So Many Choices...

As we continue to learn about which images you will need for your book trailer, first you must pull out that query letter. If you have written your query in the three sentence format it is this paragraph you could use.

Example: When John Smith discovers his wife Betty has glowing eyes and secret passports, it's up to him to uncover the truth. Is Betty an alien or something even more sinister? He thinks he's uncovered the truth, but that all changes when he discovers his own identity. (not the best example, but it will work)

Using this example it already has a mysterious feel to it, right? So we'll go with that. To me mystery equals dark shadows, so I would search for pictures that 'feel' like that. Maybe, black and white pictures interspersed with an occasional picture of Betty with glowing green eyes. Just something to give the idea of mystery and suspense.

Over these pictures you will place your text from your three sentence paragraph. Not word for word. Shorten it up, get just the essentials down and place the text on, or before each picture. Really you could try it many different ways. Be creative, but keep it clean, short, and snappy. Long or drawn out book trailers are boring, and you don't want to fall into this category.

Happy image hunting! Remember, this is YOUR novel, so have fun with it.

A side note: You may also consider using this idea to make videos of your class through out the year. At the end of the year you could show the video, complete with text and music, to the kids. Or, you could do this for birthday parties, anniversaries, vacations, etc. It really could be quite fun! Even practice with these ideas before doing your book trailer to get the hang of it.

Have fun!