Ines Johnson is on the guest couch today to discuss how to use the steps of the advertising formula AIDA to craft a book trailer. AIDA is a four step process that focuses on getting the viewers attention, holding their interest, playing on their desire, and finally telling them to act. So, grab your favorite beverage and join us on the couch. We're being very casual today.
Book trailers are visual depictions of a book’s storyline,
sometimes made by fans, which are a great way to get readers enthused. But have
you ever considered making a book commercial?
The purpose of a commercial advertisement is to persuade a
potential buyer, or in an author’s case a reader, to purchase their product.
Writing a commercial is a simple four step process known as AIDA.
Start by grabbing the audience’s ATTENTION with a startling statement and a provocative image. For
my book commercial, I showed this image, while a male narrator said, “Women,
are you tired of being responsible for your own orgasm?”
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| Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Did that get your attention? Other ways of gaining the
audience’s attention is to use humor, introduce a conflict, or use sound
effects.
Next, you have to hold the audience’s INTEREST by giving them more information. Luckily, one of the most
effective techniques for holding interest is one all fiction writers are
familiar with: establishing conflict.
For my commercial, I went with, “Want a man who knows his way
around a woman’s body? Then hire a Pleasure Hound.”
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| Image Credit: Yocla Designs & Shutterstock |
Other techniques of holding interest are to use anecdotes,
testimonials, statistics, or examples.
Now comes the tricky part: playing on the audience’s DESIRES. There are three types of
desires: intellectual, moral, and emotional. As authors we most prevalently
care about our reader’s emotional desires like love, belonging, and success.
For my commercial, I played on the desire of love and pleasure.
My narrator makes some promises to women seeking out this product. “Our hounds
are highly trained in the art of the elusive female orgasm. Using ancient
techniques and rituals, a hound will bring you to heights of pleasure you’ve
only dreamed about.”
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| Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Pinpoint a plot point or theme of your story with a great
emotional impact. Target the way your readers think, behave, and make
decisions. Playing on this will give them a reason to buy your book.
And finally, tell them what to do.
Give them an ACTION, which of course
would be to go buy your book! My book ad ends with my narrator telling readers
to do just this. “To learn more about our services, pick up the book, The
Pleasure Hound, out on sale December 9th. Hurry! Your climax is waiting for
you.”
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| Image Credit: Yocla Designs & Shutterstock |
Once you’ve got got the four steps of AIDA ready, you can start
to storyboard your idea. A storyboard is a graphic depiction of what the
audience will see and hear on the screen, using a series of panels much like
a cartoon strip.
Most commercials are 30 - 60 seconds long. The rule
of thumb in the media world is to use one frame for every five seconds of ad
time. so plan to use 6-12 frames of the storyboard.
Now its your turn.
1.
Think up a way to get the audience’s Attention.
2.
How will you hold their Interest?
3.
What would motivate someone to do what you are
requesting? Play to their desires.
4.
Now tell them what to do next in order to get what
you’re “selling.” Make them Act.
5.
Storyboard your ad by selecting visuals to go with your
AIDA steps.
6.
Put it all together using a video or image editor.
7. Upload
it to your social media outlets.
Stock Images
Below are a few places you can visit for royalty free stock
images. I used Free Digital Photos.
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freedigitalphotos.net
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Favim.com
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Dreamstime.com
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Fotolia.coom
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Photobucket.com
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Clker.com
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MorgueFile.com
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Shutterstock.com
Stock Music and Sound
I found free sound clips at Partners in Rhyme. You can try
these other sites too.
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Soundsnap.com
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FindSounds.com
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PartnersinRhyme.com
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Brainy Betty
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OpenMusicArchive.org
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Opsound.org
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ccMixter.org
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NeoSounds.com
“Pleasure Hound” BOOK AD
What starts as a simple ritual soon turns carnal when a monk
falls for a young woman under his tutelage.
The Proposal
"I promise that the choice of mates will be yours,"
he continued. "And I hope..." He paused, uncertain, looking down at
their joined hands.
Chanyn got the impression of Dain as a child asking for
permission to have something he didn't think he deserved, but was desperate for
it anyway.
"I hope," he began again, "that you will
consider Khial and myself for a—"
"Yes!"
Dain startled at her response, then he smiled. "Good. I
had hoped..." He squeezed their hands together. "This is good."
Chanyn's heart thudded in her exposed chest. She was sure Dain
could see it. He gazed into her eyes. Was this it? Was her first kiss going to
happen now?
Dain rubbed his thumb back and forth over her hand. His eyes
dipped to her lips. Chanyn parted them in invitation.
Dain brought his eyes back up to her face, his eyes widening
more as he looked at the desire clearly written on Chanyn's face.
Dain disentangled their fingers and patted her knee. "This
is really good news," he repeated and then rose. "I'll make the
arrangements today." He walked over to the large desk that took up most of
the room.
"Arrangements? For the marriage?"
He glanced up. "Oh no, no. Arrangements for your
training."
"Training?"
"Of course. With a Pleasure Hound."
Chanyn looked on, dumbfounded. He talked of marriage and then
was about to get her some kind of dog to train. "A dog would be lovely, I
suppose."
Dain laughed. "A Pleasure Hound is a man trained in the art
of pleasing a woman." He said it as though it were the most natural thing
in the world.
Chanyn shook her head. "I still don't understand. Why
would I need another man to..." To what exactly? Have sex with her?
Dain came back around from the desk and sat next to her once
more. He reached for her hand.
"Chanyn," he began. His face now sheepish. "I've
never... been with a woman before. I wouldn't know the first thing to do to
please you."
"But shouldn't we, you know, figure that out
together?"
Dain looked scandalized. He reeled back from her. "I would
likely hurt you. A Pleasure Hound is trained to find out what pleases
individual women. Then they teach the woman's bonded mates those particular
techniques. It’s an ancient tradition going back hundreds of years."
Chanyn still looked dubious.
"In our culture women rule. When we are bonded, everything
that I have will essentially be yours."
Chanyn knew that in the twentieth century women fought for and
earned a place in the government and the right to own many forms of business.
But she hadn't a clue that the roles of men and women had shifted so completely
on its axis in the past thousand years.
Blurb:
When Chanyn encounters the dashing Lord Dain, with his kind
eyes and pure heart, she believes her dreams of love are finally coming true,
until she meets with the roadblock that is her betrothed’s bondmate.
Khial can’t help but resent the young woman who comes into his
love story to play the hero, but marriage to her may be the only way to save
the man he loves.
A young monk is called upon to train Chanyn, Khial and Dain in
the orgasmic arts. But what starts as a simple ritual soon turns carnal when
the monk’s heart begins to yearn for Chanyn, and hers for his.
Amazon Purchase Link:
ISBN: 9780990922827 AISN: B00OYU2CYO
About the Author:
Ines writes books for strong women who suck at love. If you rocked out to the twisted triangle of Jem, Jericha, and Rio as a girl; if you were slayed by vampires with souls alongside Buffy; if you need your scandalous fix from Olivia Pope each week, then you’ll love her books!
Ines writes books for strong women who suck at love. If you rocked out to the twisted triangle of Jem, Jericha, and Rio as a girl; if you were slayed by vampires with souls alongside Buffy; if you need your scandalous fix from Olivia Pope each week, then you’ll love her books!
Aside from being a writer, professional reader, and teacher,
Ines is a very bad Buddhist. She sits in sangha each week, and while others are
meditating and getting their zen on, she’s contemplating how to use the
teachings to strengthen her plots and character motivations.
Ines lives outside Washington, DC with her two little sidekicks
who are growing up way too fast.
Social Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23480179-the-pleasure-hound?from_search=trueFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ineswrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ineswrites
Website: https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/
Publisher: http://heartspell.com/
