{"id":7383,"date":"2013-01-09T03:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-01-09T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=7383"},"modified":"2022-02-24T18:17:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T02:17:00","slug":"nobody-cares-what-your-book-is-about-how-to-write-a-book-trailer-script-by-ezra-barany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/09\/nobody-cares-what-your-book-is-about-how-to-write-a-book-trailer-script-by-ezra-barany\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobody Cares What Your Book is About: How to Write a Book Trailer Script by Ezra Barany"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Book.<\/a>Welcome back to our weekly posts from bestselling author and book marketing consultant<\/a>, Ezra Barany. Yes, and he’s my husband. This article on how to draft a book trailer script is also one of the featured articles in a previous issue of the out-of-print Author Entrepreneurship Magazine<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Ever see a book trailer? It\u2019s a\u00a0video that promotes a book instead of a movie. I\u2019ve rarely seen a good one. The problem with most book trailers is that they usually show you what the book is about.<\/p>\n

The horrible truth is nobody cares what the book is about.
\nViewers don\u2019t want to be told what a book is about or what a movie is about. They think they do, but they really don\u2019t. Instead, they want to feel\u00a0a bit of the emotion they can expect to experience if they read your book.<\/p>\n

My wife revealed\u00a0a pearl of wisdom\u00a0when, one day, she summed up the purpose of a book trailer. \u201cIt\u2019s a promise of an experience.\u201d If you can do that, if you can give the viewer a visceral glimpse of the emotion they\u2019ll feel when they read your book, you\u2019ve succeeded in making a great book trailer.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to do that:\u00a0The Formula for Writing a Great Book Trailer Script<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best formula I came up with for writing a great book trailer script is the following:
\n1. Your \u201cWhat if\u201d statement or a \u201cRemember when\u201d plus \u201cWhat if\u201d\u00a0statement.
\n2. Your one sentence synopsis of the story. (Optional)
\n3. Testimonials and credibility
\n4. Title and byline
\n5. Call to action<\/p>\n

Here are the steps, explained:<\/strong>
\n1. Your \u201cWhat if\u201d statement: In less than 28 words, write the question that your book answers. For the movie Hook, the statement is \u201cWhat if Peter Pan grew up?\u201d Here\u2019s another: \u201cWhat if a young prince, tired of his rich life, traded places with his doppelganger, a poor boy?\u201d That would be for The Prince and the Pauper. What\u2019s yours?<\/p>\n

Your \u201cRemember when\u201d plus \u201cWhat if\u201d\u00a0statement: \u201cRemember when you nearly drove your car into that child in the street? What if you had hit him?\u201d or \u201cRemember when you gambled more money than you should have in a place like\u00a0Vegas? What if you had won?\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Your one sentence synopsis: This is the answer to your \u201cWhat if\u201d question. The sentence shows how your book addresses the question or embodies the question. You can skip this step since it often doesn\u2019t have as much of an impact on the viewer as all the other components.<\/p>\n

3. Testimonials and credibility: Wouldn\u2019t you be more likely to buy a book if others said it was great? What if you discovered the book was a bestseller? Would that make you more inclined to take a closer look at the book? For most readers, information establishing credibility helps them decide if the book is worth buying.<\/p>\n

4. Title and byline: Now that they\u2019re curious about the book, they\u2019ll pay attention to what the book is called. Simply state the title and your name. For example, \u201cThe Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Call to action: This will make or break your sale. If you don\u2019t have this, you will have lost your reader. It can be as simple as showing your website or displaying the words \u201cOn Amazon.\u201d Or it can be as strong as \u201cBuy your copy today on Amazon before all copies are sold!\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong>
\nHere\u2019s an example of a script for my book The Torah Codes. I’ve made trailers for the book — you can see them on YouTube — but they don’t use this script. (I came up with this script formula after having made several book videos.)<\/p>\n

What if you discovered your landlord has been watching you through a two way mirror? Nathan Yirmorshy, a computer programmer in the Oakland Hills, discovers that his voyeuristic landlord is part of\u00a0a secret society bent on forcing him to fulfill a dangerous prophecy, just as the ancient scriptures have foretold. \u201cThe pages seem to turn themselves!\u201d \u201cA plot full of twists and turns puts The Torah Codes in the top of my \u2018Best Books I\u2019ve Read\u2019 list!\u201d \u201cI couldn\u2019t put it down!\u201d An Amazon bestseller for all of 2012, award-winner at The Hollywood Book Festival, The Torah Codes by Ezra Barany. Available now on Amazon.<\/p>\n

The 3 Most Common Mistakes in Making Book Videos<\/strong>
\n1. Too long: Keep your video between 30 seconds to 1:30 seconds long. Any longer and you risk putting your viewers to sleep.
\n2. Audio is poor quality: Audio quality\u00a0is more important than visual quality. Poor audio can ruin a video, whereas viewers are more forgiving over poor video. Also, make sure the audio contributes to the emotion you wish to evoke. Case and point, here\u2019s a video that has poor visual quality but I dare you to watch it without getting teary-eyed.<\/p>\n