Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Motivational Speaker

The Making of a Book Trailer

Filed under: I'll Do It Myself: The Book — by at 12:12 am on Monday, July 28, 2008

Nineteen months after releasing my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself, I am excited to announce the release of the book trailer!

Yes, I realize the order is somewhat backwards. But, I did not know book trailers even existed until after launching my book. And then there was the process of learning what exactly a book trailer is – similar to movie trailer to create hype for a new movie – and then figuring how to create one.

In the end and with some tips from my wonderfully supportive husband Darrell, I used Camtasia Studios, largely because of its relatively easy of adding captioning – a must for any video! Using my text-to-speech program TextAloud and the voice of Kate, I created the voiceover. The text was then used for the captions. And, I added I brief clip from John Denver’s Sweet Surrender.

I find it amazing that the technology exists to enable me to create such a project, even though it isn’t quite Hollywood style.

So…without further ado…

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

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7 Comments »

Comment by Al at 7P

July 28, 2008 @ 2:34 am

Great trailer, Glenda!

Comment by Lillie Ammann

July 28, 2008 @ 5:22 am

Glenda,
You did a great job on your book trailer. I’ve been thinking about doing a trailer for my upcoming novel, and you’ve nudged me further in that direction.

Comment by Karen Putz / DeafMom

July 28, 2008 @ 7:26 am

Hi Glenda,
What a great idea to add a trailer! Here’s a tip though– I think you need some kind of slower into into the song and the beginning as it starts up abruptly when I click on the play button. Maybe a collage of pictures that fade in and out and then go into the song?

Comment by Karla Meachem

July 28, 2008 @ 9:18 pm

Hey Glenda!

Just had to stop by & say congratulations! It has been way too long since we connected; hope all is well with you & Darrell.

enJOY the rest of your summer!

Comment by Troy Wittren

July 31, 2008 @ 10:09 pm

Very nice trailer Glenda!

I wish I could organize my thoughts into a book.

John Denver was a wonderful pick for a song. My mom took my to see him in the early 80’s.

Comment by Glenda

August 1, 2008 @ 2:57 pm

Thanks for all of your kind words. The trailer isn’t perfect; there are a few glitches and some of the transitions don’t work as hoped. But, I think the key is I did it and I put it out there to the world.

All too often we have awesome ideas, but we don’t know how to take the next step or how to make it “perfect”, so the ideas slowly fades away, never to see the light. How many ideas are wasted? How much does the world miss out because those ideas aren’t carried through to fruition?

Take it one step at a time, one thought at a time, and see where your idea takes you. It may be quite a journey!

Comment by Mark Harrison

August 5, 2008 @ 2:45 am

Ooh – I’d never thought about making a “book trailer” for my book.

I think I need to make one up, and add it to my site.

Great tip for us authors.

Mark,
West Sussex, England

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