Here are some strategies to consider when making your videos:

Plan. Simple storyboarding will keep you on track.

Keep it brief. Thirty seconds to two minutes is plenty. The longer your video, the smaller your audience.

Overlay titles and words. Words—note, I didn’t say “text”—add impact.

Use sound. Either background music or voice over.

Use strong, colorful images. Remember this is a visual media.

Can the pitch. Don’t make your video an obvious advertisement.

Avoid the “talking head” video. Boring.

Let’em know where to get more information. End each video with a five-second- to six-second-long image of your book’s cover and your website’s address.

Paul Gillin in Secrets of Social Media Marketing (Full disclosure: Quill Driver Books publishes this title.) says videos that go viral, such as Blendtec’s Will Blend It series,
have: “AEIO & U.”

This stands for:

Authentic: Online video producers intentionally make their programs with a bit of the home-video feel. High production value is perceived as being professional marketing and is often equated with oversell.

Entertaining: This means fun. Weighty videos do not usually go viral.

Intimate: Videos that satisfy peoples’ inner voyeur top the popularity charts. But don’t go overboard here. Leave the crass to Jerry Springer. Intimacy can be accomplished simply by showing real people doing real things.

Offbeat & Unusual: Surprise and delight with something unexpected, something a bit daring or a little risqué.

 There are at least three types of video to consider.

 Montage: Uses preexisting images usually with voice over and/or music added. This is the simplest and easiest to do without a camcorder or large budget.

Interview: An obvious choice here is to have someone interview your author. It wouldn’t be bad to insert appropriate images here and there—say of a location or an object being discussed—to spice up the oft boring “two talking heads” video.

Documentary: Uses filmed interviews, locations, events, and more. This takes more planning and time but may be worth the effort—but then again, it may not. If you make a huge production (pun intended) out of making yours, you may not actually get around to it. Simple is often elegant.

 You may be able to make the interview or documentary videos a bit longer and still keep your viewer’s interest but be careful.