Creating Multi-Media Slideshows and "Book Trailers" Using Windows Movie Maker

Being handy in digital arts, website/HTML design, and digital media can give any writer or author an edge when it comes to promoting their works online or elsewhere. Now, don't get me wrong - you could be the most fantastic webmaster or the most skilled digital artist around, but if your writing is simply not "up to snuff" and marketable, all the flashes, glimmers, and "blings" in the world isn't going to mean a thing. However, if there's one thing folks can agree on in the book world is the growing trend of publishing houses spending less money on real-time marketing and encouraging authors to "self-market" themselves through a variety of means.

Somewhere along the line, this means money spent out of an author's pocket; either in registering a domain name for their website, monthly hosting fees for their website, registering with search engines, and perhaps even hiring folks to do all the digital "grunt work" for them. Depending on your personal "techie" skills, this may be a necessary evil: let's be honest, you're a writer, not a cyber-head, right? If you're not already familiar with some computer basics, your best bet is to pour all your efforts into developing your craft, not trying to work your way around the confusing and glitzy cyber-world trying to figure out Myspace, YouTube, and book trailers.

Of course, if you are at least somewhat familiar with the workings of Windows XP and other computer applications, it wouldn't be too hard to put together some rather nice looking streaming video presentations featuring either the latest new craze - "book trailers" - you at a book show or signing, lecturing to a group of students, or even some behind the scenes looks at how you go about brainstorming, creating characters and key plot points, or just about your daily life (let's skip the footage of you brushing your teeth and taking a shower, okay?).