Book Trailers and Summaries Part 1

So, this past weekend I discovered a really good writing exercise...using Windows Media Player.

The title of the post pretty much gives it away, but I'll say it anyways: Book Trailers. I'm sure we've all seen those big name, movie-like book trailers made by the major publishing houses using fancy software and video editing. It makes the book come alive on a whole new level and intrigues readers with a more visual medium. So it's pretty good for marketing.

Not only that, though, but if you've ever tried making one, you know it's frustrating. No only is it difficult compiling what exactly will go into the trailer, but organizing it to be visually appealing AND concise? Impossible! It doesn't stop people from trying, though.

Something that's also a pain in the butt is condensing entire 70,000+ word novels into 2-3 pages (double spaced at that!), or even worse, a paragraph! Making a synopsis and a query pitch/summary are both crucial if someone wants to get their work published, though. After all, agents and editors are busy people, they need to know if the overall content of the book is worth the writing, and the shorter the better. But cramming all that information into such a small space makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. First, you have to organize it into what's important and what's not, then the second guessing when every little detail goes into one subplot or another that all tie into the main story arc somehow. Everything is supposed to be important, right?

Enter the book trailer! Try making one of these babies and cram all that info into less than a minute, 30 seconds even!

My point, making a trailer makes you hone in on what exactly your story is about to the most finite detail. Make one of these, and a synopsis or query seems easy in comparison (at least it makes you grateful you have more space than a few tiny slides). On top of that, they're fun to play with, whether you go fishing for low cost, creative commons media until your eyes bleed so you can use it for marketing, or you privately Google some images and show it to all your friends for kicks. All it takes is some imagination and a few hours of hard patience as you scour the internet for resources and reevaluate everything about you're book...easy, right?

Tomorrow, a Part 2 of this mini-series on book trailers: how exactly to make the suckers.

Not Dead and Joy Jumping!

Wow, what a hiatus. Sorry for the blogcation, guys. So many things piled up at once and...well none of it was really post worthy. Now, big news! I'm so excited it's not even funny, despite all the business suddenly consuming my end of semester life.

For a few months now, I've been submitting my novel "Faerie Games" to agents and publishers alike. At first I tried TOR Fantasy...on my first letter. Yeah, a very polite rejection with some blue ink showed up in my mailbox. By then, I knew I'd shot too big. Then I tried some small presses and agents. Enter more glorious rejections (surprisingly, I actually like them). One of the publishers did ask for a partial though, then a full, then...

They made an offer!

I'm not going to give too many details until any hypothetical ink is dry, but I had to squeal something since it's my first. Eeeeee! It's my favorite email of the year so far, I swear.

In other news, I got some really nifty Half-Blood swag in the mail from J.L. Armentrout along with the book I won in one of her wonderful monthly "Got Titanium?" contests (seriously, free new release, the swag includes a guitar pick, and she's one of the nicest/funniest people you'll ever meet. You can't beat checking this lady out).

T.K. Richardson also sent me an amazing hand-made book mark because of her "Pay It Forward" post. It's all red and shiny with the cutest charms. Her blog always has great insights into the writing life and weekly resources I've used on more than one occasion. She's a joy to read every time, believe me.

I'd put up pictures of this awesome -- it's all so pretty!-- but my webcam is on the fritz and I still haven't figured out how to import pictures from my phone to my computer without the little cord... I hope you guys are enjoying the heck out of your weeks/weekends/days/mornings/lives! I sure am with mine right now.