Book videos, also know as book previews or book trailers™, have become increasingly popular as publishers look to media to promote books. Book videos can engage the viewer on multiple levels through images, music, words, and emotions. The goal of the book video is to give the viewer a quick look at the book with the intent of hooking them into reading the book. As with any marketing tool, the device only becomes effective through exposure. Getting people to watch a book video can be more work than actually making the video. Maybe you have created a book video to promote your book and now you are wondering how to get the most publicity out of it.
Following are eight great ways to let the world know about your book video to maximize publicity.
1. Post it on your website.
If your book has a website, the book video should be posted on the website. However, don’t bury it in back pages, paste the video or a link to the video directly on the home page of your website. We are a media world and people like to watch media clips; one has to look no further than YouTube to find this out.
2. Post a link to it on your blog.
Any author with a blog should have a link posted on their blog to their video trailer for their book. The video trailer link should be separate from the author’s and the book’s webpage links.
3. Include it in your email signature.
Email signatures are easy to make and easy to maintain. An email signature is like a return address on a piece of mail. Everyone whose hands the mail passes through sees the return address with your company name. Your email signature is your return address and your chance to advertise your books to everyone your email reaches. Your email signature should include links to your website, a link to your blog, and a caption about watching the book video with a link.
4. Send out press releases
Creating a book video for a book does not seem very newsworthy in the scope of things. However, posting a press release on free press release websites with the information about the book video and where it can be viewed is a no-cost way to potentially increase traffic to your book video.
5. Upload it to your social networking sites
Almost all social networking sites allow member users to post videos on their page. Upload your book video to your page on each of your social networking sites. Your friends can view it and if they think it’s great, they may share it with their friends. That’s how things end up going viral on the Internet. There is no guarantee that your book video will go viral, but it doesn’t even have a chance if you don’t post it.
6. Social bookmark it.
Social bookmark your book video on the main social bookmarking websites that you use. Sites such as http://del.icio.us, www.stumbleupon.com, www.faves.com, and http://bookmarksync.com are all great places to bookmark your book video.
See Sarah’s list of video sharing sites.
Sarah Bolme is the Director of Christian Small Publishers Association (www.christianpublishers.net). She is also the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace (www.marketingchristianbooks.com). Read Sarah’s blog at www.marketingchristianbooks.wordpress.com.
