The Making of a Book Trailer

I'm sending a big thank you out to Karen Ruhl for the fantastic job she did on the book trailer for my Apollo Eleven picture book, Back on Earth: When Men First Landed on the Moon. 

Short and sweet and perfect, isn't it? This was a lesson on how to cut to the chase to get a message across all the while maintaining beauty and creativity. Karen nailed it. 

Our goal was to keep it below one minute, and we almost made it. I wrote the script, which ended up being only a few lines long. The words had to drive home the message that the book is a catalyst for sharing the Apollo Eleven moon mission between the generations. 

Then I narrowed down the number of pictures to use from the illustrations by artist Bobbie Gumbert. They had to be representative of not only the book, but also the intended message of the trailer. 

Then Karen took over and worked her magic. I suggested the countdown, and she selected the perfect background music to enhance the second half of the trailer. And TA-DA!  

I met Karen through the Red Awning Gallery in Hudson, North Carolina where we are both members. Karen is open to designing book trailers for others, so check her out on facebook at Karen Ruhl Photography & Design. Her main passion is photography, however as an extension, she is branching out into book trailer design. Here's a feature article about her from the local newspaper several weeks ago.

I appreciate her talent.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Fly Fishing Playbook

Announcing!!! A new book on the market! One that I aided and abetted, but didn't write. One that I would never have guessed I would be a part of before I had written the Fly Fishermen of Caldwell County book. But here I am and there it is. So this one is, you guessed it, another fly fishing book.

Check it out on Amazon. Ebook only.

When Alen Baker asked me to work with him on his fly fishing playbook project, I readily agreed thinking it would be a short, quick book about fly fishing. After all, I reasoned, how much is there to this sport?

Little did I know.

I'm an author, not a fly fisher, but delving deeper into the intricacies and nuances that Alen presented in this book brought a new awareness to me. I realized that I just might be convinced to find a stream and give it a try. His contagious passion, not only for the sport itself, but for maintaining the environment that makes it possible is obvious from the first page to the last. Using a bit of humor, he breaks the mystique wide open to draw in the reader and simplify what could be a daunting chore to a beginner like me, or even to a seasoned fisher looking for that one gem of a tip to up his game.

My Fly Fishing Playbook is a sharing of Alen's accumulated wisdom from his years on the waters around the world, what worked for him, as well as what did not work for him. After several chapters of general introduction, he goes into three distinct kinds of fly fishing:

Coldwater

Warmwater

Saltwater

Okay, so I would not have guessed deep sea fishing could be fly fishing as well. Yes, even sharks respond to a fly on a line!

This book is not necessarily designed to be read straight through, although I was able to build a stronger foundation by doing so. Whether the reader picks and chooses according to his needs, or follows the narrative from the first page on, he (and she) will find this playbook offers strategies and information essential to success.

Bottom line, read and digest what this book has to offer, and then go fishing...fly fishing!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen