Making a Trailer

Okay. I've had book trailers before. Only thing is, I paid somebody else to do 'em. When my editor asked if I wanted to link one to LOVERS' FEUD, my next (July 18) EC release, I figured it couldn't be terribly hard to put together something using Windows Live Movie Maker.

After all, other authors have managed to make good trailers, and I'm not a complete moron--not quite.  At least I didn't think I was, until I started on this project.

So what did I need? Some royalty-free photos, preferably free ones. I found them after a few hours' diligent searching, only to discover they needed a trip through Photoshop to get them to the correct sizes for the video. Add another hour or so...and some major cropping of a Jimmy Thomas (Romance Novels Covers) shot I bought to use on a self-pubbed short story a while back. You see, Jimmy has dark hair, his female model's a blonde...but Bye and Karen, my hero and heroine, have pretty much the opposite coloring.

Next, I played with putting photos into frames in the software. That went pretty easily until I got to one crucial photo which took up only a fraction of the center of a frame. Oh well. I could live with that. Too bad it had to go into two frames to make the text make sense.

The text was easy, thanks to my wonderful editor who pretty much wrote the blurb that I shamelessly copied onto the trailer. (It wouldn't have been half as easy if I'd had to create the text from scratch, because I suck at writing blurbs and anything else shorter than a scene in a novel, LOL.)

I took a deep breath and saved the trailer. Then I played it, only to discover it was way, way longer than a single-book trailer ought to be, so I went back to the drawing board and cut the length of each frame until the whole thing played in a little over a minute. That was better.

The silence was deafening, though, so I searched out some free music. The piece I found seemed to work with the pictures and the tone of the text, and it fortunately only required a credit for its use.

The trailer was done, ready to hawk LOVERS' FEUD on Facebook, YouTube and hopefully my website. Unfortunately my website requires a different format than the one Windows Live Movie Maker produces, so the trailer is still waiting for me to find a way to convert it to whatever format my Joomla website requires. That's a project for later, after I finish edits for MOUNTAIN HEAT and turn in the next book in the Caden Kink series, SHOTGUN RELATIONS.

What do you think? Should I keep on making trailers or bite the bullet and pay somebody else to do it? Best comment, whether it's a bashing or a compliment, gets a free copy of LOVERS' FEUD on its release date!

Ann Jacobs
http://annjacobs.net
https://www.facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/authrannjacobs

 LOVERS' FEUD, book 1, Caden Kink series, coming July 18 from Ellora's Cave

A Little BDSM Psychology

Some people say BDSM play helps both Doms and subs cope with various traumatic experiences in their pasts. Many believe that submission in BDSM power exchange helps the sub overcome an inferiority complex and social phobias. This is especially true in the first and last books in my popular BDSM western series, HEART OF THE WEST.

To me, one of the most attractive beliefs about the psychology behind BDSM is that the Dominant partner is driven by his/her desire to please his or her partner(s). This is true in most erotic romances with a male Dom, in that he creates settings where the participants can explore the submissives' fantasies. As a matter of fact, it's also true in most cases when the Domme is a woman. I like to think my Dominant characters have exhibited this desire in all of my BDSM romances.

 

It seems to me that the reason so many women readers love the male-dominant BDSM fantasy is that, while the Dominant controls a BDSM relationship on the surface, the actual dynamics of the relationship are controlled by the submissive. The sub sets limits as to what can and can't be explored, and he/she has the power to call a halt to a scene at any time by using a pre-established safe word. There are hard limits--things the sub absolutely will not allow--and soft ones, which may be off limits but may sometimes, in the heat of passion, be permitted. Limits, both hard ones and soft ones, change over time, as the partners become more attuned to one another.

While not many people in the vanilla fantasize over being hurt as a form of sexual play, it is very true that when a person is sexually aroused, all kinds of sexual stimulation can produce pleasure...up to a point, of course. That's why many BDSM practitioners follow "three sacred rules" about their play: it must be safe, sane and consensual. I try hard to make all my stories follow these rules, and to reveal more than just the mechanics of BDSM play when I write scenes that match each character's personality, hangups, and so on.

I just finished writing LOVERS' FEUD the first book in my new western series for Ellora's Cave. Each of the three novels goes more deeply than I've gone before into the characters' motivation to choose BDSM play, either acting out their kinky fantasies as Bye and Karen do in LOVERS' FEUD, living a 24/7 loving Dominant/submissive relationship in SHOTGUN RELATIONS, or learning not everybody who seems vanilla is vanilla in WILD CHILD, which will be book three. 

Check my blog (ann-jacobs.blogspot.com) and Facebook pages in the coming weeks for outtakes and excerpts from these hot, heartwarming novels! I'll be announcing some contests closer to the release of LOVERS' FEUD.

Happy reading!

Ann Jacobs
http://annjacobs.net
https://facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
MOUNTAIN HEAT, a Blush Romance coming soon from Ellora's Cave

You Made It

Unpublished writers focus on getting that first book published. It's like a mountain that needs to be climbed, but once you reach the top you've made it. You've passed into that magic land of published authors. Your years of rejections are over. You're vindicated to all the naysayers in your life.

You made it. You're a published author.

Now put down the champagne, box up the chocolates. That mountain you thought you scaled turns out to be a foothill. Unless you are satisfied with having one book published and have no desire or interest in doing another, your career as a writer has just begun.

It can be daunting. Suddenly you're being told you have to promote your newly published book. You need a web page, a blog, a Facebook account, Twitter... to start. Many of these should be put in place before you get that first contract. Not only is it a good way to start promoting yourself, but it will cut down on the things you suddenly have to do yesterday when the publisher says we want your book.

You may be encouraged to join writing groups in your genre. Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Science Fiction Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and the Historical Novel Society cover most of the genres.

Yahoo has a huge number of writing related groups. I recommend joining Yahoo and searching for groups you think would interest you. Two I would recommend no matter what genre you write, are: Publishing Trove, which is for authors, publishers, agents and promotional groups, and: 

Announce Online Writing Class an excellent resource for online classes, and I highly recommend that writer's of all levels take classes. There are many that are very reasonable.

But wait. You should set up readings and signings at as many bookstores as you can contact, and no, your publisher will not pay to send you anywhere. Going to genre specific conferences are another good thing to do. I recommend them even for non-published authors. Many of them have workshops and you make invaluable contacts, including agents and editors. Once you're published, go to conferences and try to get on panels. Again it's networking.

Your mantra now must be promote, promote, promote and write, write, write.

Authors these days don't have years, or even months between publications. To have any kind of real success these days, you have to produce. A lot.

Pat Brown, author of 12 novels and several short stories and novellas has been published since 2006. Since that time she has attended numerous conferences, her favorites being the Left Coast Crime. As well, she regularly takes online classes to improve her writing. She'd take in person classes, but there are never any held in her area.

Her newest book, LATIN BOYZ, will be released by Amber Quill in February. It's one of her most ambitious novels yet, a story about a young Latino man in the barrios of East Los Angeles who faces hardships both as he tries to protect his family and struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality and attraction to an LAPD patrol officer.

Visit her Web Site

And her Blog

Time to ask a romance author ANYTHING you'd like

I'm handing over the interview questions to YOU the readers and fans of the romance romance. Is there anything you always wanted to ask a romance author, but it hasn't been asked in an interview? Well, I'm offering myself up and will answer any questions you may have.

One of the things I find hard to write is a bio. I do have a bio on my website, and I tend to use that one when asked to submit a bio. I like to call it time management.

Here are a few tidbits about me, not listed on my site's bio and things that have never been asked in an interview:

My husband has recently stated that he'd love to start a blog called, "Things my wife says and does." I'm not concerned, he doesn't even like to write emails. Funny guy. He makes me laugh, I make him laugh.

I love to cook, my family loves to eat what I cook. I also love making my husband blush. He's an alpha/beta type, but I can still pull out a rosy hue on his handsome face when I publicly state, he has given me my happy-ever-after *wink wink* that I love to write and read about in romance novels. Yes, he is the inspiration for some of the more "sensual aspects" of my writing.

I love books, which I know is standard for all us readers and writers. I write what I love to read: romance with a ton of sexual tension (I actually prefer writing about the tension, the anticipation more than the actual sensual scene, because getting the reader all worked up and filled with tension is...well, it's fun, it's why we do what we do), I love msystery, suspense, comedic prose, along with serious deep thoughts and themes in the books that I read and write. My tastes are eclectic as is my wardrobe, culinary skills and at times vocabulary.

I learned to play the accordian at an early age. Hey, I'm Italian, it's a right of passage. I wasn't that good at it. However, I did enjoy practicing at home and driving my older siblings crazy with my attempts at Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

I also took Highland Dance classes. I bet you're wondering why a little Italian girl took Highland dancing? I'm first generation Canadian, I was born in Canada, while my parents and siblings all immigrated from Italy. Hence, why my brothers convinced me I was found on their doorstep, but that's another story.

My parents wanted to assimilate with the Canadian culture. My dad at the time smoked cigarettes (Export A). On the package was a picture of a woman, wearing a Scottish tam. After I was born, my parents associated this plus other pop culture things with the Canadian culture, so when I was old enough, they enrolled me in Highland Dancing.

I didn't learn to speak English until I was six years old, sometimes this can still effect me, as I think in one language and things come out in English in an awkward way. "English wasn't my first language," is what I say. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I used to be quite the daredevil. Broken knee, wore a full leg cast (downhill skiing), shattered my radial head in my left arm (roller-blading), broken toe (fell down the stairs while multi-tasking, some will say, I can be a klutz, I don't agree...well, not 100%).

The one thing I'm having difficulty with in this age of "branding" is exactly that, "branding myself." First thing that comes to mind at times is: they brand cows and horses don't they? Not to say that authors who use this method are doing it wrong, many are doing a bang up job of branding themselves and their books.

Since my stories tend to have a little of everything, as one reader put it: "genre-defying," I can't pinpoint a certain brand. Therefore, I'm probably not keeping up with the times, but will continue to write stories that intrigue me, make me laugh, cry, think, and at times scare the bejeebers out of myself (as I'm doing with my WIP filled with real bad guys).

Thank you for giving me the opportunity for allowing me to share a little more about myself, and feel free to post any question you'd like.

About Selena Robins:
Witty, humorous, suspenseful, sexy--words used to describe Selena’s writing style. A chocolate guru, in love with her husband, family, friends, books & red wine, she dances with her dog, sings into her hairbrush & writes in her PJ's.

Selena is the author of the contemporary romance, What A Girl Wants, paranormal romantic comedy, Sabrina's Destiny, Romantic Comedy, Short Story, Tempted by an Angel, and a children's novella, Pippy's Wish.

Selena's Website
Selena's Blog
Email Selena