Video production has become a vital and necessary skill for book publishers because of the Web’s culture that elevates video to the top caliber on the attractiveness meter. If publishers are going to appeal to the Millennial generation to read books, video is going to have to be used.
On Publishing Perspectives (@pubperspectives), Steve Stockman (@SteveStockman), the author of How to Shoot a Video That Doesn’t Suck, offers ten basic tips for novices in book world videomaking:
1. Think in shots (create motion, don’t press play and let it run endlessly)
2. Treat Your Video Camera Like a Still Camera
3. Don’t Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes (close-ups, faces, reactions)
4. Use an External Mic
5. The Rubbermaid Rule (don’t overestimate the length of your video; if you think 10 minutes, 3 minutes is better)
6. Two Words Guaranteed to Take Your Video Viral: Naked Celebrity (if you don’t have that, there’s no guarantee, so make the best video possible for your book’s audience)
7. Take Video Seriously (ie. invest in it, train staff to do it right, or hire the pros…)
8. Treat Your Author Like a Star (avoid bad lighting, poor sound quality and don’t use video that doesn’t make them look like a rock star…)
9. Tell a Story (beginning, middle and end…)
10. The Book Brain and the Video Brain are Different Brains
Also see, "Surveying the Good and Bad in Book Trailers."