to it. Treat your book trailer as any other movie. Movies are not released without some fanfare, neither should yours.
Pick a release date, and put that date on your social media sites. Have people committed to viewing the trailer the moment it is released. To those who say that they are interested in viewing it, send out a reminder a day or two before the release date.
You are about to place the movie on the numerous sites for viewing. Remember, although you may have the website listed for your book or product listed in the movie, a person cannot click on it. Add your link to your book or product somewhere that the potential customer can click on it. This link can be on the site below the movie, or in a comment section. You may have impressed a potential customer with your movie, but if you cannot access your product easily, all your hard work has been for nothing.
Now that all you can do is wait and see. Hopefully, some of the viewers have left comments, preferably good ones. Check to see if the sales of your book or product have increased because of the movie.
If there are negative comments, and your sales have not increased, you might want to consider removing your movie. This is a hard decision, but it may need to be done. Do not feel bad, huge advertising agencies have been forced to pull ads that have fallen short of expectations. This is the nature of marketing, no matter how good you think your advertising strategy is, it might fail.
If you do remove your movie, just start over. Learn why your original movie or trailer failed, fix those issues and start over.
Speaking of myself, stay tuned to this blog and hopefully soon I will display my book trailer for "Legend of the Mystic Knights". Thank you for visiting, and as always I enjoy reading your comments.
Next time: We are going to talk about William Tell, so get your crossbows and apples ready.
I am a Business Analyst, and a professional wrestler. This blog is about my journey into writing and being a new author. I also include topics such as my acting career and everyday living. If you have any comments, please leave one.
Great idea to got back and check and double heck. I am all for the audit! And I can't wait to see your trailer!
ReplyDeleteI guess making the trailer is no different than writing an article or book. The first draft is the easy part; then it needs editing and re-editing...and then once more.
ReplyDeleteIt makes you appreciate the sound and video engineers, doesn't it. A bad audio or video file can ruin all your hard work as a writer. You're right it's worth the time.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I like the idea to give consumers a glimpse of the product. I think I will refer to this one when I finish up my ebook.
ReplyDeleteWilliam, I can well imagine how difficult it would be to discover that all the hard work you put into making a movie, it fails to do what it's meant to do and you have to pull it. That would be one tough decision, especially if it was your first one. Once again, a wonderful informative post.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. It could be so easy to just release the trailer without doing more diligence in editing, attribution, promotion, etc. but I'm sure that extra work pays off. Good luck with your trailer.
ReplyDeleteI think the beta audience is crucial. You never know how your message will come across until you try it out on someone. Best of luck with the trailer!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, William. Always good to test your work. We all have pride of authorship -- whether a book, or movie, or a painting -- but not everyone sees with our eyes. So good to get feedback.
ReplyDeleteThose are some outstanding tips.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice that anyone thinking of making a movie trailer should pay attention to. Building up curiosity about it is crucial and will work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! So many spot on suggestions. I would feel confident that I'd be doing things right with a trailer.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great idea to create an event for your movie trailer release. It seems people really do get so much more excited about something when they have to wait patiently to get it. And yes, in this world you will probably have to remind people a few times to take a look, once it is available. Even the most excited person gets busy and may forget to check it out the first time.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice on a beta audience William! as intimidating as it may be, an outside party can still be beneficial after the creative process. Look forward to the trailer.
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