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.

Creating an Indie Book Trailer, Part One

by T G Campbell

Time and time again, I’ve heard comments along the line of “being a successful independent author is 10% writing and 90% marketing”. It’s true that, as independents, the responsibility of getting our books, short stories, poems et cetera in front of the people who matter—the readers—is completely our own. Often, we have non-existent—if not very limited—financial budgets, and time restrictions which have tremendous impacts on our marketing potential. Consequentially, there’s a temptation to go “cheap but cheerful” in our marketing material. We assume—rightly or wrongly—our audience will forgive the lower quality on account of us being independents. Being without the backing of a giant publishing house, or even a reputable agent, we feel like it’s us against the world, and so rely on this rebel-like image as an excuse if something goes wrong. I say this because I’ve been guilty of doing the same in the past.

When it came to creating an original trailer for my Bow Street Society book series, I started by looking at existing trailers in my genre. I found trailers by authors belonging to the big five publishing houses. Naturally, these were big budget, movie-like epics which left the viewer breathless and wanting more. They were slick, impressive, but also looked very expensive. Nonetheless, I emailed a production company listed as a producer on a YouTube book trailer. The trailer featured locations, characters, and book set in the same era as my own—Victorian London. All I requested from the company was a quote regarding the cost of hiring them to create a book trailer for me. I didn’t receive a reply. I can’t prove their lack of response was due to the fact I’d told them I was an independent author, but the rebel in me said this was probably the case.

Never mind. I returned to the other book trailers I’d bookmarked on YouTube, and watched them for the tenth time. With the exception of two or three, the majority were of PowerPoint slideshows depicting stock images and/or stock music. The fonts were difficult to read and/or inappropriate for the book’s genre, e.g. Comic Sans, and the music was also ill-fitting. I understood why the creator had done what they’d done though: PowerPoint is cheap. In comparison to filming original content, having professional photographs taken, and a composer create an original music score, the resources used were cheap, too. We’re back to the issue of low budgets and/or time restrictions, again. Unfortunately, the end product looked—at least in my humble opinion—“cheap and cheerful”. It didn’t compel me to buy the book, or even visit the website.

All becomes the same cookies over and over again!

There’s also another pitfall to be considered when using stock images and/or stock film: anyone can use them. While there’s certainly a valid argument for using stock resources (they’re cheap, and it’s what you do with them that counts), you’re still running the risk of having the same content as 500 other authors. This was the main reason why I chose not to use stock images, film, and/or music in my trailer.

I also chose not to use PowerPoint. Like everyone else, I have budget and time restrictions on my marketing plans. Yet, I don’t want those to be an excuse for producing a poor quality trailer. I wasn’t going to allow them to convince me to hire someone else to produce a poor quality trailer, either. Yes, I’m an independent author and, yes, I don’t have the backing of one of the big five publishing houses. None of those things mean I can’t produce a high quality trailer though. In fact, it was those things—and the lack of response from the production company—which gave me the determination to create something that could rival the trailers of the traditionally published authors.

At the point of writing this article, I’ve created a storyboard and script for my trailer. I’ve also found a hugely talented composer who’s willing to create an original music score, for free, in exchange for exposure. In addition to this, I have an artist on board, a chosen location for the live-action segments, and a decent quotation for high-quality costumes. There’s still a long way to go but I know I’ll get there in the end.

For now, though, I want to share my journey. Undoubtedly, there’ll be independent authors reading this who are thinking of creating a book trailer. I hope that by sharing the obstacles I’ve encountered/will encounter, and the ways of overcoming them, I’ll prove you don’t need Spielberg budgets to create blockbuster book trailers.

Next time: CREATING AN INDIE BOOK TRAILER Part Two: The Power of Networking

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.