Quite the Life (and all in Times New Roman 10pt!)
Once again, I am honored.
The glorious, wise, and beautiful folks at Sixth Elem6ent, home of Harvey Duckman Presents and many awesome, independent books, published The Lonely Oak in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 5.
(and they want more of my work!)
Whoa!
Other fine authors are in HDP5 as well. (you should read them all)
(have to see if i can get a few more links in that opening paragraph…)
As in Episode 1 “Good Run, Trailer?”, Sabine and I discuss the book’s meaning and our decision process in creating this new book video trailer format.
Prepare for Episode 2 “Massively Scarred”
Learn about the research leading to this new format.
Watch Episode 1 “Good Run, Trailer?” .
Follow The Augmented Man video trailer series.
This is the eleventh in a series I’m doing wherein I discuss why a particular piece of writing works for me, aka, this piece of writing taught me something about writing, encouraged me to be a better writer, engaged me, captivated me, educated me, et cetera.
As I’ve written elsewhere, it’s one thing to know something is good, it’s a better thing (in my opinion) to know why it’s good and then be able to copy what’s good about it, to learn from it so you can be as good and (hopefully) better.
This time out, Cherylynn Dyess’s “The Soul Maker” appearing in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume III.
Read Shaman Story Chapter 6 – Friends.
“Ascolta il gattina, Gio. Riesci a sentirlo camminare?” Listen to the kitty, Gio. Can you hear it walking?
A favorite game Grandpa plays with me. I close my eyes, pay attention to my ears. I clap my hands. “Yes, Buppa! I can hear it walking.”
“Dove sta camminando, Gio?” Where is it walking?
I listen, my eyes shut tight. I cock my head, right ear up, left ear up, right ear up. “On Mrs. Gianelli’s fence. The one on the Caputo’s side.”
Grandpa smiles and kisses my head.
“Now look, Gio. Where is Grandma?”
It is hard not to hear. I cover my ears with my hands, open my eyes wide. “She’s talking with Piantedosi the baker, Buppa. She says — ”
“No listening. What’s she doing?”
“She’s getting bread for dinner.”
“Anything else?”
Grandma looks in the dessert cases. She points to ricciarelli, struffoli, and cannoli.
Grandpa licks his lips and pats his belly. “Yumm.”
David sits across from me. It is his day, his weekend. He’s travelled far for his training. Not far enough but he doesn’t know that yet.
I look up and to the right, away from him, My eyes focus and I smile. “Oh, Shannon’s talking with one of our neighbors. Our dogs are playing in the park.”
David watches me. His eyes flick to where I’m looking. There’s nothing there. “What are you looking at?”
I point where I’m looking. “Shannon and Debbie, Cowan and Boxer. They’re in the park. Cowan and Boxer are playing. Shannon and Debbie are sitting at the picnic table under the roof shelter.”
“Use your hands to taste, Gio. Don’t touch with your hands first. Send your hands. Make sure it’s safe.”
Grandpa teaches me to detect poisons, food turned bad, mushrooms, when milk will sour.
“Smell from here. Don’t go there. Not yet.”
“Okay, Buppa.”
“Walk with me in the forest. Tell me what we can eat.”
We never leave my room. I hear the forest floor, leaves and pine needles, long grasses pushed over as we walk. The evergreens greet me with the heavy scent of pine. The oaks roll some acorns in our path. A maple sends a little helicopter seed spiralling beside me.
Grandpa puts his hand on my shoulder. On my bed I see him pointing. “Do you see that, Gio?”
On a birch tree, at face level and clinging. A huge creature, cousin to Spider, bigger than any spider I’ve ever seen, and not familiar to me. Eight legs, not a spider, and blind.
“Walk slowly, Gio. It is telling us something. This is its land.”
Each step brings us closer. The wind brings scents of fox and deer. Crows fly overhead. Raven lands on an elm branch and squawks at Grandpa, “Be careful. Gio doesn’t know.”
Grandpa nods. “Thank you. Yes. I’m teaching him now.”
Crows caw at us. Raven hops from branch to branch, always over us, always a little ahead.
The creature grows smaller as we approach. Smaller and smaller.
Raven squawks, “Careful, Gio.”
We stand beside the birch. The creature is so small. I reach for it and Grandpa pulls my hand back.
“Safe passage for me and mine, Friend Tick?”
I hear a voice of “S”s. “Yesss. Sssafe passsage.”
“This is Tick’s land, Gio. Always ask before you go. And if Tick says “No,” then stay away.”
“Yes, Buppa.”
“Remember the smells, the sounds, the feels. Remember what you see, if it’s safe, remember the tastes.”
“Yes, Buppa.”
He rubs my head. “Let’s get home before Grandma knows we’re gone.”
I open my eyes. I’m on my bed. Grandpa is sitting next to me, looking at me, smiling.
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Sabine and I discuss the book’s meaning and our decision process in creating “Good Run, Trailer”, a unique, 2m #video #book #trailer premiering on YouTube Monday, 15 June 2020, 9amET.
Some History
I spent five months studying video trailers, talking with authors who use them, checking results, determining various forms of ROI, et cetera.
Prices varied from homebrew to several thousand dollars for a “professional” trailer. Regardless of time, effort, and money, few experienced a direct link between their video trailer and book sales.
Simultaneous to that study I did 1-2 book signings/month (prior to the Covid pandemic) and talked with many book buyers about what got them to purchase a book and documented their comments.
Two factors dominated purchase decisions: 1) a trusted friend’s recommendation and 2) Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature.
The book buyers I interviewed did not find video trailers interesting, and few led directly to sales. Comments included “I see pictures and blurbs but one’s just like another. They don’t really tell me what the book’s about”, “I see lots of trailers and get numb to them” and “A trailer really has to stand out to interest me.”
Asked what would work, the most repeated answers were “Tell me the story”, “Let me experience it”, “Give me an idea what it’s about and maybe I’ll get interested.” Some booksigning venues let me read from my work. I consistently sold more books when I read from them than when I didn’t. All of these items correlate to Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature; giving the reader an idea of book content, not marketing content. Readers know immediately if they’ll enjoy a book or author’s style.
Gifted and accomplished EU actress Sabine Rossbach (also a regular reader who loves my work) contacted me wanting to promote my work. She took my short story “Cymodoce” and did a dramatic reading.
Sabine knows how to do dramatic readings (she’s done voice-overs, commercials, dubbings, staged readings, been a corporate spokesperson, is an accomplished stage and film actress …). I shared her video with 1) a test audience and then 2) some test markets and got results in 15m. Test audiences commented that her reading gave them a much better idea of 1) the type of story, 2) what it’s about, and 3) my writing style than any traditional video ever could.
#Authors, #Writers, and any others in the #WritingCommunity, Sabine is available to do similar videos for your books (she’s already done some for EU-based authors). You can view her demo reels (English starts about 35s in) and and IMDB.
Please note I do not guarantee results, I only offer that current data indicates dramatic readings (I suggest Sabine do them) produce recognizable, attributable results.
Enjoy, and please come join us on YouTube for “Good Run, Trailer”
Episode 1 – “Good Run, Trailer?”
Episode 2 – “Massively Scarred”