Doing trailers is a lovely break from words as well as causing me to think more deeply about the physicality of the characters and their world. Whether they sell books, who knows, but they enrich my own experience in the books. We won't go into their addictive quality of making me want to buy more stock images. I want them all! I am just lucky that mostly I have all the background photos my stories could need after a lifetime of photography as a hobby-- also that I determined in the beginning to only use dollars the books have made.
For the first time, before I started the hard work of editing, I began a trailer for the historic book I plan to put out in the fall. Working
with the images of the characters at this point has added dimensions I hadn't expected. It makes me think more
about the physical reality these people faced (heroes, secondary players and villains) and provides grace notes
to add to the story when I seriously go back into it.
My trip to the region where it's set was part of that enhancement as I heard the
sounds, felt the land all over again in a fresh way from which the book
is benefiting. Even though I haven't begun editing, you'd be
amazed, if you don't write, how much happens in a writer's head before
they sit down at the keyboard.
What wasn't in the
land or my photos were the characters, and it's what I can put there
through stock images. It's like bringing my words alive, but it takes
time and research to find images, then alter them to be able to use.
Photos that show still action from a book simply don't
exist in the stock image world except for writers who have made mega
bucks and can hire actors. For indie writers, you find pieces of it.
Once in awhile, you get very very lucky and find the background and
model where it's perfect as it is.
There have been
complaints that so many times the model on many romance covers is the
same person. Writers worry about it -- trying to find different models
but can't readers do what film viewers do--imagine this as a movie star
playing different roles?
The story might be about real people, but the role could be played by Matt Damon or Ben Affleck. Then they go out and play
two other characters in different movies. Viewers can adjust to that so
why can't readers where it comes to covers or trailers?
When I find a stock model who doesn't quite fit my characters but is close, I purchase the image but then use photo tools to alter the faces just enough. I want them to 'feel' right, but if they look exactly as I imagined that character, I consider myself lucky.
