Abracadabra Tut book trailer video coming soon!

These days, every book deserves a video book trailer. Like cell phones, they’re ubiquitous. New book, new trailer.

It’s part of the package. Social media has made self-promotion easy. All you need to do is be relentless.

To meet the book trailer expectation, blockbusters from large publishing houses hire full-on production teams to tempt readers to buy the latest from this or that author. Other authors whose publishers don’t have the budget for a book trailer have to figure this out on their own.

I’m lucky enough to be part of a family of professional “creatives,” which is how we managed to produce our own trailer.

Since the book is about a kid magician, I contacted the local chapter of the Society of Young Magicians and found Benjamin Zabin, a nationally recognized performer. He agreed to enlist two of his fellow magicians to help him out. The idea was simple: as one magician tries to promote the book, the other two distract him, resulting in a comical magic meltdown.

My husband, Peter Morrison, produced the video. Our oldest son, Cole, whose membership in the SYM as a kid inspired this story, recorded the sound. Our younger son, Brooks, wrote the script and directed the actors, and our good friend, photographer William Taufic, shot the video in his studio. In full Mom mode, I provided the food.