YouWhat?

It was a guy called David Hyner http://www.stretchdevelopment.com/ that came up with the suggestion that I record excerpts of 'Tasting the Wind' and upload them onto YouTube.

The idea was that I put several chapters on to the site, and that this would eventually generate sales. These could be hard copy (once I'd got some hard copies) or ebooks.

My first thought was that I hadn't got a camera and couldn't afford one. So I sat on the idea for a couple of weeks. Then it occurred to me that I did have a Skype set, which consisted of a webcam and microphone.

Until that point I didn't know if a skype set could record- but it can. And it was inexpensive: I had purchased mine at Argos for £20.

You can choose what you want to show on YouTube- a film of you reading, or something else. For two good reasons I chose something else.

Firstly, YouTube made me look like a fat, bearded slaphead. Which is strange, because in real life I actually look like Brad Pitt.

Secondly, the still which people have to click onto to see your video is taken at random from your submission, so you can guarantee that you will have been caught at the split second when your expression was that of a mentally deranged axe murderer.

So I opted for my videos to show a single screen, which is different versions of my book cover. As the book is not published yet I had to design my own (something you will have to do anyway if you publish through a Print on Demand site such as Lulu.com.)

Think what would represent your book. You can use your own artwork or photography, if you're that way inclined, or get pictures from Google images. You will need a photo imaging programme which allows you to cut, paste and merge images- as long as you are creative and avoid anything with a copyright.

I chose to have a grey victorian instituion as the backdrop for a bright red balloon, which has some symbolic significance in the novel.

Not appearing on the 'video' can also be an advantage in that it can improve your voice. As no one can see you you can act it out- pull faces, throw your arms around- whateverer it takes to get some drama and changes of tone into your reading. (If you have written your book using a word processor it is useful to read from the screen to free up your hands and to avoid rustling paper.)

All you have to do now is to get a YouTube account, which is free, and upload your video- or in this case talking book.

Simple as that. Well not quite...

It's no use having parts of your book sitting on YouTube if no one's going to look at it.

Next: generating web traffic.







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