Crafting an Indie Book Trailer, Part Three

by T G Campbell

Part Three: Script and Storyboard.

I’m not a scriptwriter. I want to make that absolutely clear from the start, in case you were thinking I was some sort of Goddess with miraculous writing abilities. I write novels and short stories. As those who’ve attempted to write a book and a screenplay can attest, they are two very different beasts. In addition to dialogue and descriptions, a screenplay must also take into consideration camera angles, sound effects, musical scores, locations (both interior and exterior), lighting, costumes, etc. For me, the hardest part of writing a script for my book trailer was getting into the mindset of a screenwriter in the first place. I wanted to write a highly developed scene like in one of my books, rather than a condensed version to fit within the space of three minutes.

Part of my difficulty came from a desire to promote the entire series of Bow Street Society books/short stories. At the time of writing, there are two books and a collection of five short stories published. Any attempt to fit such a wealth of material into a three-minute book trailer was always destined to fail. I was trying to plan the trailer with the idea of “reusability” in mind. If I could make a trailer for the series—rather than just one book—then I could keep it as part of my marketing plan indefinitely. For the sake of practicality, and my own sanity, I chose to concentrate on the first book in the series: The Case of The Curious Client. As this would be the point at which most readers would be introduced to the concept of the Bow Street Society, I thought the reusability of the trailer would still be quite high.

Another stumbling block in my thought process was cost. One draft of my script featured real-life London streets in the dead of night with 6-8 characters from my book making an appearance. If I were to go along with this script, I’d have to consider: fees for the 6-8 actors, the hiring fees for 6-8 costumes, the cost of hiring lights suitable for outdoor use, the cost of (potentially) closing a public highway, and the cost of any filming permits I may have had to acquire. Needless to say, this draft was abandoned pretty sharpish.

I’m fortunate enough to work with someone who has his own freelance scriptwriting business. He’s been a tremendous help to me during this entire process. He’s the one who suggested I create a storyboard alongside the script. He explained it would enable everyone involved to visualise what it was I was trying to achieve. I, therefore, wrote a (very) rough next draft of my script (constructed using actual scenes from my book) and created a storyboard. Just the process of drawing that—albeit crude—storyboard helped me to condense my script down further by taking unnecessary parts out, switching parts around, and generally discussing the overall order with my other friend, Karen.

It was during this storyboard creation session that I decided to take advantage of Victorian-era style drawings for the main part of the trailer. Drawings are more cost effective than live action, and the segment (a recollection of past events) lends itself to a drawn sequence. In order to enhance the quality of such a sequence, though, I included zooming and panning camera angles in my storyboard notes. I also stressed the significance of light and shadow in the drawings, to help create the dark, sinister mood of a Victorian-era murder mystery. After creating the crude storyboard, I then re-created it with my notes, alongside a new draft of my script so the two would marry. I decided the beginning and end segments of the trailer would be live action, still, but would only have 2 characters featured: Miss Rebecca Trent (the Bow Street’s Society clerk and therefore a pivotal character in the entire series) and an unnamed journalist interviewing her.

Since creating the storyboard and script, I’ve had the illustrations created by my usual artist, Peter Spells, who created the central cover art for all my books. Rather than keeping with the style of those, he emulated the pen and ink style of Victorian-era drawings. I’ve included one of the drawings below as an example. The script has also undergone some minor changes; mostly to include more of an overview of the plot so as to leave the audience wanting more. At the time of writing this, the script is with a voice-over artist who I’ve hired to read it out.

The most important thing to remember is your storyboard and script is fluid documents. You don’t have to get them 100% right from the beginning. As more people are brought onto the project—cameraman, voiceover artist etc.—you’ll all make small changes, to both the storyboard and script, with the aim of enhancing the final trailer. Utilise their expertise and always bear in mind what it is you’re trying to do with your trailer. It’s not a feature-length film, but a brief, visual representation of your product (the book), designed to convince the viewer to part with their hard-earned cash. Unfortunately, people won’t always buy your book simply because you’re an independent author. You have to prove to them, by showing them, why YOUR book is different to everything else that’s on the market.

For those who are unsure about the (sort of) format your script should be in, I’ve included a screenshot of part of my script below:
NEXT TIME: CREATING AN INDIE BOOK TRAILER Part Four: Choosing a location

Creating an Indie Book Trailer, Part Two

by T G Campbell

Part Two: The Power of Networking.

“It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know that counts,” is a phrase often muttered under our breath whenever we perceive the success of others as a result of their friend’s/partner’s/relative’s assistance. The perception usually leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth—especially if one doesn’t have the same access to these individuals as the other person. We may feel disillusioned with—or even cheated out of—our dreams and ambitions because we’ll never have the same advantages. Contrary to what you may be thinking, I’m not going to patronise you by saying some individuals aren’t given unfair advantages over their peers due to help from a relative etc. Rightly or wrongly, these things do happen but, if you’re truly honest with yourself, you’d probably agree you’d accept such assistance if it meant getting ahead of the competition. I, therefore, want to leave this way of thinking here and politely request you do the same. This blog entry isn’t about the help we can’t get from others, but the help we can.

In part one I talked about creating a blockbuster book trailer on a restricted, financial budget. A large part of being able to do this is to enlist the help of others who are willing to offer their services either for free or at a reduced price. That being said, you have to remember we are all trying to make a living. You, therefore, can’t demand someone gives you their service for free. You may make a request, though, and offer a product/service of your own in return. On a very basic level, this may be an entry into your trailer’s final credits, accompanying description, and promotional material. By doing this, you’ll be offering the potential contributor free exposure to them and their business.

Personally, I think it’s sound business practice to always offer this reward to your contributors, regardless if you’re paying them or not. Aside from being the proper thing to do (you should never take credit for another’s work), you’re creating a solid working relationship with that contributor so you may draw upon their services/products again in the future. Put simply, it’s the old adage of “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”. This principle is at the heart of all business networking activity. At the end of the day, you are a business and your books are your products. So, you should treat all your activities with professionalism and care.

If you’re rude, defensive, deceptive, or devious, or make unreasonable or impractical demands/slander a contributor’s name on your social media platforms, no one will want to work with you. Others—who you’ve yet to contact—may witness your behaviour first hand on social media and run a mile. Likewise, most creatives in the industry (regardless of their business type or profession) know one another. Even if they don’t communicate directly with each other, rumours about unprofessionalism and personal attacks can spread like wildfire. (Look at the situation with Terry Goodkind that is happening right now, for example. -G Dean Manuel) So, even if you decide not to hire a potential contributor because you think their prices are too high, etc., decline their offer as politely, and as professionally, as possible. Never make it personal.

Returning to my earlier point about what you may offer to a potential contributor, I think it’s always wise to throw into the mix something no one else can offer. Remaining within the realm of professional business practises, you could consider offering a free interview on your blog, or a feature in your newsletter (dependent on how many subscribers you have). I write a monthly feature for Fresh Lifestyle Magazine, in addition to my books and short stories. The magazine has 400,000+ subscribers, and all features are left, permanently, on the magazine’s website. I will, therefore, offer a free interview/feature to potential contributors when negotiating prices for their service.

As a side note, I’d always recommend you don’t state your financial budget in initial correspondence to potential contributors. In your initial email, always explain who you are, which product/service of theirs you’re enquiring about, which additional (non-monetary) rewards you can offer, and what you intend to use said product/service for. Then request a quote based on the information you’ve given. If the potential contributor is interested, they’ll reply with the price they think their product/service is worth. If you then decide to decline the offer, you have no reason to clarify your exact budget. If you decide to try and negotiate on the price, then you could state your budget but I still think it unnecessary. The most important thing is to keep your response professional and not beg for the product/service to be given for free/at a reduced price simply because you’re an indie author and you’re poor. A simple “is there any room for negotiation in your prices, given the additional exposure I may give you?” should suffice. If the response is a no, then politely thank them for their time and inform them you shan’t be hiring them on this occasion.

s When trying to find potential contributors, it’s always wise to ask around. Facebook friends, Twitter followers, fellow authors, relatives, work colleagues, and partners are excellent resources to draw upon. Twitter followers, especially, may provide you with the names of potential contributors you’d never considered before. Unknown/fledgling artists, composers, voice over actors, and editors, etc., are more willing to give their service/product for free/at a reduced fee provided you give permission for them to use the finished product on their showreels, websites etc. Websites like www.fiverr.com and www.fivesquid.com are also good starting points, as there’s already the expectation of a low fee between both parties. I’ve recently been researching voice over actors for my book trailer on www.fivesquid.com. They’re still professionals, but their fees won’t break the bank—provided I contact them through the website, of course.

Always be wary of charlatans when researching potential contributors. When they have given you a quote for their service, ask yourself “is it value for money?” Research industry pricing standards to give you a yardstick to compare the quotes against. Check the websites of potential contributors, but don’t accept what’s written at face value. Look up non-biased, independent reviews from past customers, fellow industry professionals, etc. about the potential contributor; are there any negative reviews? How relevant are the reviews to your project? How up-to-date is the potential contributors’ website? How recent was their last job? You may have thousands in your book trailer’s budget, but that doesn’t mean you should spend money like it’s going out of fashion.

Finally, think outside the box when researching potential contributors. I have a local museum with a Victorian-era parlour permanently set up. I need a Victorian-era interior for my book trailer. Rather than hiring/buying expensive antiques, therefore, and/or building my own set, I contacted the museum about hiring theirs. At the point of writing this, they’ve agreed for me to hire it for free—even if I require it out of hours. They also offered two more interiors, should I need them.

At the end of the day, there’s no harm in enquiring after a quote for your costumes, editing, original music, locations, etc. from potential contributors and/or local businesses. They may be too pricey, they may decline, or they may just surprise you and offer their product and service for free/at a reduced cost. You won’t know for sure, though, until you ask and, remember, keep it professional!

NEXT TIME: CREATING AN INDIE BOOK TRAILER Part Three: Script and Storyboard.

T G Campbell is a crime novelist that resides in Modern Day England, though she'd probably wanted to have lived in Victorian London. She is best known for her Bowstreet Society mysteries. You can find out more about T G here.