Tag Archives: YouTube

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7 Things I Learned About Shooting a Video on the Cheap

I have been meaning to shoot a few promotional videos for Baby Grand to put up on my YouTube channel, so yesterday I took (dragged) my daughter, husband and youngest son with me to Hofstra University for a video shoot. My daughter is thinking about a career in directing and my oldest son has expressed an interest in video editing, so I figured why not encourage (take advantage) of these aspirations and get some publicity as well. Well, after an hour of frolicking in the sun on campus, I learned seven important lessons:

  1. Make sure you have a charged battery. If my husband hadn’t come along for the ride, it would have been a very (very!) short shoot. The minute my daughter, who served as camera-person, pressed record for the first take of the afternoon, the screen went black. “I had a feeling that would happen,” my husband said, pulling an extra charged battery out of his knapsack. I didn’t know if I wanted to slug him or hug him. :)
  2. Know your lines. I wanted to kick myself for not having memorized my script. There are so many things that are out of your control during a photo shoot, like the weather or the amount of people milling around if you’re in a public place. The last thing you should have had to worry about is knowing your lines. Lesson learned.
  3. Empty your memory card beforehand. Luckily, it was after an hour of shooting that my memory card screamed, “No more, please!” Otherwise, as I said in Tip #1, it would have been a very short shoot.
  4. Vary your shots. As an undergrad at Hofstra, I took a few television classes so I know a thing or two (but that’s it) about video production. So I had my daughter video me saying the same paragraph several times — while sitting on a bench, while walking, etc. This helps to make your video more interesting and dynamic when it’s put together in post-production.
  5. Have cutaways. Basically, a cutaway is a shot of something different from the main action. In my case, for example, we shot the university’s name on a sign for a few seconds and my legs walking. Cutaways are crucial to the editing process, particularly when you have talent who apparently hasn’t memorized her lines. It gives the video editor options and helps piece together different shots that wouldn’t otherwise go together so that they look cohesive.
  6. If you’re not going to pay your tech people, feed them. And if you’ve got anyone 10 years or younger there for the ride, it might behoove you to feed him BEFORE the photo shoot. It keeps the complaining to a minimum (and while you’re at it, bring a jacket for him too).
  7. Have fun. My daughter and I giggled the entire way through. “I feel like I’m in a writer horror movie!” she squealed when I asked her to walk backwards with the camera as I approached. Sure enough, we watched the playback, and it did. Perhaps an idea for my next book…
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye: How to Promote an Audiobook

Okay, folks, this one is easy: If you’re already out there promoting your paperback or eBook, all you have to do is keep on doing what you’re doing and now throw your audiobook into marketing mix as well. What should you be doing? Most, if not all, of the following:

Create social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Goodreads, Google Plus — wherever it is you find you get the most mileage from your posts (remember, too much promotion can turn friends and followers off, so post wisely). You can also syndicate your content so that you can post to multiple accounts simultaneously.

Create a blog: There’s been a lot of debate lately on whether writers should bother with blogging, whether blogging is helpful as a promotional tool for writers. I started this blog in March 2010 not as a promotional tool, but as a way to help write myself out of a writer’s block and to network with other writers. (It worked.) Readers of this blog will know that I rarely use it for promotional purposes — Yes, I have my book info in the sidebar and I mention Baby Grand all the time but the blog is more informational than promotional.

Create a dialogue: Spend time reading other people’s blogs and social media posts. Not only do you learn a heck of a lot, but I’ve found that people find their way to my book simply by reading my comments or viewpoints and then clicking my gravatar.

Create a website: This is a MUST. All authors should have a “home base,” so to speak, one place where readers can go to find out everything they need to know about you and your books. Additionally, a recent blog post by Shelli Johson suggests you should have a media kit available on your website, which will make it easier for others (newspaper editors, bloggers, TV producers, etc.) to get your bio, head shot, book jacket and other info readily. Excellent advice.

Create a mailing list: Give readers and potential readers the opportunity to sign up to hear about your news. I use Constant Contact for my mailing list needs.

Create videos: Create a YouTube channel and develop promotional videos for your book. These can include man-on-the-street videos featuring the author, or Q&As or book trailers. Whatever you think will help people find you and generate interest in your work.

Well, that winds up this week’s celebration of the premiere of the Baby Grand audiobook. If you have any other promotional ideas for your books, audio or otherwise, I’d love to hear them. Have a great weekend!

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Hurricane Sandy: Life Lessons in the Dark

My 15-year-old son said to me—as he, his brother, his sister and I were huddled under blankets last week during Hurricane Sandy and her aftermath which ravaged much of Long Island, New York City and New Jersey: “People do crazy things because of the blackout.”

Our power had gone out, and we had been listening to a battery-powered radio which—amid news reports of devastation, of flooding New York City tunnels and homes burning in Queens, New York—was warning of people who, desperate for gasoline, were cutting gas lines and starting fistfights, of local looting, and of men posing as utility workers and burglarizing homes when electricity-starved residents let them in with open arms.

“I think crises bring out the best or worst in people,” I said, stunned a bit by his statement, and many others that have come from my oldest son over the years. “If you’re a good person at heart, a crisis will bring out the best in you. If you’re not, I guess it can bring out the worst.” (A magnifier, as my husband calls it.)

For four nights, I sat in the dark with my three children—who, without the circular glow of one of our two camping lanterns, were not discernible at all sitting only inches away from me—wondering if every snap of a branch or creak of a gate outside was a potential threat to our safety. I had forgotten how dark darkness really was until the lights went out and how much of our lives relied upon a current through a wire or a signal in the air. During that time, my children and I clung to our smart phones and tablets, our only lifelines to the outside world, our connection to our neighbors and our old life.

That first morning after the hurricane, after the winds had died down and the sun peeked out from behind low-lying gray clouds, I awoke, happy to see my children asleep around me in the lower-level den, where we had all spent the night in order to be safe from falling trees. I slipped on my shoes, a baseball cap and a jacket and ventured outside to survey the damage to the neighborhood. It was a strange feeling not knowing what to expect when I opened the front door, kind of like Dorothy opening the door to Oz: What would I see outside? How much damage would there be? Was our home intact?

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Book Trailers #2

When I first wrote about book trailers back in November 2010, they were a growing trend in independent book promotion. Now they’re pretty standard as part of a marketing strategy, as many indies and traditionally published authors have them.

That is, except me.

Last week, my writer-friends in the Long Island Writers Group were urging me to do a book trailer for Baby Grand.

Truth be told, I’ve been hesitant. Here’s why:

  1. A professionally done book trailer costs $$$$. Over the last few years, I’ve seen tons of book trailers, many of them not very good or effective. And I really think a bad book trailer reflects poorly (just like a film trailer would) on its book, which might be incredibly good. So if I were to do a book trailer, I’d want it to be professionally done. That means it’s going to cost me some $$$$, which leads me to…
  2. Are they worth the investment? I know that lots of books have book trailers, but I’m still not sure how effective they are in actually the selling the book. I can’t think of anyone who says, I’m thinking of reading Book ABC. Let me look for the book trailer first (and they have to find it!) and see what I think. Most people just hop on over to the book’s Amazon page and take a look at the book cover, synopsis and reviews. At least that’s what I do. I rarely look at a book trailer, even if there’s one right there on the Amazon book page or author page.

However, I do have to say that there have been book trailers I’ve stumbled upon that I found to be quite effective — meaning they made me not only want to read the book, but go and buy the book.

Here’s two of them:

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Meet Robyn Bradley

“True deep desire breeds motivation.” That’s what Robyn Bradley said when I asked her what motivates her to write. I don’t think a truer statement was ever uttered. “True deep desire,” I believe as well, is the thing that separates the people who start writing novels from the ones who finish writing them. You’ve gotta want it. REALLY want it. ‘Nuff said.

Name: Robyn Bradley

Name of book: Forgotten April

Book genre: Women’s fiction

Date Published: April 2011

Publisher: Self-published

What is your day job? I’m a copy bitch by day (otherwise known as a freelance marketing copywriter).

What is your book about? Can two long-lost half sisters let go of the secrets from their pasts and learn what it means to be family?

What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? Letting it go out into the world. You give birth to this book, you “raise it,” you stay with it through the good and bad, but at some point, you gotta let your baby go forth into the world and stand on its own. That’s hard. And sometimes you question if it’s ready. I haven’t given birth to an actual human, but from the women I know who have, the analogy is apt.

What motivates you to write? I’ve wanted to be a writer since Mrs. Shea’s fourth grade class when she gave us a short story assignment. I slaved over it—drafting it in pencil first and then in pen. I had a moment where I felt the story “clicking” as I wrote it, like it all made sense, like I was doing exactly what I was put on this earth to do. I read it out loud to the class. They loved it. Mrs. Shea loved it. I was hooked after that and decided I wanted to write. Now, that’s the desire part. Your question, however, is about motivation. I think we all have things we desire, but I think when certain desires take hold and you can’t think about anything else, well… that’s when motivation kicks in. True deep desire breeds motivation. Some writers say it’s almost as if they don’t have a choice: they have to write. I think I agree with that.

Did you experience writer’s block? I actually don’t believe in writer’s block. I believe that there are times when the words don’t come as easily as other times, and that’s usually a sign from my soul, mind, and heart that I need to walk away. It took me forever to figure that one out, but sometimes the best thing I can do for my writing is to stop writing: I’ll take a shower, work out, read, go to the movies (that always works). When I come back to the page, the words start flowing again. They weren’t blocked… they just needed a few hours off.

How long did it take you to write this book? I worked on this book on and off for almost ten years. I went through five top-to-bottom, start-from-scratch rewrites. I buried it twice. The beginning always dogged me, but I had a breakthrough last fall, tackled it, and felt it was finally ready. Of course, by the time I had this breakthrough, I’d already queried the heck out of it.

Why did you decide to self-publish? I used to be the biggest self-publishing snob and felt it was a last resort for writer wannabes. Only someone who had been recognized by an agent and then a publisher was a “real” writer. (I mentioned the snob part, right?)

Fast forward to the summer of 2010 when I was re-reading one of my favorite books on writing – Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. In the section on publication, Lamott reminds us that validation won’t—and can’t—come from landing an agent or a book deal with one of the Big 6. She quotes from the movie Cool Runnings about an Olympic bobsled team and how the coach reminds the team members that if they’re not “enough” before the gold medal, they certainly won’t be enough with it. I’d probably read that section ten times before, but I didn’t really get it until that summer. Validation had to start with me. I had to believe.

I had this epiphany around the same time I was reading about the explosion of eBooks and the popularity of Nooks and Kindles. I had a backlog of short stories (some of which had been published in small journals) as well as the novel and figured “Why not give it a go and self-publish to Amazon and B&N.com?” I thought I’d be one of the first writers to do so (this was before I’d heard the names Amanda Hocking or Joe Konrath). I quickly learned that I was far from the first, and that many of those who had gone on before me were making a living doing it. So I jumped in and never looked back.

Was the self-publishing process easier or more difficult than you thought it would be? Believe it or not, I think it was easier than I expected. That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of work involved; there was, and there still is every day. But the process of getting a book on Amazon and B&N is extremely turnkey.

What is the biggest misconception about writing a book? We all have stories inside us. But rendering those “head stories” onto the page isn’t a one-step process (nor should it be). You don’t just sit down and bang out the words and you’re done. It’s easy to think that’s all it takes going into it (and God knows I was guilty of this magical thinking way back when). But it’s more involved than that.

What was your favorite aspect of the writing process for this book? This book got me past my fears of pitching 80,000 words out a window and starting over on page one from a completely different point of view. I’m much more willing to take risks now, and I’m much more open to radical revisions.

What tools/methods have you employed to promote your book? My day job as a marketing copywriter has served me well: all the stuff I’d preach to my clients I practiced myself. I’m not only active on Facebook and Twitter, but I also do my best to leverage both (more so with Facebook, just because I prefer the medium). I run FB ads, I work at engaging my fan base, and I try different things. I hang out where readers hang out, like Goodreads, Shelfari, and LibraryThing. I have a blog and YouTube Channel. And I’m willing to spend money and experiment (the adage is true: you need to spend money to make money).

I think the best advice I can give is this: You WILL need to spend money. Publishing houses spend lots of moolah to bring a book to life. You can’t expect to go from lots of moohlah to zilch and expect your book to take off. Bringing a book to market the right way (with professional editing, cover art, and promotion) will cost some bucks. It doesn’t need to be millions or even thousands, but you do need some sort of budget going in. If you don’t have it, get creative in how to get it: take on a part-time job, tutor, ask friends and family for money instead of presents for your b-day, get on KickStarter, see where you can save on monthly expenses (e.g. give up Starbucks or NetFlix or whatever just for a little while and put the savings towards your business). Remember, art is what you’re making behind closed doors when it’s just you and your story. But once the door is open and you’re putting the book “out there,” it’s a business. And businesses need money to operate. The same is true with your book.

How has life changed for you since the publication of your book? Aside from the call I got from George Clooney? ;) It hasn’t changed all that much; I continue to write regularly, which I’d been doing before.

Do you plan on writing another novel? My second novel, What Happened in Granite Creek, came out October 15. I know, I know. It’s always suspicious when an author puts out a book a year, let alone TWO. Here’s the thing: Forgotten April was pretty much done in late 2009. I had the breakthrough regarding the beginning in the fall of 2010. In the spring of 2010, I completed the draft of my second novel. I spent 2011 revising it. So I got lucky in the sense that I had two books to bring to market pretty much at the same time, even though I’d been working on one for close to ten years and the second for two.

I’m working on my third book right now as well as two novellas, which are companion pieces to What Happened in Granite Creek. I’m hoping to release those in 2012. I also have several short stories in various stages of “doneness” that I need to revisit.

My favorite last question: Oprah once famously said that there is no such thing as luck, without preparation and a moment of opportunity. Would you agree or disagree with regard to your own success as a writer? Joe Konrath says you need luck. But he agrees that you can help Lady Luck along and woo her. I think I agree with that.

That said, true “luck” in the terms of an “overnight success” is a lottery winner. You go to bed broke, and you wake up a millionaire. That’s luck, but, of course, that luck needed the opportunity: the gal had to BUY the ticket to begin with.

I believe there’s a market for my books. Readers have been responding favorably to Forgotten April, reviews have been good, and I keep picking up more fans on FB, Twitter, etc. I write and study and market and write and study and write and write some more. That’s my preparation. The opportunity is taking advantage of this exciting time to be a writer (because, really, it is – it’s a writer’s market for the first time ever). So I’m poised and ready and hopeful that Ms. Luck sees all this, looks kindly on her fellow sister, and sprinkles some of her fairy dust over me and my keyboard. Actually, I feel she already has in many ways. I’m grateful that I get to do what I love every day.

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The Writer’s Dream

As I mentioned recently, I was asked to serve as host for a new television show, titled The Writer’s Dream.  The show is put together by writers for writers and is basically my blog in television format — we talk about the craft of writing, what motivates us, inspires us, as well as the business of writing, including the process of querying agents and pursuing a traditional publishing deal or the experience of self-publishing.

Currently, the program only airs in East Hampton, New York, but I’ve been getting lots of requests to see the show, so I’ll be uploading each episode to YouTube. Below is Part 1 of a recent episode featuring Richard Rose, news anchor for TV 10/55 and author of Release the Butterfly. (Part 2 and Part 3 are also available on YouTube.)

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Book Trailers

A growing trend in independent book promotion is the “book trailer”: a video advertisement for a book, similar to a movie trailer. I’ve seen everything from “talking head” book trailers, where the author discusses his or her book, to animation, photo montages set to music and full-production trailers. If you’re marketing your novel, you may want to think about creating a book trailer. You don’t have to spend a lot of money — I’ve seen some very well done simple videos. Creativity goes a long way.

Here’s a terrific trailer for a book titled Meet the Annas that I stumbled upon on YouTube. Yes, it’s put out by a publisher, Coral Press, and not a cash-strapped author, but it’s rather simple. Just a few photos, music and narration. It’s effective — sets the tone for the novel, provides a review and makes the viewer curious to find out more. Just what a trailer should do. Be aware, though, of copyright issues. I’m assuming Coral Press has the right to use everything shown, but it’s important to remember you cannot use any materials that are not your own — music, photos, film — unless you are granted permission to do so. There are far too many people crossing legal lines on the internet either naively or just hoping not to get caught. The last thing a first-time writer wants is to be accused of lifting other people’s creative material.

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To Market, To Market

This week’s guest blog post comes from Chris Nickson – you may remember him from my Debut Author Q&A last week. Chris shares some marketing insights with us, something I’ve told seminar attendees and heard from published authors time and time again, that the work on your novel doesn’t stop after the writing has.

You book’s been published after trying for so long. You feel on top of the world – as well you should. But guess what? The work’s just beginning. Now you have to sell it.

Unless you’re a big name with a big publishing house, the advertising budget for your book is going to be little or nonexistent. If anyone’s going to tell people about your baby, it’s going to be you.

It takes work, it takes time, but it’s worth it. The good news is that your expenses, at least, are minimal.

Online

These days you have to have an online presence. Every writer should have a website. It tells people who you are, and it makes a great shop window for your work. There’s no need to have anything fancy. Software for making a site is cheap, and you can find deals in web hosting. Just make it look good. Think about what you want on there; you don’t need audio or video, or even elaborate slideshows. Stick to the basics – just do them well.

Use Facebook and Twitter. They’re excellent ways to network. Establish a page for your book on Facebook – that way you can disseminate information about it to all its fans. Get to know other writers on Twitter. Follow them (metaphorically, of course!). You can learn things, come in contact with interesting people, exchange ideas.

If you want to be ambitious, record a short extract from your book. Along with a photo of the cover, and put it up on YouTube. Link it to your site, Facebook, Twitter. It doesn’t cost anything, and it’s another weapon in your arsenal.

Out And About

Making yourself visible helps publicize your book. Contact the library service where you live. Many of them welcome guest speakers – you get to give talks on writing and seem like an expert, but the library has something to offer people. And when you’ve finished, you can self copies of your book. It’s a win-win situation.

Book stores have people in to sign books. Make yourself one of them. Independents welcome it as a way to draw in customers, and you reach more people. In the U.K., at least, the big chain of Waterstone’s will have relatively unknown authors in on Saturday mornings. Contact these people, go in and talk to the managers – sell yourself! In a couple of hours, it’s quite feasible to sell up to 15 to 20 copies. When you show up, though, don’t just sit there and wait for people to come over. It won’t happen. Grab a couple of copies of your book and talk to people browsing in the appropriate section. Be friendly, not pushy. Charm them. Believe me, it works.

Print

Getting print reviews of your book can be difficult. So many books, so little space. What can you do? Use your contacts. If you know someone who works on a local or regional newspaper, ask them to help, even for a name. You’ll have publicity copies, and this is where you use them.  By way of example, I wrote concert reviews for a regional paper. When my book was coming out, I talked to the entertainment editor who did a small feature on me and my book (if you have a good hook, it’s even better). I also talked to musicians friends who gave me another name. That led to another article. Don’t be too pushy, but work those contacts.

Keep Going

All of this is fine for an initial push, but you need to keep going. Be persistent, go back to bookstores for more signings, keep using your Facebook page and website. Employ all the tools you have. That way, when success happens, you’re the one who brought it about, and it seems doubly sweet.

Chris Nickson is a freelance writer, music journalist and novelist. His historical crime novel, The Broken Token, was published in October. He is also the author of 30 non-fiction books and was a regular commentator on National Public Radio until 2008. He moved back to the U.K. in 2005 after 30 years of living in America.

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Updated Website

Yes, still waiting…

And while I am, I figured I’d go ahead and update my website. For those familiar with my old website, I know what you’re thinking… “Uh, it looks pretty much the same.” Au contraire! Okay, so my illo is the same — love my New York girl! — but I’ve actually streamlined things, slimming down from about 14 pages to 4, and updating my bio, services and contact pages. You can also link to this blog from every page of the site, as well as to my Facebook fan page, and Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. Plus, on the homepage there’s a link to the Amazon page of Good Girls Don’t Get Fat (my other baby), which is available for pre-sale now.

A big, big thank you to Amy Newton of Newton Designs who not only designed my original website, but created the new one as well. The testimonial I wrote on her website 5 years ago is as true today as it was then: “Amy is not only professional and conscientious, but very patient and easy to work with.” She’s fab, folks. The whole package.

Okay, so another thing crossed off the old to-do list. Now what?

Ring, phone. Ring…