Official Blog for Author/Screenwriter Kim Iverson Headlee: info about her published novels, works in progress such as The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, and other output of the maze of twisty passages (all different) otherwise known as her brain.
Statue of Liberty silhouette and fireworks c2016 by razihusin.
Licensed via Depositphotos, ID 3703282.
First order of business: Congratulations to the baseball team of my daughter's college, Coastal Carolina University, for winning the College World Series 6/30/2016 in a fantastic game! <3
Second order of business: Heartfelt thanks to all my fans, new and old, who helped make Chautauqua Festival 2016 of Wytheville, Virginia my best sales event ever! I love you guys!!
Fourth:The Challenge graphic novel episode 1 is on sale via paperback as well as Kindle. And I'm expanding digital distribution of the novella itself; it's now available for preorder via iTunes, Kobo, and Smashwords. On or about July 7th, it will be on sale for Nook too.
Upcoming Appearance: 2016 Patchwork Quilters Jamboree, Friday July 22 and Saturday July 23, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Graham Middle School, Bluefield, VA.
Final order of business: MailChimp subscribers to my newsletter The Dawnflier get first crack at my monthly Amazon giveaway. Don't miss out; subscribe now!
***
All this month, you are invited to…
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow<
… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. :D
See for yourself:
***
All this month, you are invited to…
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow<
… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!
View my award-winning science fiction/fantasy time travel sequel to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court in Orlando, FL June 23-28!
Can't make it to the American Library Association's annual conference this year?
I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of The Challenge!
To enter, click HERE.
MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities. Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow<
… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!
Last week on The Maze I reblogged (with permission) the first half of author Nancy J. Cohen's wonderful resource for DIY book trailer developers, which I titled "Do Your Homework". Once you've done your homework to write your script and select—and pay for—the desired images, music, and videos... Now What?
Open a New Project in Windows Live Movie Maker (File; New Project) and click Add Videos and Photos. Add one photo at a time, and the program will produce slides. If you want a blank slide to add text only, click the Credits button.
Once you have your pictures added, go back to the beginning. Click on Add Caption for each slide and add your text in the text box. You can drag this box to wherever you want it placed. You can also change the color of the text. If it’s a light background, choose a dark text. If you have a black or dark background, make the text white. Alter the font as needed.
You’ll now see Video Tools and Text Tools. These have little boxes where you can see the Duration. I try to have the duration of my text shorter than or equal to the video. So a video slide might run for 5 seconds, and the text for 4.50. Some slides you’ll want longer, if you have more text or if you have an image like the book cover that you want to linger on screen. Under Text Tools, choose Effects. This gives you options for how you want your text to scroll or appear on the slide. Click on Edit if you want to make changes.
Under Video Tools, click on Animations. Here you can add Transitions between slides. Position your cursor in front of each slide. Then hover your mouse over each transition effect to see what it does. Click to select. Keep in mind that the transitions cut some of the time out of the slide before and after. Each time you want to view the effect, put the cursor in front of a slide and click the Play button. Next do the same for Pan and Zoom. Make choices there so your pictures aren’t static.
When you have arranged your pictures and text to your satisfaction, click on Home and Add Music. Browse for your music file and click Open. The program adds it to your slide show. You can adjust the track as needed, like timing it to start further in by changing the Start Point. Also, hit Fade In at the beginning or Fade Out at the end if desired.
Add credits at the end by clicking Credits. This will be a text only slide. Here’s where you put the sites where you found your images and music. You’ll also want a slide to show your book cover. Either add text there or on a separate slide with your book info: Title, author, publisher, etc. The same Text Tools apply to these slides as for the others.
Remember to save your project often. Hit File and then Save Project.
When you are totally done, click File, then Save Movie and choose the Widescreen/HD version to Save to Your Computer. Your trailer is ready to upload to YouTube and elsewhere. Don’t hit the YouTube button on Live Movie Maker, or it may upload a smaller version. Then go to YouTube and upload the HD file to your account.
A book video is another tool in your promotional arsenal, but it’s not worth breaking the bank over. Doing it yourself or hiring a low-cost company is the ideal way to go. It’s another way to excite viewers about your upcoming release.
If the advice in these tutorials seems a bit beyond your technical expertise or patience, you can pay someone else to do it for you, and Google is bursting at the seams with companies who advertise this type of service, especially for videos that exist at the slide-show-set-to-music end of the quality spectrum.
If you're drooling over the movielike trailers you see here and elsewhere in the course of doing your homework, be prepared to fork over several hundred dollars, and in some cases $1,000 or more. And be prepared to ask yourself the tough question of whether such an investment will be worth it to you in the long run. I was very fortunate to have commissioned someone who charged me less than $300 per trailer, and normally I would be delighted to mention her business here on The Maze, but she is no longer producing them, alas. She created the Snow in July trailer at the top of the page, and it encouraged more than 30 customers to purchase the novel the day the trailer went live. May your book trailers yield many such successes for you, whoever creates them!
*** Enter this great giveaway for an autographed print copy of Dawnflight!
All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow ...and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. Please enter often, and good luck!
So you're a brand-new author with a brand-new book that just begs to have a brand-new trailer shouting its brand-new virtues... but your budget for such promotional items is best described as "shoestring"—of the baby booties rather than combat boots variety? No problem; you can create your own! Rather than reinventing the wheel, I have received permission from author Nancy J. Cohen to re-blog her wonderful article that was first published 8/10/2015. In fact it contains such a tremendous wealth of information that I'm going to break it up over two weeks, with next week's installment covering the actual how-to aspect.
Nancy writes:
Would you like to create your own book trailer in Windows Live Movie Maker? If so, be prepared to spend time on a learning curve. The first effort is the hardest, but then you’ll know what to do for subsequent titles. Just follow these steps that apply to Windows 7, and you’re on your way. Go Here to download Windows Essentials 2012 for free. It works with Windows 7 or Windows 8. Or check your list of Programs to see if it’s already installed on your computer.
Various companies will do trailers for you on the cheap, but their work is similar to what you can do with a slide show. I’d rather pick out the photos and music that best suits my story. If you’re a big moneymaker, a bestselling author, or perhaps a thriller writer whose work demands a broader canvas, then you can go for moving videos, productions using real actors, or voiceovers. [Note: the above embedded trailer for Liberty by Kim Iverson Headlee is a professionally produced trailer that sets a very high bar for DIY-ers. :) ~kih] But if you’re an average writer who wants to give your readers a taste of the story without making a big splash, this will work for you.
Do Your Homework and Watch Book Videos
Go to author sites on YouTube and find trailers for books in the same genre as your work.
Write down the text on each slide and note the type of image accompanying it.
Listen to the music. How does it make you feel? Does it create a certain mood?
Does the story move quickly while giving you an idea of the plot and main characters?
How long is the trailer? Is it too long? Or too short?
What do the credits say at the end?
Write Your Text
Now write your own text in verses to fit on each slide. Remain brief, offering your story points in as few words as possible. The text should give the reader an idea of what your story is about, the tone of your work, and an introduction to your main characters. Ask your critique partners for input. You’ll need other critical eyes to help you hone down your plot to a few sentences with punch. It’s not an easy task.
Remember the adage: Short and Simple. Try to keep your video under 2 minutes.
At the end: Add your book cover and publishing info, where readers can buy your book, music and photo credits, and review quotes if desired.
[Note: The best promo materials have a way to capture sales, so add to your book's slide a QR code for your book (you know, that funny little square not-a-barcode thingy), perhaps directing customers to the Kindle edition if that is where you log most of your sales. QR code readers can capture the code straight off a computer screen. My favorite web site for generating free QR codes is QR Stuff. ~kih]
Search For Images
http://www.123rf.com One medium-sized image at 72 dpi for Web usage is approximately 824 x 581 px and costs 2 credits. You can buy 40 credits for $38. Music is available here too. Make sure you read the fine print on the licensing terms. If you want to use an image as a book cover, you may need an extended license. [Note: And "Editorial license" is only for web and newspaper use, never for book covers. It can be as much as a 4-figure (i.e, >$1,000) mistake to make. ~kih]
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/ Small-sized images are 900 x 743 px and are 1 credit each. You can buy 10 credits for $35 or 25 credits for $49.
If you see a photo you like, look at the description and put that same wording into the search box. Similar photos will pop up. Or go to the photo you like and click on the Related Images displayed. Figure out how many credits you’ll need per photo and what the packages cost. Also check the licensing terms to be sure they meet your needs.
Here are more photo sites. Some of them also have music available.
Whichever site you choose, register for an account so that you have a Lightbox, or a Likebox as it’s sometimes called.
[Note: If you find a site that has images that you like but you're not ready to pay, sign up for their customer email so you can get notices on special sales! In that way I was able to download 5 high-quality, standard-licensed images for a nickel via Dreamstime last year, and you can see them on the covers for The Color of Vengeance, The Challenge, and aforthcoming release titled Twins. :) ~kih]
In the site’s Search feature, put in keywords for the type of picture you want (i.e. romantic couple, beautiful redhead, businessman, airplane over island). Scroll down until a photo catches your fancy. Click to add it to your Lightbox (at 123rf, you click the little heart). You can search this way for Photos, Video Clips, and Music.
Match an image in your collection to each verse in your text. Then purchase enough credits to buy the ones you want. Click on the image and then on Download. Save it to your computer.
Whichever site you use, check the licensing requirements before you make your purchase. As mentioned above, some may require an extended license to use the image as a book cover, in a collection such as on a Pinterest board, on a coffee mug you offer for sale, and so on.
Search For Video (Optional)
Live action can add spice to a video but it also takes up time and increases the size of your file. Many of the sites listed above will have royalty-free video clips, but here are some more.
Searching for the right music can be a time-consuming task. Decide upon the tone of your video and put keywords into the search feature on these sites. Is your story dark and scary? Light and funny? Upbeat and bouncy? Intense and mysterious? The music is important because it elicits an emotional response in your viewers.
Check the length of the music clip against the length of your trailer, and make sure it’s long enough. You can repeat the music if necessary to extend its length on your video, but there might be a slight gap where the first one ends and the clip restarts.
[Note: The word "free" in most if not all of the above sites does not refer to $0 cost but "royalty-free"—as in, you pay one upfront licensing fee, which entitles you to forever usage of the image, music, or video clip. I do encourage you to read the fine print about licensing requirements so that you don't end up getting slapped with, oh, a $1,200.00 bill for improper use. That happened to a client of my book layout designer's, and the site in question was GettyImages. Proceed with care, and good luck! ~kih]
Next week on The Maze: You've done your homework, written your script, selected & paid for your music and images... now what??
***
All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. Please enter often, and good luck!
Today please join me in congratulating the winners (already notified) of my latest giveaway!
E-copies of Morning's Journey went to Nikki H., Crystal G., Ashley K., Yaritza S., and Brandi D.
These entrants each won a note card decorated with art from the interior of Morning's Journey: Shelley S., Sharon E., Amie S., Flutterfli, Debra G., Debbie J., Brenda T., Tamara M., Amy O., and LL.
And the grand-prize winner of an autographed print copy of Morning's Journey is Cyndi F.!
Thank you, everyone who entered and followed me on Twitter, Facebook, and so forth. Didn't win this time? No worries! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see my current giveaway, featuring e-books, note cards, and a print copy of Liberty.
Learn more about Morning's Journey in this fantastic book trailer,featuring the older cover by Jennifer Doneske and Joe Calkins:
For more chances to win, you are invited to... — Add Kim as a Favorite Author on Amazon.com — Follow Kim on Twitter
— Add Kim to Google+
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Amazon, Twitter, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Liberty. Please enter often, and good luck!
Passion never dies.
Lady Alyse Braedon frets over her renewed passion for Sir Geoffrey Longford, her first love. They have pledged their hearts to one another, despite the fact that both are recently widowed. Alyse worries that she has not properly mourned Thomas and cannot think herself as true wife to Geoffrey until she puts her feelings for her first husband to rest.
And then Thomas unaccountably appears in her bedroom. She is stunned and confused. When he begins to make love to her, however, she joyfully surrenders herself to his familiar caresses and expert ministrations…until Geoffrey arrives.
Faced with the dilemma of wanting two lovers, Alyse simply cannot choose–until Thomas suggests she doesn’t have to. Instead he and Geoffrey will share her. The scandalous proposition awakens new hungers within her. Can she allow herself to abandon all she’s been taught a proper woman should resist, and find pleasure with both her beloveds?
Excerpt:
“Alyse.”
The familiar voice tugged at the edges of wakefulness. Had Geoffrey returned so soon? The sound did not have his deep tone. Yet ’twas a voice she knew well, rich and sensual.
“Do not fret, sweet. ’Twill be all right.”
Alyse struggled to open her eyes, though the heavy lids fought against her.
The bed dipped as someone sat beside her. . Good. Thank the Lord. Geoffrey had returned. Although she would swear it had not been he who had spoken.
A soft hand cupped her face, and she pressed her cheek against it, luxuriating in its warmth. She smiled and her eyes fluttered open at last.
The man seated on the bed had shoulder-length honey-blond hair and warm, beguiling brown eyes. He also defied fashion and wore a thin mustache and beard. His eyes brightened when he noticed she was awake and his mouth turned up in the lazy smile she had come to know so very well.
“Thomas.” The name came out a croak. Holy Father, had she conjured him with her guilt and longing? She shrank back into the pillows.
His smile widened and he caressed her, running one long finger along her jaw. “Aye, sweet Alyse. ’Tis I. Do you feel better now, my love?”
“Better?” She must be dying to see such an apparition. Or mayhap she was already dead and in heaven.
“Aye. You do not shiver as you did a moment ago. I hoped that meant you felt warmer.” He picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles.
Warmth flowed through her, soothing her, making her body tingle with that single touch of his lips.
“Is it really you?” Strength welled within her and she struggled to sit up.
“As ever I was.” He smiled, his gaze sweeping down her body. His eyes darkened with the desire she remembered well.
“Oh, Thomas.” She threw her arms around him, sighing when they embraced the hard-muscled chest she had lain upon so often. “I thought you dead, my love. Did I but dream?”
“Shhh, my sweet. I am here now.” He stroked her head then pulled it back to peer into her face. “I will always be with you, love.” He sank his mouth onto hers, and she melted at the touch of his insistent lips.
Like coming home.
***
And check out this YouTube video highlighting all the participating authors' works!
Last week: The Gentle Knight by Ashley York Next week: Knight of Rapture by Ruth A. Casie
***
Enter this great giveaway for note cards, e-book copies, and an autographed print copy of Liberty!
For more chances to win, you are invited to... — Add Kim as a Favorite Author on Amazon.com — Follow Kim on Twitter
— Add Kim to Google+
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Amazon, Twitter, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Liberty. Please enter often, and good luck!
Today please join me in congratulating the winners (already notified) of my latest Dawnflight giveaway!
E-copies of Dawnflight went to Melissa H., Renee G., Alisha S., Angel H., and Mona C.
These entrants each won a note card decorated with art from the interior of Dawnflight: Deb P., Liz E., Brandi D., Flutterfli, Yaritza S., Cyndi F., Laura T., Sarah M., Shelley S., and Diane L.
And the grand-prize winner of an autographed print copy of Dawnflight is LL!
Thank you, everyone who entered and followed me on Twitter, Facebook, and so forth. Didn't win this time? No worries! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see my current giveaway, featuring e-books, note cards, and a print copy of Liberty.
Learn more about Dawnflight in this fantastic book trailer, narrated by Scottish-born Dorothy Dickson, the audiobook's narrator:
For more chances to win, you are invited to... — Follow Kim on Amazon.com — Follow Kim on Twitter
— Add Kim to Google+
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Amazon, Twitter, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Liberty. Please enter often, and good luck!
Autumn
in general and October in particular represent my favorite time of year: the
shorter days leading to longer nights before a cozy fire, the brisk breeze
heralding winter, harvesting the fruits of the summer’s labor in the garden and
orchard…canning all that bounty is another matter altogether, but it’s definitely
worthwhile come meal time.
The
fruit of a years-long season of labor is about to come to a head with the
imminent release of my sequel to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, which I have titled King Arthur’s Sister in Washington’s Court (KASIWC). The official launch of
the ebook edition, featuring several wonderful illustrations by Jennifer “The
Royal Portraitist” Doneske and Tom “The Creature King” Doneske, is 11/01/2014, but copies may be pre-ordered via Amazon.com
and its affiliates worldwide, and it’s also available for the Nook,
iPad/iPhone, Koboreader, and other platforms for only 99 cents a download, a fabulous deal
for such a groundbreaking work.
Bloggers
and reviewers, there is still time to get in on the King Arthur’s Sister in Washington’s Court Blog Tour,
November 1-30, 2014. The preceding link takes you to the tour signup form on
Google Docs, which gives the full details of the tour, including the types of
guest posts I will contribute, and so forth. If you have already
signed up—and I know some of you have—thank you very much!
To
further celebrate the launch of KASIWC, I am offering another FREE Kindle
promotion for one of my stories, The Color of Vengeance.
Hurry: the promotion ends at midnight on October 3rd! If you miss
out, don’t worry; I’ll be running another free promo in December. Although The
Color of Vengeance is excerpted from the second volume in my critically
acclaimed, award-winning Arthurian series, Morning’s Journey, the story
exists as a stand-alone work and may be read without having read any of my
other novels in this series.
Now
that I’m getting settled in to my new life as an empty-nest mom, I have several
appearances scheduled for this month. I hope to see you at one or more of them!
Saturday, October 4th,
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. I will be joining a half dozen other local authors
at the Farmer’s Market of Wytheville, VA. This event is FREE to enter, and I may even
bring some of my potatoes with me. :)
Saturday, October 11th,
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. I will be joining more than three dozen DC-area romance
authors at The Loft at 4935 (a.k.a. 4935 Bar and Kitchen), 4935 Cordell Avenue, Bethesda,
MD for the inaugural
Washington Loves Readers Luncheon. For more information to sign up if you
can attend, or to share with your fans if you cannot attend, please see my blog post here. Either way, thank you very much for your support.
Friday, October 24th,
7:00 – 11:00 p.m., and all day Saturday, October 25th, I will
be a featured author guest at Rising Star 23, being held at the Harris-Jefferson
Student Center
(building 6) at Bluefield State College, Bluefield, WV. For a whopping $5.00 entry charge, you
can meet me and many other awesome authors, artists, gamers, dealers, and friends!
Congratulations
to the winners (already notified) of my latest novel, Snow in July: Charilene,
Shaina, Niki, Amanda, Marcy, AF, Suzie, Kelsey, Leslie, Kimberly, and Laura. But
wait, there’s more: the Goodreads giveaway for autographed paperback copies of Snow in July is now open for entries! To
enter, visit this link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/107246-snow-in-july
and good luck!
And this just in: The BookChick has created an awesome new trailer for Snow in July! Hang on to your hauberk and enjoy the ride...
As
always, for more chances to win, you are invited to...
— Follow me on Twitter
— Add me to Google+
— Subscribe to my YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze,
especially if you have done the Twitter and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an ebook copy of Snow
in July. Please enter often, and good luck!
Thank you for your interest in and support of my work, and I
wish you a plentiful harvest season,
Kim Headlee
Sgeulachd ni sinn na's mò. ~ Stories make us
greater.
