Sunday, September 30, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday - September 30, 2012

The following excerpt from The Tourist Killer relates to the aftermath of a shooting in a diner.

The dining room was an ant bed whose tranquility had been changed by a lawn mower.

It had taken a few moments for most of the patrons in the diner to realize what had happened.

An older lady with blue hair had panicked. She tried to hurry down the aisle past the corpse and slipped in the mixture of coffee, vomit and blood. The fall broke her hip and she shrieked loudly.Her cries scared some of the other diners back into hiding.

Check out the contributions of over 170 other great writers with their Six Sentences, HERE.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday

These six sentences are from my soon to be published novel, 
The Tourist Killer.

As he began to loosen his tie he saw Star enter from a cloud of steam pouring out of the bath. 

She was wearing nothing but beads of hot water, glistening as they rolled down her face, arms and chest.  

Stepping into the room with cooler air gave her goose bumps. Her hair was soaked and pulled back into a wet ponytail that fell well past her shoulders and supplied a constant stream of water down her back.  Wet, her blonde hair appeared darker. 

The water streaming off her nude body created a soggy trail across the carpet. 
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Be sure to check out the "Six Sentence Sunday" site for six more from dozens of authors.

Friday, September 14, 2012

THE HOLY GRAIL: A Book Trailer That Spurs Sales

Our guest blogger is videographer/producer Art Hoffman. Among his film credits are four promotional clips for my soon to be published novel, The Tourist Killer, from Venture Galleries. (All four will be the subject of future posts.) Here, he addresses the subject of book trailers.  No doubt, he would appreciate some feedback. 
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"Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let 50 cents". -- Roger Miller

Decades ago, lodging evidently could be had for four bits.

Fast forward 50 years.

Everything's a lot pricier now. What should a book trailer cost?
And with whom should you collaborate to produce one?

While that old adage of "getting what you pay for" may be true, don't get exploited into
thinking you have to pay thousands of dollars. The reason? You're a budding novelist, correct?
Well, there are hardworking, creative and very competent film producers out there who are also
launching their craft. I know because I am one. So the cost can be hundreds, not thousands of
dollars.

Here's a shot of Hoffman at work, braving the heat to get his shot.


Here are some guidelines worth considering.

1. Carefully select the music to accompany the trailer - you'd be amazed at how powerful a
component the right tune can be. Royalty free music is available on the Net - do your homework.

2. Ensure that your trailer is under three minutes, under two even better. Some of my videos have views numbering in the many thousands: the shorter ones always get more exposure. Think about it. When was the last time you clicked on something six minutes long? If necessary, make two book trailers and couple one to the other. As Mary Todd once said, “nothing wrong with linkin'.”

3. Interview your videographer with this objective. Does he or she buy into your story? Into what
makes you jazzed about your book? If so, great! Your collaboration will be all the better for it. If not, find someone who does. "Marriages" work best when there's some passion under the bed covers. Works for book covers as well.

Learn more about Art Hoffman and his services by clicking HERE.