The Savvy Book Marketer

How to Promote a Book with Video

by Dana Lynn Smith

Videos are hugely popular online, from grumpy cats and music videos, to breaking news and movie trailers. In fact, YouTube (owned by Google) has become the second most popular website worldwide.

Today I want to share with you practical, actionable information on how to create and use video to promote your book and yourself. First, here are a few of the ways that authors can use video:

• For nonfiction authors, content-based videos (where you discuss the book’s topic) can be very effective. You can even do a series of videos dealing with different aspects of your topic. Options include “talking head” video where you are filmed speaking about the topic, demonstrations of how to do something, a slideshow with voiceover, or a combination of these. Be sure to promote the book at the end of the content-based video and include your website link. You can also work in mentions of the book earlier in the video (“Here are some of the top tips for _____ from my new book ______.”) but be sure to provide useful content rather than just promotion.

• Video trailers (short commercial-style videos, similar to movie trailers) work best for novels, narrative nonfiction, and children’s books. Usually these include a series of images and text with music or voiceover in the background, with a promotion to buy the book at the end. Don’t forget the link to your website or a short link to your Amazon page.

• Children's book authors can post videos of book readings or related activities for kids.
  

• Authors can also share short video clips from live events such as presentations, television interviews, and book launch parties. These work best on the author blog and social networks.

• Videos can be used as blog posts in place of, or in conjunction with, written articles on your blog and guest posts on other sites.
  

• Some authors include a video greeting on their website. These are most useful for nonfiction authors and it helps people feel more connected. I don’t recommend videos that start playing automatically when you land on the page because some people find that annoying and it may slow down your page load time.
  

Where to Use Book Promotion Videos

Videos are great for attaching to posts on Facebook and Twitter. Having a video or photo added to a  Facebook post makes it stand out and usually causes the post to be shown on more of your friends’ timelines. Also post your videos on your Author Page on Amazon.

A Powerful Book Deserves Powerful Videos

In today’s guest post, novelist Matthew Turner shares his ideas on how to go beyond the traditional movie-style book promotion video.

Have you seen any Book Video Trailers recently?

I have, and in general, I'm not a fan. Don't get me wrong, there are some good ones, and certain genres (Thrillers and Mysteries) suit a dark movie-like trailer. However, most don't suit the Hollywood style, and they often leave me frustrated. 

However, I do love the medium of video and believe visuals are an amazing companion to a book. We feed off of our eyes, so an attractive video can do wonders to a story. As you can imagine, I was caught between a rock and a wall. I'm a writer who wants to utilize video, but can't stand the thought of producing another average trailer.

Hmmmm, what to do, what to do...

The Book Video Trailer: Turner Style

I looked at various trailer websites and services, and scoured the web for trailers that inspire me. Like I say, I found some great examples. A few include:

• Tim Ferriss
• Maurice Gee

A few months back I ranted about book video trailers on my own website. I expressed my dismay and how I would do things differently. I did this for two reasons: 1) to rant for the sake of ranting 2) to commit myself to following through.

For you see it's easy to hate trailers but then get lazy and create one anyway. I didn't want to do this so I made my dismay public. There was no turning back. 

I decided I would create three types of video:

1. The Trailer

I love storytelling and I love extending emotions whenever I can. As writers we are better equipped to share stories than most, so why are we trying to replicate movie trailers?

I wanted the reader (aka the viewer) to feel something toward ME as much as Beyond Parallel (that's my book by the way). My desire is for them to join my journey, not simply read the book and have it dwindle away on their Kindle. 

5 Ways to Expand Your Market with Free Serialized Audiobooks

In today's guest post, Jan Bear shares five examples of how authors are successfully promoting themselves and their books by using free serialized audiobooks.

5 Ways to Expand Your Market with Free Serialized Audiobooks, by Jan Bear

Oral stoytelling is back. It lagged for a while with the rise of television, but audiobooks have gained in influence, reach and popularity.

Podiobooks.com is part of that trend, offering readers free audiobooks and authors a chance to connect with readers.

These serialized audiobooks are distributed in installments via RSS feed, much like a podcast. Readers receive a polite request for donations ("If you like it, support the author") and authors get 75 percent of the donations.

It's not a job-replacing income, but for the authors of the more than 500 books posted on the site, there's a payoff that makes the work worthwhile.

With more than 80,000 subscribers -- and more readers than that -- Podiobooks offers authors a unique opportunity to build an audience.

Here are examples of five authors whose serialized audiobooks have opened doors for them and how Podiobooks.com helped to expand the reach of their books.

1. Get a Publisher's Attention

SF thriller novelist Scott Sigler's novel EarthCore had made the rounds of the publishing establishment without much success. It was edgy, it was risky, and most publishers don't do risk.

So Scott was one of several writers who came together at the founding of Podiobooks.com and created serialized audiobooks released on a Creative Commons license. (That gives you permission to download it, share it, give it away, but don't claim to have written it or try to sell it.)

Through a combination of solid storytelling and creative promotion, Scott built a list of 20,000 subscribers slathering for the next installment. That reduced the risk for publishers (since 5,000 is a nice print run for a first-time novelist).

Scott's first book was picked up by Dragon Moon Press, whose publisher has become so confident of the value of free podcast novels that she actively encourages the practice.

But when Scott came to negotiate with a big New York publisher, Scott held out for continuing to release his books through Podiobooks. He argued that his fans would feel betrayed and revolt if he didn't. He made the case, and he is now a New York Times bestselling novelist with eight books in hardcover and 11 on Podiobooks.com.

2. Promote the Next Book

Podiobooks founder Evo Terra credits Tee Morris with the original idea that became Podiobooks. He says that Tee had a first novel in print that was past its main selling cycle with the second novel in the series due to launch. He wanted to try recording the first book to help launch the second.

The audio version of MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana was so successful that it persuaded his publisher, Gwen Gades of Dragon Moon Press that it was a workable model for any of her authors.

Tee has 12 books, both fiction and nonfiction, listed on Amazon.com, including his most recent, Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, through Harper Voyager.

How to Use Skype to Sell Books

I'm delighted to welcome author Barbara Techel to share her experience in promoting books by doing remote author appearances through the online video phone service, Skype.  These tips are excerpted from Barbara's new book, Class Act: Sell More Books to Schools and Libraries Through Author Appearances.

When I discovered Skype as an avenue to share my books message with children without leaving the comfort of my writing studio, I was thrilled.

Many authors, as well as publishers, have limited budgets for travel. Exploring and being open to the opportunity of Skype will help you reach out to many audiences you may not have been able to before. School and library budgets are not what they used to be also. Skype is a wonderful solution affording them the option to still introducing students to authors.

Not only is Skype a win-win for schools, libraries and authors, it is an added educational benefit for students. By involving the kids in the set-up of Skype, teaching them to interact properly with the webcam, and other equipment you are adding value to their future technology skills.

The technology future is now. Embracing and learning all you can about Skype to help you spread your message will in turn help you sell more books.

When setting up for a Skype presentation I take all the steps I would just as if I was presenting in person. It really is no different. You are in essence “on stage” whether via Skype or in person, so being prepared and organized is key.

Top 5 Tips to Use Book Trailers to Drive Sales

I recently read Darcy Pattison's book, The Book Trailer Manual, and I highly recommend it. One thing that struck me in reading this book is how much a video trailer is like a mini-movie. In addition to covering the more technical aspects of video making, Darcy's book gives tips for developing the storyline and using text, images, music, and voice to tell the story.

Today I have invited Darcy to share some tips on how to use video trailers to promote book sales.

Top 5 Tips to Use Book Trailers to Drive Book Sales

by Darcy Pattison

Book trailer videos are the hot, new rage. But the driving question is how to use these trailers to drive sales. Some recent data gives ideas for some surprisingly effective ways to use book trailers.

Tip 1 - Use book trailers as part of your marketing mix.

When Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter World (vampire novel) was released, it was given a huge push by its book trailer which landed among YouTube's Most Viewed video listing. How did the publisher accomplish this?

With a summer release for the paranormal romance, St. Martin's had a huge investment in a 350,000-copy first printing. They hired professionals to create a 33-second book trailer, Dark-Hunter Acheron, then hired Zeitghost Media  to manage the campaign. The publishing house sent an e‑mail with a link to the video on YouTube.com to 90,000 people, which was preceded by teasers several days before announcing that something big was coming. Zeitghost Media distributed the video across the Web, and dozens of blogs and Web sites picked it up and continue to feature it. It's had more than 429,000 views.

On the Dark Hunter website and offline, they also used these marketing tools:

• Ebook giveaways
• Wallpaper, screen savers, cursors, banners
• Dark Hunter quiz
• Publicity through media channels such as Publisher's Weekly
• Twitter feed, Facebook Fan page, MySpace page,
• Free short story to download

The video was important as a destination for potential readers, but email announcements were used to jumpstart the video. Once on the site, there were other ways to find information about the book. There were downloads, giveaways. In addition, St. Martin's used traditional press and many social media. Was it the book trailer that made the difference in people choosing to buy the book? Or was it the combination of efforts? No one knows for sure, but it's likely that it's the combination that matters.

For your book trailer, consider how it will integrate with your other marketing efforts. Take along a laptop and run the trailer at a conference or convention. Add a link to the trailer in your email signature. Be creative and cross-promote in every way you can.

The Secret to Creating an Instant Connection With Your Readers and Fans

There's no doubt that videos are really hot. In fact, YouTube is the third most popular website in the United States. In today's guest post, I'm happy to have publishing and marketing expert Shelley Hitz share her tips for creating effective videos to take advantage of this trend. And be sure to check out her guide to video marketing and her blog.

One of the quickest ways to build a relationship with someone is through face to face communication. Although we have e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, texting and so forth - face to face communication still trumps them all.  

Think about it.

How many times have you misunderstood an e-mail someone sent because you couldn't hear their tone of voice? Experts have reported that nonverbal communication makes up 50-70% of all communication. However, in our technological age, we are missing the nonverbal aspect of communication . . .

• Gestures
• Tone of voice
• Expressions
• And the list goes on.

How does this relate to you as an author? Think about how you communicate with your fans.

• Blog posts
• Facebook posts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn groups
• Forum discussions
• And most importantly, your book.

Do you notice a common denominator between all of the above? They lack that personal touch and connection we create through nonverbal communication. So how can you create that connection with your readers? Simple.

Are You Promoting Books With Video?

In my recent survey about the top 10 online promotional tactics authors are planning to use this year, video was the sixth most popular tactic.

When a reader left a comment wondering why more authors don't use video to promote books, I suggested that perhaps they don't know how to create and use videos. Here are a couple of how-to articles that may be helpful:

Book Video Trailers - 11 Steps to Make Your Own

Promote a Book with Video - How to Get Started

How about you? If you are using video to promote books, please leave a comment below and let us know what software you used to create your video, and also share a link to your video. Thanks!

Hosting Your Own Podcast Internet Radio Show

In today's guest post, book marketing expert Irene Watson shares her experience in hosting internet radio shows and podcasts.

The Internet has moved beyond solely being a place to read to being a place to see and listen to information. Radio has moved to the Internet, and anyone can set up his or her own Internet radio show. Authors can find plenty of Internet radio shows where they can be guests, and they might even want to host their own shows to provide added exposure to their own books and to discuss topics they care about that tie into their book’s subject.

Plenty of Internet sites and programs are available to host your own podcast show. But first you may be wondering what a podcast is. Basically, a podcast is a recorded show put on the Internet so people can listen to it. It is simply a recording stored online. The advantage of podcasts is that listeners do not have to tune in when the show airs but can visit the website later to play the recording. Options exist today for both live radio shows and for recording shows and placing them online so people can listen to them at their convenience.

Having your own Internet radio show is fairly simple. Different programs and websites offer various options, but they all operate similarly. A conference bridge line allows the host and guest to phone into the show. The host is able to record the interview using Audio Acrobat or a similar program. After the show, the recording can be edited to delete background noise, awkward phrases, or anything the host feels might be better left out. While editing and posting the recording to the website can take a little work, neither is technically all that complicated and can easily be learned—even by non-technically savvy people.

Promote a Book with Video - How to Get Started

In today's guest post, my favorite technical expert, MaAnna Stephenson, discusses the hardware and software needed to promote a book with video.

According to a recent article in Scientific American, "video files will be part of 90 percent of all consumer Internet traffic (that generated by households, universities, and Internet cafés) in 2013." This statement is part of a report issued by Cisco, which is the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet.

Cisco issued that report just one day after Apple announced that their next iPhone will be able to not only record video clips, but will also be able to edit and send them via email or upload them to YouTube using voice commands.

What this means is that it will no longer be enough to provide great text content for online marketing. As a promoter, you'll have to make it visually entertaining as well. Fortunately there are a lot of free or inexpensive applications available that you can use to make your own videos to promote your book. In fact, if you're on a PC, Windows Media is already available to you. There are even more programs available for MAC users.

Book Video Trailers: 11 Steps to Make Your Own

In today's guest post, author and book marketing expert Joanna Penn shares her tips for creating and posting book promotion videos. She makes it sound so easy -- give it a try!

Book video trailers are videos posted online and distributed via video networking sites like YouTube. These can be big budget blockbuster movie clips, or budget MovieMaker slides to music.

You can make it an advert or a social media fun clip that people want to watch. It can be a human interest story made more like a documentary. It can be a cartoon. Essentially, it is anything you want it to be. Anything that catches people’s attention. You can get a professional to make you one or you can make your own for little or no money.

I made this book video trailer with Windows Movie Maker (which is on most PCs). It took me several hours but was essentially free, and you don’t have to be too techy to make one too. Instructions after the movie! (comments and feedback welcome!)

1.  Research other book video trailers that are similar to what you would like to do. Just search for book trailers on YouTube. Decide what you like and don’t like (and what is within your capacity and budget).

Publishing and Marketing Videos for Authors

Videos can be a great way to promote books, but they are also a wonderful learning tool for authors. Several publishing and marketing experts offer free video tutorials to help authors learn more about creating and promoting their books.

Author and book marketing expert Tony Eldridge offers a series of video marketing tips for authors, and he does a great job of demonstrating online marketing topics in easy to understand terms. Subscribe to receive a weekly email with a link to the newest video.

Publisher Dale Beaumont hosts a series of informative and entertaining videos on Get Published TV to help authors write, publish and market their books. Dale covers a range of topics from cover design and printing to book marketing and speaking.

7 Ways to Promote Your Book With Video

Video is one of the hottest online promotional tools these days, and with good reason. People watch hundreds of millions of videos a day on YouTube, and folks who enjoy videos often forward the link to someone else, creating viral marketing opportunities.

Google includes videos in search results, and people also search Google and video sites for videos on a particular topic. So, how can authors take advantage of the power of video to promote themselves and their books? Here are some ideas:

Using Video to Promote Your Book

Search engines love video, and authors can take advantage of this hot trend by using video-sharing sites such as YouTube to draw traffic to their websites. Posting video on your own website and blog also helps visitors connect to you in a more personal way.

Video clips of one to three minutes are perfect for introducing your book and establishing your credibility as an author. Give a brief summary of your book, discuss why you wrote the book, or share tips from the book.

Authors can also use video on blogs, create a video blog where all of the posts are in video format, and place video links in online media rooms and media releases.

If you're already using video, please share your experience by clicking the comment link below.