How to Easily Create Compelling Book Trailers for Free

Congrats! You've finally finished your latest book that took you months or even years of painstaking efforts. Now, before your books hit the shelf, the next big thing is to promote the upcoming books for the target readers.

Although professional studios offer full package services for making a book trailer, the astronomical cost often proves impractical and time-consuming to most writers.

So, in this post, we offer you viable alternatives to using free book trailer templates of FlexClip, a feature-packed & free online video maker, to easily and quickly create professional and gripping book trailers with simple clicks. Let's dive in now.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Approach Book Trailers in the Right Way

The purpose of making a book trailer is to arouse readers' attention and introduce the setting, characters, and conflict of the story, and most importantly inform readers when and where to purchase your books.

Approach book trailers in a correct strategy

So, to make a winning book trailer, you need to take the correct strategies by considering the following issues:

Use FlexClip's Free Book Trailer Templates to Make Book Trailers

Undoubtedly, you are a pro writer, but you may be a computer novice for video editing. With an intuitive storyboard mode for editing and designer-made free book trailer templates, FlexClip offers you an easy way to create studio-like book trailers in minutes.

Make book trailers by FlexClip’s free book trailer templates

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Not to mentions awful lots of handy video tools like text animation, vast royalty-free stock assets. Since FlexClip is a feature-rich in-browser video editor, no plugin and software are to download. Extremely convenient, isn't it?

As you enter the FlexClip video editor, you can customize the aspect ratio for your book trailer. If you decide to post it to YouTube, 16:9 works best. For Instagram and Facebook, 4:5 are the best dimension that is compatible across platforms.

Customize the aspect ratio for your book trailer

Create Now Use Free Templates

Head to "Templates" and enter keywords "book trailer" and select a design-made free template and apply it to the storyboard. All the premade free book trailer templates are fully customizable for the font, animation of the text, color scheme, video filter, video transition, etc. Just feel free to play with it.

Select a premade free book trailer template for editing

Use Free Templates

You can upload images, video clips, or audio to FlexClip's media library for customization or browse through millions of HD royalty-free videos, photos, and music for your use, which saves you tons of time and money for hiring a professional camera crew. You can add your assets chronically or create suspense by your twist. It's all up to you.

Upload prepared book trailer assets or explore vast stock assets of FlexClip

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In addition to classic static and dynamic texts, it's advisable to scroll down to select featured texts like profile text combination, speech bubbles, quotes, call-out title to add author's information and classic quotes of your book and overall create the epic book trailer.

Use drop-down slider to select and add text animations to the book trailer

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You can use an external mic to record audio narration to each storyboard or explore FlexClip's thousands of license-free music and match your book trailer with the right tone. Trimmers can help you easily trim the audio to your needs.

Record voiceovers or add music to your book trailer

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Again hover out to "Templates" and enter the keyword "outro" and select a free outro template and upload your logo, book's cover and leave crucial information as to when and where your book trailers will be available, or your website address. This step is vital for marketing.

Use premade outro templates to add call-to-action information to book trailer

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Of course, you may also use free intro templates to add an intro to your book trailer to hook the readers.

Done with the editing. Preview the entire book trailer and export the video to your local computer or directly share it to YouTube, or Dropbox with one click. You can even save your book trailer as GIF.

Get Inspired by Great Book Trailer Examples

As a bonus, we also handpicked a couple of great samples of book trailers. Hopefully, you can get inspired for making yours.

We Are Here to Stay by Susan Kuklin

We Are Here to Stay—sample book trailer

In this textbook example of a book trailer, Susan Kuklin, the author of the book “We Are Here to Stay”, explained how her book came into being and introduced the main storyline of nine young adults who struggled to live as illegal immigrants in the United States in a sympathetic tone. Pay attention to how text animations, images of the book cover, different people’s audio narration, and other video clips, music work together to highlight the theme and hook the audience to read her book.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen—fictional book trailer example

This 59-second yet cinematic book trailer proceeds with dramatic audio narration. The sound effects of thunder and lightning, blood-stained hands, tiara, and description of ruling gods and ordinary people skillfully give you some clue of the the social class of the novel yet leaves readers with a big hook to find out themselves.

Allies by Alan Gratz

Allies—a historical book trailer example

In this book trailer, the well-dressed author Alan Gratz passionately shares the story of some of his 7 main characters in the D-day, beginning of the end of World War II. Learn how to make a teaser trailer.

The use of clips of the documentary films, actual actor's play, and battlefield sound effects highlight the theme so masterfully and engage with the readers to discover the unusual teamwork and heroism in the war against Nazism.

If you are shy with the camera, please feel free to use the voice-over feature of FlexClip to record your audio narration to connect with the viewers.

Final Thoughts

Like a movie trailer, making a captivating book trailer is a proven way to promote upcoming books. With FlexClip book trailer maker, you can make compelling and professional book trailers in minutes without breaking your bank. Hopefully, you find our post and advice helpful. So, start making your first book trailer by FlexClip now.

Create Now Use Free Templates

Frank /

Passionate about photography, video-making and travel, Frank is a seasoned copywriter and a beloved father of 2-year-old daughter at FlexClip. He is always keen to share his latest discovery about video marketing and tricks to relive your memories through videos and images.