Secret Vegas Lives

Making The Video

A number of people have asked how I made the video book trailer for Secret Vegas Lives. I used Microsoft Movie Maker, started a New Project, and imported pictures that I bought from royalty-free sites. I found music sites that offer royalty-free and no-cost downloads. It took me eight hours to make this trailer.

The most important suggestion I can offer is to begin learning your movie maker software before you have your book cover image. There are so many great features, and fun tricks that you can learn, it will make your video more interesting if you have a solid knowledge of all your options.

I used vacation photos and sounds of the ocean, and put together a video using as many options as possible, just to get comfortable with the software.

It’s also important to coordinate your pictures with your music. Changes in tempo and modulation are great places to put new scenes.

When you’re finished, watch the video from the beginning a number of times. My first try, I somehow had the music and pictures off by just a few seconds, but people could tell it was skewed.

Post the video to YouTube, to your website and social networking sites, and to your buy page on your publisher’s website. There are a number of sites that hold monthly video contests. Enter one per month to get your video and your name out there.

Good luck!

Pictures I used in my video book trailer: