LIGHTS, CAMERA… wait, what? By John Sparger

In today's post, I'm excited to introduce you to our guest, John Sparger. John is an author and a talented video creator. After viewing some of his work a couple of months ago, I talked John into writing up this post to share some of his video tips with you. If you ever wanted to create a book trailer, then get ready to take some notes; John has a lot of great tips for you.

Before we get to John's post, I have a quick in-house announcement. Over the weekend, I released my new mystery/thriller novel, The Lottery Ticket: A Novel on Kindle. I invite you to download the free sample from Amazon and help me spread the word.

Now, on to John's post...

LIGHTS, CAMERA… wait, what?
By John Sparger

There are a ton of ways to market your product/service/what have you (and specifically, your book), but most folks aren't gonna be a phenom in each and every one of these methods. Sure, there are the exceptions to the rule who can do it all (or have a team that can facilitate/execute it all). But if you're like me, it's a one man show doing the best you can.

When I released Stories from the Asphalt, I read the books and the blogs, listened to the experts telling you what you needed to do to get the word out. But my marketing attempts were minimal at best. I sent the obligatory email to family and friends, press releases to local media, and was able to secure one review. Aside from passing out some postcards & bookmarks and a bit of handselling, that's been the extent of things – until now.

VIDEO.

Google "book trailer," and you'll see a variety of what authors and publishers are doing with this medium. We've heard Tony talk about it, along with countless others. Figured it was time to throw my videographical hat in the ring. True, just another tool in the marketing box, but we are increasingly becoming a visual world. Monkey see, monkey do I wanna buy it. What better way to get our book in front of those eyeballs, than to literally get it in front of those eyeballs.

"But I'm not a film director, videographer, cinemagraphical DP wunderkind." Yeah, me neither. But relax, it's cool. There are many levels as to how you can use this medium – from the very basic slideshow of photos and text with some music in the background to the full blown Spielberg/Lucas/James Cameron movie-style trailer. We'll stroll through some different formats, and then I'll throw some resources your way to get you started.

First off, I gotta tell you I'm a DIY kinda guy. Ask my family – it took me eight years to completely rehab our last house cuz I'm too cheap to pay someone else to do something I know I can do myself. Having said that, I also know my limitations. Projects that I am absolutely NOT qualified to do will be outsourced and properly paid for. But this video stuff, YOU can do. On the cheap.

BASIC – at the very least, you can throw together a slideshow with some superimposed text and music in the background. Think Powerpoint presentation (but not quite so lame). One of Joanna Penn's early videos displays this style. Push this out a little further and you can get something like Beautiful Creatures (which does contain one short bit of moving footage).

TALKING HEAD – this one can be as simple as you sitting at your desk giving a brief synopsis about your book. The webcam on your computer, or a flip cam, or the video mode on your digital camera will suffice. We're not looking for high dollar resolution here, just the real you telling us about your story.

READINGS/INTERVIEWS – make sure you've got a camera rolling during that reading you're giving. Snag a clip from that interview you gave.

TESTIMONIALS – not comfortable getting in front of the camera? Have others do it for you (and not as actors). Get fans, friends, readers discuss what they liked (or didn't like) about your book.

VOICEOVER – this can be done with the aforementioned slideshow or with film/video footage. Check out the trailer for Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice. Doesn't hurt to have some music floating in the background, although you can do it without.

MUSIC VIDEO – the dominant element in this style is indeed the music. But honestly, it's nothing more than an advanced version of the BASIC style. You can still use still photos, but try and add some moving footage as well. Here's a piece I put together that's still a work in progress, but hopefully gives you an idea of what can be done. The beauty of a music video is: you can use scenes and vignettes and whatnot, but not have to worry about dialogue and boom mics and other assorted gear to get the shot. The soundtrack will cover all of that. On a much more produced level, Eduardo Porter's The Price of Everything uses animation to make this super cool vid.

ANIMATION – speaking of which: depending on skill levels, there are various forms that can be created. Zoe Winters used Xtranormal for some of her videos, while Stephen King's N has more of a comic book feel to it.

MOVIE style TRAILER – this is probably the most challenging type to produce. You can get away with a few photos and some well placed text, but most of what people will expect is footage shot as you would expect to see in a movie trailer. James Patterson's Maximum Ride is short and sweet with special effects; the trailer for Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is well produced and only contains minimal special effects; while Night of the Living Trekkies pretty much made me think it was for a movie.

Now, this doesn't begin to cover all the ways video can be used to market your book, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of what is possible.

All right, you've got some different styles to draw from. Now how do you go about getting it done? Let's briefly cover some tools to make that happen.

We're doing this on the cheap, right? So you could certainly take your own photos, record your own music, and shoot your own video. Maybe you have some friends who are photographers or musicians. But if that's not a possibility, you wanna look for sites where the Creative Commons License is in effect or prices are extremely low.

PICS – Hitting up Google for "royalty free" photos, or images, is a good start. You can also give flickr a shot. I'll admit I've dropped a few coins over at iStockphoto, but that's only when I feel it's just right. And absolutely don't forget about Stock.XCHNG. Recently acquired by Getty Images, these files are FREE.

MUSIC – pretty much the same process as for pics. Google "royalty free music" and see where it leads you. This one popped up which contained a handful of other sites with free music. And if you've just gotta have a commercial song for your project, you can check with ASCAP or BMI (but that's gonna cost you). Another alternative would be RightsFlow. I just heard an interview about this company on Beyond the Book. Looks like their rates are very reasonable.

FOOTAGE – Getting decent stock footage can get pricey. A good number of stock image sites are also now doing footage as well. So you could give those a look. Again, flickr's a good start. Videohive has reasonable prices. Pond5 starts at $5. Clipshot charges by the second. Just to name a few.

EDITING SOFTWARE – depending on which operating platform you use, Windows Movie Maker or iMovie will certainly get the job done. And YouTube even has its own video editor built in.

CAMERAS – use whatever you've got. It can be the video function of your point and shoot all the way up to a 1080p HD camcorder. Remember that for the most part, though, these videos are just going up on the web.

ACTORS – if you plan on shooting a full blown movie-style trailer, you're gonna need actors (and a camera operator, and a lighting guy, and a sound guy...). Some places to check out for this type of talent can be community colleges, community theaters, church drama groups, or put up an ad in the talent section on Craigslist.

Hope this gives you an idea of what you can do with video. Doesn't have to be expensive (unless your budget permits), and it doesn't have to be super-produced. Just be yourself and share the story of your book.

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John Sparger is a writer, actor, musician, photographer and owner of more motorcycles than he can ride at one time. His first video attempt was a goofy mashup between his book and Mr. Charlie Winning Sheen. He is currently in the middle of a bathroom remodel and promises his family it will not take eight years to finish.













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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect, an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. His new novel, The Lottery Ticket, was just recently released on Kindle.