A PLACE TO SHARE AND/OR PROMOTE BOOKS - SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE
Make your own book promo videos FOR FREE
The explosion of short video previews to sell books is reaching the point where more have them than don't, it seems.
Many who have them don't quite seem to know what to do with them.
And some complain that they're one more expense.
There are pros and cons to this marketing tool, which I expect some here will have views on.
But primarily, I want to pimp my recently published manual, "How To Make Video Book Trailers Yourself For FREE With No Special Skills Or A-List Actors Attached". (I'm working on the title)
But it says it all. There really isn't much need to spend $300 on a video, especially since so many pro videos you see are essentially animated up from two basic still pictures, or even the cover alone.
You can do that yourself, using free programs that require no special education to learn. My manual is a pdf file that is mailed to you, so it's right there on your desktop when you work on a vid. It covers everything: pictures, assembly programs, soundtrack creation, and using the video to promote. In has MASSIVE collections of links to support, free downloadable resources such as programs and pictures and sound effects, and even video examples of some of techniques involved.
Like this one, for instance:
Those "clips" were all created from single pictures like book covers (except the wolf/girl fade) in minutes, using a free program...including the music!
Primarily dealing with programs for Windows, it also supports Mac and Linus programs, and many of the free download programs run on any platform. Registered users of XP or VISTA have access to a free program that enables creating videos of this kind from no more than a few pictures literally within an hour or so.
Also, the collection of resource links, which apply to any operating system, are worth the cost of the manual... a low, low SIX BUCKS U.S.!
This manual is only available through Adoro Works. If you ask for it in a store, they'll think you're crazy. Like the entire line adoro is initiating, this is a task-oriented guide aimed at writers and small publishers.
Check it out (by which I mean, of course, buy several copies) at ADORO WORKS.COM
Become the Spielberg of bookdom on a shoestring!
Many who have them don't quite seem to know what to do with them.
And some complain that they're one more expense.
There are pros and cons to this marketing tool, which I expect some here will have views on.
But primarily, I want to pimp my recently published manual, "How To Make Video Book Trailers Yourself For FREE With No Special Skills Or A-List Actors Attached". (I'm working on the title)
But it says it all. There really isn't much need to spend $300 on a video, especially since so many pro videos you see are essentially animated up from two basic still pictures, or even the cover alone.
You can do that yourself, using free programs that require no special education to learn. My manual is a pdf file that is mailed to you, so it's right there on your desktop when you work on a vid. It covers everything: pictures, assembly programs, soundtrack creation, and using the video to promote. In has MASSIVE collections of links to support, free downloadable resources such as programs and pictures and sound effects, and even video examples of some of techniques involved.
Like this one, for instance:
Those "clips" were all created from single pictures like book covers (except the wolf/girl fade) in minutes, using a free program...including the music!
Primarily dealing with programs for Windows, it also supports Mac and Linus programs, and many of the free download programs run on any platform. Registered users of XP or VISTA have access to a free program that enables creating videos of this kind from no more than a few pictures literally within an hour or so.
Also, the collection of resource links, which apply to any operating system, are worth the cost of the manual... a low, low SIX BUCKS U.S.!
This manual is only available through Adoro Works. If you ask for it in a store, they'll think you're crazy. Like the entire line adoro is initiating, this is a task-oriented guide aimed at writers and small publishers.
Check it out (by which I mean, of course, buy several copies) at ADORO WORKS.COM
Become the Spielberg of bookdom on a shoestring!
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MORGAN'S OWN BLOGSPOT
Slides, Anyone?
I added a few slides of my books to my blogspot. I'm not sure yet if they should stay on or not.Do you have more trouble loading my blogspot with the slides up? Do you like them or are they too distracting?
A Christmas Tree Already
On the way home from work yesterday, I passed a house that already had a lighted and decorated Christmas tree up and showing by the window.Is it not too soon for that? In my mind, the day after Thanksgiving is when the Christmas Season starts. That's when it's fair game to put up a tree and decorations and start shopping. The way things are going this year, I'll be lucky if I get organized enough to decorate a few days before Christmas.
With our dog, Rascal, who lives up to her name, we'll probably go with a fiber optic small tree on top of an end table. One of these days I may pull put the larger tree from the box in the basement and set it up, but not until our doggy is a little more sedate. I don't feel like chasing her to get ornaments out of her mouth. I will be putting up knick knacks, lights inside and decorations on the walls, so it will still look Christmasy. No lights outside because for some reason we have no outlets outside.
While we're on the subject of Christmas trees and such, be sure to add holidays in your books. You can mention decorations and lights or Easter eggs and baskets, or even mattress sales in your descriptions to ground the reader as to the season.
Now, back to that tree I saw. What about you? When do you decorate for Christmas? What do you put up?
Winners and Losers at the CMAs and Life
I love country music and almost every country performer. While watching the CMAs, I enjoyed seeing the winners accept their awards. On the other hand, it was hard for me to see the losers do their best to appear gracious and for the most part succeeding.For every winner, there's a loser. In life and in books, it's the same way. How people react to their good and bad fortune shows what their characters are made of. You don't have to tell a reader who the good guy or bad guy is. Let their actions speak for themselves. The readers are smart enough to figure it out.
PS Can't finish this blog without saying - You Rock, Taylor Swift! You are one smart, talented teenager! Congrats on all your awards, especially, Entertainer of the Year!!!
CMA Awards Tonight and Twitter
One of my favorite shows is on tonight - the CMA Awards. If you're a country music fan, you're probably like me and will be glued to the TV 8pm EST, or in my case 7pm, in the flatlands of Illinois.Almost all my favorite performers will be there, except I hear that Rascal Flatts can't make it.
I'll be on Twitter during the show also. That's part of the fun of it - discussing and dissecting outfits, performers, songs and even commercials, kind of like I'm at a giant party with people who all go for the same thing and want to share.
What about you? What kind of music do you like? Do you tweet during a favorite show or event?
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Rascal is sleeping right now. When she gets up, you'll know about it.
When RASCAL wakes up, you'll hear from her and/or her Mom - that would be me, Morgan Mandel.
Latest Activity
I had a successful book signing at the Waldenbooks in Cumberland MD, which the manager described as “a little off the beaten path.” She gambled and ordered a big stack of The Troubleshooter in hard cover, and they all sold.
Also, my guest shot on...
This morning, I received a copy of Tilly's Tale, that I'd ordered as soon as the book became available in the UK. I always like to test out the delivery service when I have a new book released.
Well, I have to say the quality of book simply amazed...
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