YouTube, a free video sharing website, boasts more than one billion users watching videos every month. This makes YouTube a wonderful tool for authors looking to get more readers and buyers for their books. With more than one billion active users watching videos every month, there are people from all cultures, countries, and ethnicities going online in one place. With the right types of videos, YouTube can take your book around the world and improve sales.

Step One: Types of Videos to Create:

There are a few different types of videos that you can make in order to start bringing in viewers. These types of videos are:

1. Book Trailer: A book trailer is a short promotional video meant to get viewers interested in the book, just like a trailer for a movie or TV show. If you do not have the knowledge needed to create a professional book trailer, then there are plenty of freelancers on Fiverr that you can pay to do it for you!

2. Author Speaks: All this involves is the author of the book filming themselves talking. During these videos authors typically talk about their book, answer a few fan questions, and maybe hint at something new or exciting that is going to happen in their book.

3. Giveaway: In these videos the author hosts a contest or random giveaway that will allow a certain number of fans to get a free signed copy of the author’s current or next book.

4. Vloggers: These videos are of people who have read your book and enjoyed it and have recorded short videos for you on their impression of the book. Make sure that there are no spoilers and only hints at plot points.

When to Release the Videos:

Some authors jump the gun and release all these different promotional videos at once and that almost always proves to be a big mistake. Viewers do not want to be overwhelmed with content; instead they want to be reeled in at a consistent pace. Generally, you should not release more than one video a week and each video should end with what your next video will be. For example:

Thank you all for tuning in. Next week I will be answering three of my favorite questions from the comments section of this video. In addition, a scavenger hunt is currently in the works so if you want to participate, make sure to get a copy of my last book ______ as you will need it by October 30 for the start of the hunt. Don’t get left in the dust - the top three viewers will be getting a brand new copy of my book when it releases in December!

Target Your Videos

Lastly, the most important part of the YouTube videos is keeping them geared towards your audience. If your intended audience is children or teens, then you need to keep your videos fun and stick to language that they can understand. However, if your audience is career professionals, then your videos should have more of a serious note, but it never hurts to throw in the occasional joke or something to make your viewers crack a smile.