HOW I MADE MY NEW BOOK TRAILER FOR DREAMING DANGEROUSLY

Because the book trailer was outdated, I decided to redo my book trailer for DREAMING DANGEROUSLY. I used my MacBook, so I could use iMovie. I've found the program to be much easier to use than Windows Movie Maker. If you are interested in the book, just click on the book title link above.

1) I made all of my pics 1024x768 using pixlr editor, a free site for creating images. Most of my pics were from either those I bought from Shutterstock.com or free images from other parts of the internet.

2) I uploaded all of those pics into iPhoto.

3) Next, I put all of the iPhoto pics in iMovie. I arranged those like a story board. 

4) I wrote a script in Word because I knew I wanted to narrate instead of using text only.

5) On Garage Band, I recorded my voice using an echo effect, so it sounds like the voiceover is coming from Cassie's mind. I saved the file, and it appeared in iTunes.

6) Then, I imported my voiceover from iTunes into iMovie. Next, I made all of my clips the correct length for the narration. This took a lot of time because you have to do each one individually.

7) Next I looked for royalty free music, and found it at incompetech.com. The cool thing about getting music here is that you can search by type of music as well as by emotional impact. I chose "The Complex" by Kevin MacLeod in the Soundtrack genre.

8) I just adjusted the ducking so that the music didn't drown out my voiceover, and then I saved and uploaded to iTunes at Dreaming Dangerously book trailer 1080p

9) I also uploaded it to my Amazon Author's Page for DREAMING DANGEROUSLY.

 I love how it turned out. It's amazing how much I've learned about video making since the last time I made a book trailer. It took me a total of 8 hours, at the most. 

I taught myself how to use pixlr editor from watching Youtube videos a few months ago. That's how I was able to redo my book covers. I just didn't like the thought of having to pay someone $300 for a pre-made book cover. I didn't like any of the covers I saw, so I started playing around with making my own. I became proficient at iMovie when I helped my daughter with her History Alive project last year about how the Beatles impacted American history.

If this post was helpful, please leave a comment. If you are interested in knowing when my next book will be out, subscribe on the right side of my blog. I only send out newsletters when I have something to release, so I won't spam your email every day, I promise.

Also, I have a Facebook page called Dreaming Dangerously: Children of the Psi Series, go there and show your love by liking the page!

Look at the Difference 3 Years Makes!

Just received the proof for my 3rd edition of DREAMING DANGEROUSLY.  I won't be updating the paper back book anymore,  but as I publish new books, I will link them in my eBook version. I wanted to recreate the cover because the book just wasn't selling well, even though it had wonderful reviews. I think the new cover captures the theme and genre of the book so much better.

NEW COVER FOR DARKNESS DESCENDS

I spent most of today redesigning and uploading Darkness Descends on Create Space for Amazon paperback and in eBook on Kindle Direct. 

I forgot that it takes about a week for the updated book to show up on the Amazon website. Even the eBook is not the updated one yet.  WHOOPS! Well, I guess I'll do another update about that. 

 Anyway, still proud of how the print cover turned out.

NEW BOOK COVER for DREAMING DANGEROUSLY!

I just spent this evening redesigning my book cover for Create Space, so that my eBooks and my paperback books have the same "look." It's so much easier to design an eBook cover because all you have to worry about is the front cover, and you don't have to worry about edges nearly as much. I had to rearrange my name, move over my title, etc. I also came up with a more succinct back cover blurb. 

Whoops, I just remembered that my inner book pictures will have to be changed to reflect the new covers! AAAGH! That will be my next project!

Children of the Psi, Book 3 Cover Reveal

New Cover Reveal Friday

I am so excited to be revealing the new covers for the Children of the Psi series! 

In order to have covers that reflect more of the theme and genre of the books, I decided to redesign them. I bought images from Shutterstock.com. It took me hours to search for just the right images for Cassie and Will. Then, I learned how to use Pixlr Editor, which is a free program you can use on-line to edit images. I've learned how to layer images, add text, etc. 

Youtube has been my source for learning how to use Pixlr Editor. If you have some graphic art ability and cannot spend money on professional covers, this program is a wonderful resource. I can even control the number of pixels, which I couldn't do on Microsoft Publisher. I did finally end up using Microsoft Publisher for all the text because I know the program better. Then, to add any additional effects, I used Pixlr Express. Because I have many more books I want to upload this year, I wanted to keep my costs low, and the images are really not that expensive. 

By the way, I have to give props to Susan Kaye Quinn, whose book the Indie Author Survival Guide, has been an incredible resource. 

Thanks, Susan! 


 Here's a link to her book on Amazon.com: