When I was 1st published, like all bright-eyed, bushy-tailed with dreams of raking in Stephen King sized royalty checks I wanted an epic book trailer the likes of which are created by Circle of Seven Productions. And then quite suddenly I was slapped in the face by reality of how much a custom trailer cost. A top of the line custom book trailer with all the bells and whistles was way out of my budget. After shopping around for more 'affordable options' I was starting to think that having a book trailer was going to be completely out of the question...period, because at the time, no one was offering anything less than a grand for the creation of a cookie cutter fill in the blanks book trailer that you really didn't have much control over. But by then I had become so obsessed about having a book trailer that I got this wild hair that somehow I could just do it myself. And this is how I ended up with 3 book trailers for the same book....
Oh my gosh, this trailer like all the ones following was made using Windows Movie Maker. This was was incredibly challenging for me to make, I'm not kidding when I tell you that I stayed up for days trying to get it just right. I became so frustrated at not being able to get it 'just right' that I burst into tears. It took me months and more drafts that I'd care to count to produce this small 2 minute trailer. I can see all of my mistakes but I am super proud because it turned out pretty descent.
The Darkness: Book trailer 1
By the time I got finally got my trailer finished reviews for the ARCs (advanced review copies) started rolling in. There's no way to explain how excited I was that my very 1st book was recv'ing so much positive feedback, I was totally giddy. Inspired by the reviews and needing more practice I decided to create another video. This one was a bit easier but because I was still learning my way around Windows Movie Maker it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
The Darkness, Book Trailer 2
The 'official' book trailer is just both the videos combined. The Official Promotional Video for Crystal Connor's The Darkness
By the time my 2nd book was launched I pretty much had the hang of making a book trailer. The transitions for this one are much smoother, its not so wordy and its much shorter than the three previous ones for The Darkness
The Official Book Trailer for Artificial LightThe 3rd trailer created was for And They All Lived Happily Ever After! And once again I ended up with more than just one. I didn't used any words at all for this trailer I kinda wanted to create a general feeling of the entirety instead of trying to explain each story separately.
And They All Lived Happily Ever After!
The backstory behind the 2nd trailer for the anthology...
I was contacted blogger posing as a book reviewer contacted me and requested a review copy of The Darkness. I happily sent her one. It turned out she was ‘reviewer’ for a religious blog and she posted pix of my book burning in her fireplace and she urged her followers to do the same thing. I was devastated. Not only by seeing my book being burned but also by the vile comments and personal attacks that was being posted by the legion of her followers. Of course any time a group protests something with such vigor it generates interest, and in my case, sales, new fans, and support but it was really hard for me to deal with because it seemed everyone was talking about it. I have an amazing editor and because of that Artificial Light is even stronger that the 1st book and some are saying that my anthology is my best book so far.
The images my very 1st book ripped to shreds and burning have never really left me, and since then I have been ‘looking over my shoulder’ if you will waiting to see what these guys will do next. And then in a moment of inspiration I thought I would turn the tables and use the experience to my benefit.
Allow me to present to you how the “church” has responded to …And They All Lived Happily Ever After!
Because I really liked the way the trailer for the anthology turned out, I decided to create another trailer without any written commentary. Another reason I knew this would work is because for those who had read the 1st two books already knew who all the players were and had general ideas and exceptions of what might be coming next. This only took three days to create =D
Official Trailer for In The Valley of Shadows
I am super comfortable making my own trailers, their good looking trailers, especially when you take in to consideration they were made with very basic software and on a shoestring budget. Last year I found a site that offers very affordable and sometimes free clips and loops. I was totally stoked and wanted to try my hand at working with motion graphics. I spent a few weeks just browsing before I found some free graphics. This is the very 1st video trailer I created with moving elements, again it was challenging for me because it was my 1st time and I don't usually make a trailer unless I have a book coming out. The timing is off and because I shrunk the clips instead of cutting off the parts I didn't need, the images seem jerky but even still with all things considering its still a good looking trailer & I'm super happy with the way this turned out.
The Spectrum Trilogy: Two Clans at War
I worked with author Lori Titus to co-write two stand alone books. The End is Now and The Guardians of Man.This was such an ambitious project that I wanted an over the top book trailer. Oh man. Because this trailer was for a new twin release, like the trailer for The Darkness, its both long and wordy with the added challenge of motion graphics this insomnia-inducing-tantrum-causing-bang-my-head-against-the-desk-and-weep trailer took two months and four try's but I wanted to get it right because I had been thinking about for months before I even opened up my Widows Movie Maker. but all the tears were totally worth it and you'll see why!
In The Foothills of Mt. Empyreal
But then a set back. When I like something I don't need to upgrade it every other week. I had been using the same Windows Movie Maker since 2010 but windows forced an update and I found myself with unfamiliar software. I had been meaning to create something more like an author's promo video like a video presentations of all of my work as a whole. Again it took me a long time to make this video and to tell you the truth clearly its not my best work.
Crystal Connor: A Trusted Name in Terror
While taking on line tutorials I found out about another free software program called VSDC Free Video Editor. For me anyway the learning curve is pretty steep and I'm only familiar with the basics but it has a lot of features that WMM doesn't have and when used together you can put together what looks like a big budget promo vid I totally upped the ante for myself! This trailer has all the bells & whistles that I hoped for five years ago. It took three drafts and two weeks but it was time while spent! Do book trailers help you sell more books? I'm not sure but there cool to have and I like them and the icing on this cake is that I created all of my trailers on my own!
Behold...
From the Mind of Master Imaginationist Crystal Connor ~"A Trusted Name in Terror."
The Fan Videos
One of the coolest things about writing is when you get letters and emails from fans. Sometimes I get fan mail when they're mad at me about something that happened in a book or to their favorite character, when they're really mad that part sucks but sometimes the things they say are so insanely awesome that I wish that they had said that in public. I had mentioned that a while back on my fan page and typed out loud how awesome it would be if my fans made video's that I could share with everyone else...and Dudes! I started getting fan mail. I don't have that many videos but the ones I do have are down right awesome and here they are all in one place!
Fan of The Darkness
Fans of And They All Lived Happily Ever After!
Fan of Artificial Light
Spectrum Trilogy Fan!
Fan of The End is Now
The Interviews
The stuff in this section is really old. When I had just one book keeping up this every single article, review and interview was a handful but manageable. Now that I have 6 its impossible I have a tough time keeping up with my social media updates as it is. There's some really cool stuff in this section so if you have a spare moment please feel free to explore!
In 2011
January 22nd
The 2hr Launch Party for The Darkness!!
January 27th
Darkness Reviewed by Book Mark Your Thoughts!
January 31th
Featured Guest Books and Things =D
Feburary 1st
Release of Strange Tales of Horror by NorGus Press
Feburary 15th
Promotional trailer for my short story “The Monster” posted on Youtube!Youtube
March 2nd
Feat. Guest Blogger on Honeyed Knot blog!
March 6th
The Darkness reviewed by Honeyed Knot.
April 9th
My short story, The Monster, review by author Eric Dimbleby
May 6th
The Darkness, Crystal’s first full length novel, is a two time Award Winning Finalist in the International Book Awards 2011 fiction categories of Cross Genre Fiction and Multicultural Fiction.
Interviewed by Flashes in the Dark!
Flashes In The Dark
Aug 7th
Interviewed by Tabby's Corner
Author Spotlight
In 2010
Sept 28th
Interviewed by author and editor Matt Nord of My Undead Brain
My Undead Brain
Oct 18th
The Darkness reviewed by Author Exposure
Author Exposure
Oct 24th
PR firm BooksAnd ... confirms pre-release tour dates for Crystal Connor
BooksAnd...
Oct 25th
Interviewed by Notorious Spinks!
Notorious Spinks Talks
Featured on Dren's B-spot
Drensb-spot
Oct 26th
Interviewed on Sol Searching Radio
Sol Searching Radio
Featured on Loves to Read for Fun
Loves to Read for Fun
Oct 27th
Interviewed and reviewed by Amanda Leigh of Not Really Southern Vamp Chick
Not-Really-Southern-Vamp-Chick
Interviewed and reviewed by Steph of Paper Cut Reviews
Paper Cut Reviews
Oct 28th
Interviews scheduled with Character Corner Radio and Love Magazine Radio stations canxled due to bad weather.
Oct 29th
Interviewed and reviewed by Jacqui of Ins and Outs
Ins and Outs
Oct 29th, 30th and 31st
Seattle's 2010 ZomBcon Convention
Notes from the Author's facebook photo album
Oct 29th
NorGus Press releases the table of contents for their anthology "Strange Tales of Horror"
Table of contents for "Strange Tales of Horror."
