Synopsis
My main goal here is to share with you how I create my book promo videos so that you can see the basic steps involved. With a little bit of research, some patience, some practice, and persistence, you should be able to make your own book promo video without too much hassle. Now get ready, because here is a quick run-down of the 4 main steps I follow in order to make my basic 1-minute book promo videos.

What You Will Learn

1. You will learn the 4 basic steps to create a simple book promo video for your own book.

2. You will learn exactly how I do it for the books that my wife and I self-publish.

3. You will learn which software I use, and where I post the completed video.

Introduction

My main goal here is to share with you how I create my book promo videos so that you can see the basic steps involved. For my own sanity, I try to keep the process as simple as possible. My goal is always to take a complicated process, make it as simple as possible, and still produce a quality product. And, with patience and practice, each time I produce one of these little videos, I’ll get a little bit better at it. And hopefully, sell a few more books in the process.

Here is a quick run-down of the 4 main steps I follow in order to make my basic 1-minute book promo videos:

Step # 1. Create a PowerPoint deck

Step # 2. Export deck to .jpeg

Step # 3. Import .jpeg’s to iMovie

Step # 4. Convert iMovie to mp4

Done.

Here is a list of the software programs that I utilize to produce my promo videos:

1. Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac, ver. 16

2. Apple iMovie, ver. 10

3. Adobe Illustrator 2020

4. Adobe Photoshop 2020

Software Notes:

a. Microsoft PowerPoint I bought as a package of an entire suite of Microsoft products called Microsoft Office 365 Home, which has an annual fee to use.

b. Apple iMovie is a free download from the Mac App Store.

c. The Adobe programs are part of Adobe Creative Cloud which I pay a monthly fee to use.

I upload my videos to the following websites:

(For this book, it’s to my wife’s pages)

Website # 1. My YouTube page

Website # 2. My book’s webpage (on the book’s main page, and on the Media Kit page for that book)

Website # 3. My Twitter page

Website # 4. My Facebook page

Here is a more detailed look at the steps that I follow to create my promo videos:

Step # 1. Create slide presentation in PowerPoint

The general rule for making PowerPoint slides is to keep them simple, short, and to the point.

ACLS QA book PowerPoint screen shot

Step # 2. Add a .jpeg picture of your book’s cover, and your headshot

Make sure they are clear, easy to see and read, high quality photos.

Step # 3. Add text to each slide

Again, don’t overdo it. Keep is simple, with lots of white space.

Step # 4. Save as a PowerPoint presentation .pptx

This will complete step 1.

Step # 5. Export slides as .jpeg

Save them in the same folder as the PowerPoint deck/presentation that you just made.

Step # 6. Import/drag/drop all of those .jpeg slides into new iMovie

Create a new movie, and drag and drop all of those .jpeg slides you just made into the movie timeline.

Step # 7. Drag/drop music/audio onto the timeline

iMovie has a small library of music already included. You simple choose which one you like, and drag and drop it onto the movie timeline. And then adjust the length of the music to fit the length of the video.

ACLS QA book iMovie screen shot

Step # 8. Share to file as a 1080p, and then as mp4

This step is accomplished from within the iMovie program.

Step # 9. Upload to internet

For this particular book, I first uploaded the new video to my wife’s YouTube page. After the upload is complete, I go to the “share” button on her YouTube page, and take that link to place the video on our book website, my Twitter page, and my wife’s Facebook page.

# 10. Done

Completed, finished, through, over with, concluded, ended, period.

Conclusion

I know that this was a really quick overview of the process. And, if you have never used any of this software, the process will seem overwhelming, confusing, and frustrating. But, if it’s any consolation, PowerPoint and iMovie are very easy to learn. And there are plenty of good videos on YouTube that will teach you how to use them.

Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are not easy to learn, and have a very large learning curve. But, with a little research on Google, you will be able to find much simpler, faster, and less-costly ways to create high-quality .jpeg’s, and avoid Adobe completely. I personally use them because I have extensive experience with them, and enjoy the process.

You’ll also be able to easily find websites that will help you complete the entire process from within their website. And, for little or no money, produce a professional-looking promo video. Maybe I’ll look into these in the future.

But, I’m always concerned about control and ownership of my work product. So, for the moment, I’ll be sticking to my method, and trying my best to up the quality of my videos. Maybe in the future I will try out a few of those online services, and create multiple videos for each of our books.

Questions For Us To Think About And Discuss

1. What is your process for producing your book promo videos?

2. Please share with us what stumbling blocks you had to deal with when making your videos?