There are numerous ways you can approach doing a cover reveal video.
In a traditional sense, when you are first promoting your pre-published book, you can do a true cover reveal and show how excited you are about the book being published.
However, similar to what I talked about last week, a cover reveal doesn’t have to be a “one and done” kind of thing before you publish the book. Instead, think a cover reveal video as a unique, creative way you can focus attention the cover of your book.
If you’re publishing multiple versions of the book, you can do a cover reveal video for each version. For example, if you publish an audiobook version, you can do a cover reveal showing the cover on a phone screen with headphones in. Similarly, if you have an ebook version in addition to the hardcopy, you can do a video showing your book on an iPad or Kindle.
You can use different sounds and effects to “reveal” your cover in fun ways. Here are 12 ways I’ve seen authors pull this off:
1) Talk about your cover design process.
2) Ask viewers to choose between covers.
3) If you’re publishing a series or if you’ve published other books in the same genre, show the books that came out before the current book and then reveal the newest release.
4) If you have a hardback format, “undress” the book by slowly sliding off the dust jacket. Select background music that fits the theme.
5) Use the “green screen” effect so your book is the background behind you. Cover it up with your face and torso in the screen as you introduce it in some way. Then move out of the screen so the viewer sees the full cover.
6) Similar to the last idea, introduce your book in some way and then use the “Green Screen Hand” effect to show the cover of the book during your video.
7) Place your book on a bookshelf with other books and use the Bling Bling effect to make it stand out.
8) Use a sound that expresses anxiety or excitement, for example “UCKERS – @Shygirl” and do a photo montage video with the book cover.
9) Show the cover in a dark mode or some way that the viewer can see it a little bit but can’t see it clearly. Select a sound that has suspense or a dramatic element to it, and then reveal the cover in sync with the sound.
10) Talk about your first impression of the cover while revealing it.
11) Tell the backstory or synopsis of the book in text clips with background images and then reveal the cover at the end.
12) Similar to the last tip, describe the synopsis of the book and then reveal the cover at the end.
Again, it’s important not to think of cover reveal videos as “one and done.” Using the ideas above, you should be able to include at least one unboxing video per month in your monthly schedule.
For more tips, see this post on 19 ways to promote a book on TikTok.
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