Ghost Trailers - Telling Ghost Stories with Visual Art
Jamieson Villeneuve
December 02, 2007
I have always been a very visual person.
Before I even considered myself a writer, I drew. Not many people know that my art came before my words, but it's the truth. I was constantly sketching away and usually had a sketchbook and a couple of pencils with me at all times.
I knew I wasn't very good, that it was all mainly for my enjoyment. What I loved most about drawing was the anticipation, the discovery. I knew before I put my pencil to the paper and started drawing that each page would have its own voice, that I would release something in my drawing.
I knew that when I drew, I was giving life to ideas and setting them free.
It didn't matter that they were my own sketches and others probably wouldn't see them. I had given life to something I had seen inside me. I had given a face to an idea, an inspiration, a spark.
When my young adult fantasy novel The Ghost Mirror was published by E Treasures Publishing, I was beyond ecstatic. I still am. It's as if I am existing in a dream where I can hold my story, my words, in my hands. It's a very humbling experience.
So is the act of letting others know about your work. Of course I wanted all and sundry to know about The Ghost Mirror. My first paperback novel after so many years of hard work. Didn't everyone know about it? Hadn't everyone heard of it?
Turns out, they hadn't.
I quickly realized that I would have to promote the stuffing out of The Ghost Mirror. I wanted everyone to know about my novel and tried to think of different ways to spread the word about my words.
I set up a web site, a blog, joined Amazon Connect. That helped, but there was something missing. I went on a virtual book tour, did interviews and online chats. It was hard work but, again, there was something missing.
Then, about a month after publication, it hit me: Why not promote my written art with visual art?
If you go on to YouTube and enter in Book Trailers, you will come up with over four thousand different Book Trailers for all kinds of different books. I really think that Book Trailers are a new and emerging art form. Big name authors have been doing Book Trailers and commercials for years; but only lately, in the land of the Internet, has a regular Joe or Jane author been able to create their own.
And so I contemplated the task ahead of me. I'm a visual person and I know there are a lot of others like me. How did I attract the people who loved visual media but may not read? How did I get them to watch a video for a book?
I started with images. I knew that I had to find pictures that would hook a viewer in, that would grab a hold of their attention and keep them looking for the duration of the Book Trailer. I like to think that The Ghost Mirror is a very mesmerizing novel. I wanted the Book Trailer to be the same. There are so many free stock photography sites out there that finding the pictures was easy. Finding the music was way more difficult.
Just like pictures have to grab your eyes, music should grab your ears. With a Book Trailer, you don't just have words and pictures to deal with; music is an integral part of your Book Trailer. There are great sites where you can find royalty free music. That's not the problem. The problem is finding the right music to convey the mood you want.
As I was making my first Book Trailer for The Ghost Mirror, I realized that I was sketching again. I was painting. Except instead of painting with words, I was painting with pictures. I was trying to tell the same story in a very short amount of time; you don't want your Book Trailer to go over two and a half minutes.
In the end, I realized that Book Trailers are essentially puzzles. You have to make sure you have all the pieces: pictures, music, and text. Then you have to find out how they fit together.
This is the real fun of Book Trailers; giving your book life through images, through music, until you can watch your very own Book Trailer.
Just like the story you wrote, your Book Trailer will start as an idea, a small seed. All you have to do is water that seed and let it grow.
The rest will take care of itself.
More info about The Ghost Mirror can be found at www.jamiesonwolf.com or www.theghostmirror.blogspot.com
It is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974053775
Before I even considered myself a writer, I drew. Not many people know that my art came before my words, but it's the truth. I was constantly sketching away and usually had a sketchbook and a couple of pencils with me at all times.
I knew I wasn't very good, that it was all mainly for my enjoyment. What I loved most about drawing was the anticipation, the discovery. I knew before I put my pencil to the paper and started drawing that each page would have its own voice, that I would release something in my drawing.
I knew that when I drew, I was giving life to ideas and setting them free.
It didn't matter that they were my own sketches and others probably wouldn't see them. I had given life to something I had seen inside me. I had given a face to an idea, an inspiration, a spark.
When my young adult fantasy novel The Ghost Mirror was published by E Treasures Publishing, I was beyond ecstatic. I still am. It's as if I am existing in a dream where I can hold my story, my words, in my hands. It's a very humbling experience.
So is the act of letting others know about your work. Of course I wanted all and sundry to know about The Ghost Mirror. My first paperback novel after so many years of hard work. Didn't everyone know about it? Hadn't everyone heard of it?
Turns out, they hadn't.
I quickly realized that I would have to promote the stuffing out of The Ghost Mirror. I wanted everyone to know about my novel and tried to think of different ways to spread the word about my words.
I set up a web site, a blog, joined Amazon Connect. That helped, but there was something missing. I went on a virtual book tour, did interviews and online chats. It was hard work but, again, there was something missing.
Then, about a month after publication, it hit me: Why not promote my written art with visual art?
If you go on to YouTube and enter in Book Trailers, you will come up with over four thousand different Book Trailers for all kinds of different books. I really think that Book Trailers are a new and emerging art form. Big name authors have been doing Book Trailers and commercials for years; but only lately, in the land of the Internet, has a regular Joe or Jane author been able to create their own.
And so I contemplated the task ahead of me. I'm a visual person and I know there are a lot of others like me. How did I attract the people who loved visual media but may not read? How did I get them to watch a video for a book?
I started with images. I knew that I had to find pictures that would hook a viewer in, that would grab a hold of their attention and keep them looking for the duration of the Book Trailer. I like to think that The Ghost Mirror is a very mesmerizing novel. I wanted the Book Trailer to be the same. There are so many free stock photography sites out there that finding the pictures was easy. Finding the music was way more difficult.
Just like pictures have to grab your eyes, music should grab your ears. With a Book Trailer, you don't just have words and pictures to deal with; music is an integral part of your Book Trailer. There are great sites where you can find royalty free music. That's not the problem. The problem is finding the right music to convey the mood you want.
As I was making my first Book Trailer for The Ghost Mirror, I realized that I was sketching again. I was painting. Except instead of painting with words, I was painting with pictures. I was trying to tell the same story in a very short amount of time; you don't want your Book Trailer to go over two and a half minutes.
In the end, I realized that Book Trailers are essentially puzzles. You have to make sure you have all the pieces: pictures, music, and text. Then you have to find out how they fit together.
This is the real fun of Book Trailers; giving your book life through images, through music, until you can watch your very own Book Trailer.
Just like the story you wrote, your Book Trailer will start as an idea, a small seed. All you have to do is water that seed and let it grow.
The rest will take care of itself.
More info about The Ghost Mirror can be found at www.jamiesonwolf.com or www.theghostmirror.blogspot.com
It is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974053775
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