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Author, Editor, Media Tie-In Writer

Tell Me - Matthew Warner

I’ve never met Matt but I gotta give it to him… I love this book trailer. It’s the kind of book trailer I’d like. Give it a look.-JLB

The Correct Response is “Whoa”

by Matthew Warner

As in, “Whoa, baby. That looks awesome.” As in, “It looks so awesome, I gotta buy that book right the hell now.”

That’s the reaction I want you to have to my new book trailer about The Seventh Equinox, coming Nov. 6 from Raw Dog Screaming Press. (Hopefully, you’ll remain that enthusiastic after you read it.)

Did you know someone owns the term book trailer? Yep. It’s a service mark, registration #2868140, duly recorded at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But that doesn’t stop hordes of writers from creating videos about their novels and calling them “book trailers,” as if they’re on par with trailers at the movie theater.

But here’s the rub. Most of them suck. I’m sorry, but they do. They’re text-heavy, too long, and they look like they were made with PowerPoint in less than 15 minutes. But you get what you pay for, and most writers don’t have the dough to hire actors and CG artists. I’m not saying I do, either. Not usually. In fact, I’m certain I blew all my future royalties several times over when I collaborated with Darkstone Entertainment to make the 2.5-minute video linked below. But I’m happy to do it in the interests of recruiting new readers, hopefully ones who will stick with me for life. I have another job to keep me in whiskey, so I don’t mind raking all my writing income back into advertising. My publishers don’t seem to mind, either.

For this trailer, it helped to have a target audience firmly in mind. The Seventh Equinox is set in the fictitious city of Augusta, Virginia, based on my home of Staunton. I didn’t set it in the real Staunton because I wanted some leeway in my descriptions of geography and government, and also to insulate me from potential libel suits. In my book, the sheriff is an alcoholic, bigoted redneck, while the real-life Staunton police chief is anything but.

Anyway, I still want locals to buy my book, because its descriptions otherwise ring with regional flavor. That’s why a Staunton landmark, the Clock Tower, appears on the book cover. And that’s why, when I wrote the trailer script (which you’re welcome to read here), I loaded it with Staunton landmarks, such as Betsy Bell Mountain. During the three-day shoot, I even revised it to include more local landmarks, such as the Gypsy Hill Park band stand and the iconic DeJarnette buildings.

The other thing I did differently with this trailer was to load it with multiple settings and story lines, more like a real movie trailer. My previous three trailers for Blood Born were each confined to one or two locales. That made this one three times as hard to make. Read more about the sausage-making at The Seventh Equinox‘s production blog.

So, what did I learn from all this? New ways to nervously pull my hair out when production problems sometimes cropped up. I also learned I should keep my mouth shut when an actress is working herself into an emotional state at my request. (Major kudos to actress Elle Clark for crying real tears.)

The jury is still out on my main questions, which are: did it help to target a local audience, and was the more cinematic writing style worth the trouble?

Maybe you can help me figure it out. In the meantime, enjoy (book trailer link)!

 


Matthew Warner‘s new novel, The Seventh Equinox, comes out from Raw Dog Screaming Press on Nov. 6, 2013. Preorders receive $2 off.

What is the “Tell Me” guest blog? It is a 400-600 word (more if you need it) blog post where you tell me something about your project. Tell me why you did it. Or what inspired you. Or something that you’ve always wanted to tell the world about the project. Tell me why you love it. Or hate it. Or what you learned. Tell me anything you want. I’m listening….

Meet Jennifer Brozek

Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Hugo Award. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.

Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com or her social media accounts on LinkTree.

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Charity: CALLER UNKNOWN by ME is included in the BUNDLE OF HOLDING +5 to benefit Defenders of Wildlife and the Wikimedia Foundation. Only three days left to get an awesome bundle of ebooks and help out two charities. Announcement: “Dreams of a Thousand Young” will be in Jazz Age Cthulhu. Yes I know I’m late on posting this. Funded: The Sheynan trilogy by Dylan Birtolo, to be published by Apocalypse Ink Productions, has been funded. New stretch goals have been plotted out. Kickstater: Broken Eye Books has a kickstarter that now includes a critique from me: $75 level – BROZEK CRITIQUE: Everything included in the WEIRD LOVE reward, plus you receive a critique from Jennifer Brozek of either a story up to 5,000 words of text or a novel synopsis and query. 1 of 2 is already taken.

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Article: Risk Approaches. Written for GMs. Excellent for writers, too. I really like this article. It’s a good way to think of things. Awards: Hugo nominations are open. Here is my eligibility post. Don’t be afraid to list what you have done, too. Interesting: Books2Read. This is a site to create universal links for your books. Here’s an example: DocWagon 19. Review: Nice review of The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade anthology in Analog. I’m not called out, but I like the review. Pre-order: The Prince of Artemis V by Jennifer Brozek and Elizabeth Guizzetti. It’s my firest comic book! Isn’t it pretty?

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