How About A Book Trailer?

I’ve always hated self-promotion. It feels sleazy. Like those authors that tell you, “Hey, I’ll nominate your book for such-and-such award if you’ll nominate mine.” If something I’ve written is worthy of a nomination, it’ll get nominated. If it isn’t, it won’t. Leave it alone.

So I’ve struggled with the idea of pushing my work out to readers. For the most part I’ve left that work to the publishers. Good work will find an audience. Stephen King proved that at the beginning of his career, and he proved it again when he wrote under the pen name, Richard Bachman.

But times are changing.

As the ebook market continued to explode and more and more authors are self-publishing, it’s no longer enough to simply write. You have to find a way to get your writing in front of readers.

You can do this in a number of ways. For instance, you can send out review copies, or give away free PDFs to people who are willing to review your on Amazon. You can go with tradition and do a book signing tour. You can build a relationship with readers through a blog such as this or a Facebook page or a Twitter account (or all three). You can do a press release. Or a book trailer. Or give away free material that’s related to your book. You can get quotes from other authors, develop an online persona, or pass out business for your book.

There’s no shortage of things you can do.

There is a shortage of time and enthusiasm.

And that’s been my challenge with the ebook release of Through Shattered Glass. I love this collection. I believe at its heart, it is who I am as a writer. But getting it into the hands of readers has been a challenge.

I did gave away copies to a handful of readers who agreed to post reviews on Amazon.

And I do plan to do a press release and see what that stirs up.

But of all the other options, most of them simply aren’t my cup of tea. I don’t have a Twitter account. And while I am on Facebook, I rarely pop in over there. Certainly not as often as I should. I think I’m afraid I’ll gradually find myself spending more time promoting my work on Facebook than I do on writing.

Writing is a wonderfully creative process that I thoroughly enjoy when I’m buried in a story. Posting updates on Facebook just seems like a chore (yeah, I know, I’m an old foogie who just doesn’t get it).

But there’s another form of promotion that I do enjoy. I’m not convinced that it has much lasting value, but I find the process creative and involving and often satisfying.

The book trailer.

I’ve done a few of them. I’m still learning. Definitely a neophyte. My first efforts were long for book trailers. I had this need to try to explain everything so viewers would know what they’re getting. But I started to look at other trailers and quickly realized that the real goal of a trailer is to engage the emotions and create curiosity. I’m not sure how good I am at this yet, but I’m gradually getting better.

I bring up all this to steer you to my book trailer for Through Shattered Glass. It’s posted on YouTube, and if you’ve got a minute or so to spare, I’d love to have you take a look at it. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you feel it succeeds or fails.

Here’s the video:

Here’s the link to Through Shattered Glass on: Amazon

Here’s the link to Through Shattered Glass on: Barnes & Noble

Thanks a million for coming to this blog, and hanging around long to read this. Your time is very much appreciated.