The Borderlands Saga Trailer is Live!

wittering noun
wit·​ter·​ing ˈwitərə̇n, -riŋ
plural-s
chiefly Scottish
: a piece of information (as a sign, token, or hint)

Etymology
Middle English (Scots) wittering, witering, from gerund of witteren, witeren to clarify, inform, teach, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse vitra to manifest, reveal, vitr wise, vita to know“Wittering.” 

— “Wittering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wittering.

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escape to the borderlands…

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behind the scenes

When I reached out to Nada Qamber about making a book trailer for the Borderlands Saga, I felt a little silly. After all, everyone knows book trailers are a thing of the past. Nobody makes them anymore and instead uses GIFs. But I wanted to find a unique way to market my box set, and I have worked so long on this series that I wanted to treat myself a little bit.

I pulled my inspo from my favorite vid-makers on YouTube. These are insanely talented folks who create works of art out of existing media and stock footage. If I’m ever lucky enough, I’d love to have one of them make something for Borderlands or Wylder Tales as well. But I also knew I’d need something I could share online and tie into the actual book series without a zillion copyright infringements.

The Borderlands trailer went through multiple versions as Nada and I hunted down the right “aesthetic” vids that matched the vibes we were looking for. It wasn’t easy. So many times, I’d find something absolutely gorgeous, and then Nada would point out the paywall it was behind. Y’all it’s a little insane how much some of the fancier stock vids are… I already felt frivolous making a trailer in today’s extremely competitive market, so we focused on vids and music my shoestring budget could afford.

I did a hex of a lot of research, but I humbly bow down to Nada and her team’s brilliance in bringing this one to life. She took my idea and made it a reality in the same way the QD team has done all my book covers. All gushing aside, once we finished the trailer, what was I going to do with it?

Since I joined The Signed Bookshop, Angela Ford shared a list of peeps she recommended for all sorts of things including marketing. That’s how I discovered Books of Matches Media. Again, I wasn’t expecting a lot, but I saw they offered Instagram and TikTok boosts for videos/reels. I reached out to them and we scheduled an event for the end of March. And then I waited…

Within the first few days of the video tour, I saw an overwhelming response not just from bookstagrammers but the comments rolling in from readers encouraged me. Every step of my author journey has felt like a struggle, so to have so much lovely positive feedback has been the boost I didn’t know I needed. I rarely get to interact directly with readers, besides you lovely few who leave comments or respond to my occasional newsletter. Sometimes I feel like I’m just putting things out into the void and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. I found so much encouragement seeing the response to the Borderlands Saga trailer, it’s breathed new life into my passion for writing.

I also have to add that I laughed every time someone commented on the novelty of a book trailer. I’m apparently old now because I’ve watched something that was once a huge trend die off and become new to another generation (#overthirty).

So what did I take away from all this?

• Mixed media marketing matters more than you might think.
• Don’t be afraid to try something new (or something so old it feels new lol).
• Be brave enough to put yourself out there (even if you’re a major introvert like me!)

Best of luck to all of you and your creative adventures, friends! And if you haven’t yet, please consider giving my book trailer a like and a share ❤

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bookish updates

Don’t want to wait for release day? You can purchase a copy of Scarred Beauty today at this link!

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recent reads I’m crazy about…

After such a heavy (but amazing!) experience reading To Rescue a Witch, I needed a palette cleanser in the form of Coming Home to the Highlands. It’s a bit silly at times and reads like a Hallmark movie, but that’s just what the doctor ordered apparently! Do you ever read fluff or do you stay away from the cheese? 😉

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