How I Made My Book Trailer

When I discovered the existence of 'book trailers' I knew I had to have one. Some Chicken House authors have really good ones, like these: Big Game, One of Us, Flashes, The Killing Woods. But I am not a movie-maker, nor do I know anyone who could make one for me.

However, I did stumble across a cut-paper animated movie called PATH OF BLOOD by Eric Power. I contacted him and asked him if he'd allow me to use some footage from his movie in my trailer. I honestly expected him to say 'no' but guess what, he said 'yes.' How generous is that?

So I bought his movie and downloaded it. Then using Windows Movie Maker I cut the pieces I wanted out of Eric's animation.

Next I needed some royalty free music so I Googled and found Incompetech. They've got some great tracks that are free to use as long as you credit them properly.

Once I added the music, I re-arranged Eric Power's movie clips to tell a new story, that of THE BLACK LOTUS. I wasn't confident about doing a good voice-over so I added text to narrate the trailer.

The initial trailer was too long and Chicken House suggested I cut it down to somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes. So I did, and then uploaded it to YouTube.

Now, I don't know if a book trailer is necessary, or even if it will sell any books. But it definitely can't do any harm, right? And it was great fun making it. So here it is!