By LaConnie Taylor-Jones

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Have you ever been on a roller coaster ride? For thrill-seeking adventurers, the experience is nothing short of exhilarating. From ascent to descent, the lung capacity short-circuits and the heart skips a beat or two before lurching back into rhythm again. An indescribable high, too complicated to verbalize but so easily felt, races inside with every loop, twist, and climb. In the end, the challenge is every bit as rewarding as the excitement.

This is exactly what I experienced in February 2008 during my month-long virtual book tour.

There’s not an author on the face of the earth who’s written a book and didn’t promote it in some fashion. Personally, I don’t consider virtual book tours as another craze that will eventually run its course over time. I hail them as a sophisticated marketing tool that authors in the twenty-first century have at their disposal, but with some very distinct and enhanced features, advantages and benefits (FABs).

The concept of a virtual book tour isn’t complicated, but it does require direct and active involvement from an author to yield maximum success. In addition to the basic features of traditional forms of advertising campaigns, a virtual book tour also offers a unique opportunity to include other promotional tools including book trailers, contest announcements and author interviews. These tools are available to any author, of course, but a book tour can make them easier to access and to promote.

What are the FABs of a virtual book tour? Thanks for asking!

• Features—You post interviews and participate in blogs at several high-trafficked websites over an extended period of time.
• Advantages—Exclusivity! You’re the only author being spotlighted on the site that day.
• Benefits—You have the ability to reach hundreds, if not thousands, of potential buyers within your target audience and to maximize your marketing budget.

Virtual book tours may not be of interest to every author and that’s okay. As a new author who also happens to be a wife, mother and working professional and one who’s trying to make a mark in an overly populated literary arena, I’ve found virtual book tours to be an excellent marketing tool that meets the demands of my oftentimes hectic schedule.

You might be wondering if I’ll ever do another virtual book tour. The answer is, yes. I have one scheduled for June 2008.

LaConnie Taylor-Jones’ latest novel, When A Man Loves A Woman, was released earlier this month. The book trailer for that novel can be viewed on her website. The book trailer for her previous novel, When I’m With You, can be viewed here.

www.laconnietaylorjones.com

Female gladiators? Always Interesting!

I haven’t read the book, but the trailer is stunningly good. Looks like it could be for a blockbuster film rather than a book. I couldn’t figure out who produced it, though. The book publisher appears to be in the United Kingdom. If anyone knows, do tell the rest of us.

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Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

Gotta love these ladies. Not only are Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant stellar storytellers, they’re good peeps–warm, funny, engaging.

Check out their video trailer, where they talk about how they met, got started and continue to thrive as one of the hottest writing duos in the business.

Check out the interview I conducted with them earlier this year here. They talk about how they met and how they pen their bestselling novels together as well as their latest novel.

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Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

I get a kick out of stumbling across nice book video trailers and this one was a special treat. I haven’t read the novel, so I can’t vouch for that, but the video trailer is a hit! This one is for Out of Her League, self-published by Delores Airey, a writer living in the United Kingdom. Produced by GWExtra.
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Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

In Sin No More the Reverend Curtis Black tries to mend his wicked ways, and Kimberla Lawson Roby has penned another hot one.

I enjoyed this book trailer. I liked the voice of the actor who plays Reverend Black. It’s smooth and has a nice tone. You can feel the conflict building up in his voice and in the video.

But tell me, what do you all think? Did it hold your attention? Does it make you think about picking up a copy of Sin No More? Is it well done? Why or why not?

Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

I enjoyed this book trailer for the novel Sweet Georgia Brown. It’s simple and gets to the point of the novel–which is about two dueling radio personalities who are married to each other–without hitting you over the head. In other words, it’s smooth. It also leaves you wondering what might happen next.

Sweet Georgia Brown, is by Cheryl Robinson, and by the way, we have an interview with the author coming up here in a couple of weeks on “Connie Briscoe Presents.”

If you have a book video trailer that you think I’ll find interesting enough to display here on Page One, send me a link and I’ll check it out. I can make no promises, and you have to realize that my selections are somewhat subjective–in other words they are based on what I like. If I decide not to feature a book trailer here, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad trailer.

Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

Lately I’ve been into studying book video trailers with the thought of producing one or having one produced for my next novel. One thing I’ve come to realize is that lack of brevity leads to boredom. Most of them are too long. You should hit the viewer fast and hard and get out. Leave them wanting more. In the age of 30 second commercials, a two to three minute trailer is just too long.

Below is a video trailer for an upcoming book that I think is well done. It’s simple, to the point and best of all only a couple of secs over a minute long. It’s done professionally by a media company called Stonecreek Media Inc. They have other book trailers on their website and you’ll see that they’re generally brief. So if you’re producing these yourself, as a lot of self-published authors are–don’t get so thrilled with your talent as a producer that you overdo it.

I’m not promoting the novel. I haven’t read it, although it does look interesting. I’m merely pointing out what I think is a good book trailer for writers who are producing them or planning to. If you think you might want to check out the novel, it’s called When I’m With You. The author, LaConnie Taylor-Jones, will be touring virtually starting February 1.

LaConnie Taylor-Jones Virtual Book Tour - scroll down to read about the Taylor-Jones virtual book tour.

LaConnie Taylor Jones Web Site

Want to see more book trailers? Featured book trailers.