Silicon Valley Techy Offers Ten Do-It-Yourself Video Tips

Samanthi Fernando video advice is especially valuable because she has a Silicon Valley tech background and she is the author of what some call the hard-to-promote genre--a book of poetry. Special thanks to her for her contribution to this blog.

Author Samanthi Fernando is using a promotional video for her new Inspirational poetry book – RADIANT ROSES. 

Samanthi is a corporate communications professional in the Silicon Valley, and she says, “We find that videos make the most impact on our audiences— especially when the expected result is for employees or customers to take action” – Being a techie and a poet, she uses technology to promote her poetry.

If you are an Author you probably already have a Blog or Website – Do you have a YouTube Channel? Upload your book previews, poetry readings and share, share, share.

Amazon Author Central offers a great way for Authors to share video updates and book promotions. So upload your videos there too and showcase your work.

Here are some video making tips for Authors from Samanthi:

1.       Write a short engaging script – practice out loud before you record your sound

2.       Select your text content – an excerpt from your book and any key messages to display

3.       Take plenty of photos and pick the best visuals for your message OR record the message as a video

4.       Keep the color theme aligned with your book cover

5.       Pay attention to the transitions between images – keep it simple and smooth

6.       Select appropriate intro and closing music

7.       End with a prompt for action - where to find more information or how to buy your book etc.

8.       Play and replay before you upload

9.       Before sharing: Test your video on all platforms & devices – Windows/Mac, Mobile AND all Internet Browsers – IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari

10.    In addition to sharing the Link to the video, copy the “Share –> Embed” HTML code from YouTube to play the video on your website/blog

Samanthi used Apple iMovie to create her video. Take a look at her Book Preview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eom9vM7CY8Q

Note: While you’re there, won’t you leave a “like” for Samanthi? We’re authors sharing with authors here.

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .