How to Easily Create A Book Trailer Using a 7-Step Script Formula and iMovie

I recently learned that book trailers are a thing. Who knew? In this article below, I share the 7-step formula (and design programs) that I used to craft my book trailer for my upcoming memoir, Little Voices. I hope it helps take the guess work out of creating your own trailer! (3 MIN READ.)

Also, check out my book trailer at the bottom of this article....

I’m a huge fan of movie trailers. My ADD brain loves them. I mean, what’s not to love, really? They’re quick, to-the-point, and share just enough to make you want to spend $20 at the movies.

Bravo to whomever came up with the fairly-new-to-the-market book trailer. I had no idea there was such a thing until after I inked a traditional book deal.

If you’re like most authors (me, included), we’re not shelling out thousands of dollars for a publicist or creative marketing agency. We’re doing most of the marketing and PR outreach ourselves. Starting six months prior to the scheduled book launch.

Before I crafted my trailer, I watched hundreds of book trailers to get a feel for length and content. Most have a running time of 30 seconds to one minute and 30 seconds. Next, I researched the formula.

Based on what I saw online, the formula goes like this:

1. Pose a “what if” question. A central question that your book helps answer. Mine is “What if there really is life after death?”
2. Include details regarding the question you just asked that you know make your book stand out in your genre. For example, I let everyone know that I wasn’t looking for the answer to the question—that it simply found me when I turned 36-years-old.
3. From (glowing description) (author name), comes… This is the section where you share your credentials/success. “Bestselling author,” etc.
4. Book title
5. Your elevator pitch for your book. The answer to “what’s this book about?” Keep it to a sentence or two.
6. Endorsements and testimonials
7. Call to Action: Where readers can pre-order or buy your book.
   
   

Once I completed my script, I turned to iMovie to create the trailer. It’s not a difficult program to learn, thank goodness. For music, I searched online for something instrumental that supported my script. When it came time to add my voice to my trailer, I used Garage Band and a microphone that connects to my laptop via USB. That was key to getting the clear sound I wanted; however, you can also record a voice memo on your phone and drag that file into iMovie. Similarly, Garage Band recordings can also be imported into iMovie, too. 

So, there you have it. It was relatively painless once I got into the process. Learning the programs is the easy part (there are tons of tutorials out on YouTube). Crafting a script that moved the trailer along at a good pace for 1 minute and 30 seconds was the hard part.

I hope this article helps you become the next Scorsese of book trailers. If you do take my advice, I’d love to see your finished product. Reach out and let me know where to find it!