Book Trailers
by Charlotte Pierce, Pierce Press
Whilst building up his base on the new social media platform Bluesky, UK-based videographer Nick Hill saw our posts about the book project for Ukrainian author & soldier Oleg Veretskiy.com by the collaborative production team of member Pierce Press. He began to engage with us as we pushed through the final stages of the complicated translation and editing journey.
Before we knew it, Nick had volunteered to produce a book trailer, which proved critical for attendance at our Feb. 24, 2025 book launch and continues to anchor our marketing efforts. Since the net proceeds from this first book in Oleg’s trilogy are dedicated to the author’s fund for children and animals in the war-devastated areas of Ukraine, Nick’s donation was especially appreciated.
Self-producing a book trailer for a fantasy fiction novel involves several key steps to capture the genre’s magic and epic scope. Begin by crafting a compelling script, ideally less than 2 minutes. Next, storyboard your scenes, pairing each piece of text with evocative imagery, focusing on visuals that hint at your storyline, without revealing too much. You can record your own or source high-quality, royalty-free stock footage or images that align with your book’s aesthetic.
Nick used a professional editing software, but there are free options, like DaVinci Resolve, FlexClip, or Animaker that let you combine visuals with dynamic text overlays. Choose fonts and transitions that complement the fantasy tone. Music is important. We had a donation by a composer friend of the author, but you can find royalty-free epic or orchestral music to build atmosphere and suspense.
Finally, add a clear call to action at the end, guiding viewers to where they can purchase your book, and export your trailer in various formats for optimal sharing across YouTube, social media, and your author website – hosting on YouTube can save bandwidth on your website.
Or, you can hire Nick! Take a look at his work and contact him via NoMagnolia.tv.