VBT# Let It Bleed - Stephanie Schmitz
Today's VBT# Author Spotlight is Stephanie Schmitz and her book "Let it Bleed : A Novel".
Synopsis: Let It Bleed - Stephanie Schmitz - Feb 2011
"1983. A Razorblade Boy, lead singer with an obscure industrial band. A Dead Girl, a wandering, bruised waif living on the edge of madness. One’s the voice of youth - the other, the mother of the next Savior of the human race. But there’s a problem – the Dead Girl was only meant to produce the Savior, not fall in love with the Razorblade Boy. That means trouble for All-God – catastrophic trouble, with cosmic repercussions. The Dead Girl, All-God’s most beloved and most damaged of all his creations, becomes a beacon of assault for all those beings of Light and unLight, and her fall into spiritual decline threatens to unleash forces beyond even the comprehension of the most enlightened human. The Angels of the Apocalypse are standing in the wings, just waiting for the trigger.... the Razorblade Boy or the Savior – which is it to be?"
About the Author:
S.L. Schmitz lives in Indian Trail, NC with her husband and son. There is an ever-changing menagerie of cats who graciously allow the family to share the house with them. In addition to reading and writing, she enjoys scrapbooking, drinking martinis, and making snarky comments about a variety of topics. Feel free to email her at thedeadgirl25@yahoo.com. Also, visit the website www.thedeadgirl.com for updates on new novels and publications.
From the Desk of Stephanie Schmitz:
Topic :Book Trailers :
Book trailers are like the new MTV videos – they have nothing to do with music, but everything t do with books! How many of you out there are aspiring novelists? Many of you? Glad to meet you! Keep up the good work! There is nothing more cheerful then the creativity of a writer. Such hope, such grandeur! It is all a mystery, this marketing of books.
So what is a book trailer? It is nothing more than images. If you want to spend a lot of money, you can. There are many companies out there who would delight in taking your $500-1000 and creating a montage of pictures/images and create a mediocre representation of your vision. I screened several of these companies, and always came away with dissatisfaction. Some of them failed to mention the name of the book/ advertisement until well into the 3rd minute mark. How silly! Book trailers should be concise, and enveloping. They should be clear and exciting. Even though I had very little skills in working with such video programs as Microsoft Moviemaker, I went ahead and may an effort to try it on my own. I tried others, such as Animoto, but they did not allow me to create my own scenes or musical background. Although imperfect, Microsoft Moviemaker met my needs as an author.
There were other items that I did spend money on – I commissioned a photographer to capture the scenes that I wanted to impress on my video. Was it worth the investment? I don’t know – not sure that I would randomly pay an artist $400 again without really detailing what I was looking for. I thought I was clear – I wanted images of Persephone rising from the Underworld. Could I have been precise? Yes. Could he have been more creative? Yes. It is an eternal question, and one that will never be answered. There are photographs on my book trailer from him, which belong exclusively to me – do I care? I’m not sure. Perhaps a wiser, more savvy user of photographs and marketing techniques may have forced him to create something beyond status quo. We will never know. It is still beautiful, and it is still very much useful.
Take away the money I spent on commission, and there was virtually no cost on the book trailer. Cheap images can be paid for and downloaded off of such sites at www.istockphoto.com and www.photobucket.com
You should choose words and phrases that are a reflection of the novel, not a diverse confusion of images that are disjointed and unclear. The obvious desire is to have people view your book trailer and desire your book. How simple is that?
Folks - in a few days, I am going to need everyone's help to vote in the www.Yougottareadvideos.com contest for best book trailer. My book trailer for Let It Bleed will appear on their site on May 12th. Voting is from May 21-May 26th. Here is my book trailer, just to whet your appetites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6sWS963MbU
All of you can aspire to finish your novel and get it published. What are you waiting for?
Let It Bleed is available in both E-book and soft cover through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. S.L. Schmitz lives in North Carolina, and spends her days chasing a five-year old and keeping 4 felines happy. Please visit her website at www.thedeadgirl.com
My contest banner:
My Amazon purchase link
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