Here it is.

[greg winick]

http://www.amazon.com/Told-Mind-Shut...I+told+my+mind

[Lea Zalas]

Greg, you did well with the description. No one would ever guess the revisions you had to go through. Congratulations.

[greg winick]

Thanks for remembering Lea. It's been a long road.

[John Oberon]

Good luck.

[greg winick]

Here is a rough version of the promo. Suggestions are welcome.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfgYY-UmDko

[Simon Says]

Hi Greg

I don't mean to sound like a snarky bitch − but my advice to you is to tell your inner marketer to "Shut The F*ck Up" Your promo is over four minutes long and very repetitive. It's hard to tell if this is a memoir, a self−help book or a hybrid, but no matter what it is I don't think this promo is very effective.

If I were you I'd cut it down to no more than 90 seconds and focus on the most harrowing/high conflict situation where shutting off your mind helped you succeed.

[greg winick]

Thanks Simon. Is 90 seconds the standard? I guess the book is a hybrid of those genres.

[Simon Says]

Hi Greg

I don't know what the standard is for a book trailer, but movie trailers are 2 minutes 30 secs maximum and they're often shorter than that.

When it comes to promotion and advertising I think it's best to communicate as powerfully as possible in as short amount of time as possible.

[Mark Ellis]

Simon is absolutely right.

And you need images--text floating around a background that looks like the deep end of a swimming pool isn't going to hold anybody's attention for more than thirty seconds. There is no drama or excitement in this.

Here are examples of book trailers of a couple of projects of mine...granted, one is an illustrated novel and the other a graphic novel, but I think you can get an idea of how a book trailer should be paced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUTQomVVl_c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpX8v...feature=relmfu