I Love Technology...

I know what you're thinking... everyone loves technology, but I really love it. I jump at any chance to embrace new gadgets and toys.(And yes, you may read into that whatever you like:D) When it comes to travelling, I'm the kind of girl who doesn't venture from the house without every time-wasting invention known to man to help keep my kids occupied. I have friends, who've been dedicated to teaching their children the art of scenery passing by the window. Not me. I say pop in that DVD, play on your nintendo's and for God's sake, charge your ipods!

My mentality is, anything to prevent chaos and blood from erupting in the back seat is worth both my money, and my sanity. With three kids and a dog to keep happy, I'll gladly allow my kids to embrace the newest gadgets and happily listen to the Transformers over and over as we drive across the country. But it doesn't stop there...

With my vault into the published life, I've discovered that authors have to be profoundly knowledgeable in most aspects of Internet life. Since signing that first contract, I've made my own website (yes, I made it... all by my little self and I update it regularly), started a blog, and learned how to make book trailers. Now while this seems straight forward enough, the tricky stuff is turning all of these things from a simple template into something to call your own. And for some, it's meant learning basic HTML. Four letters that can make any adult cry...

But if you want a background image on your blog and videos embedded in your web, then sooner or later you've got to bite the almighty bullet, and scour the web to decipher the intricacies of modern technology.

Funny thing is... I LOVE it. I love spending a weekend making a book trailer, and recently, I ventured onto photobucket and started making slideshows to incorporate into my blog and website. Now I have my book covers floating across space in front of fancy backgrounds and it looks fabulous. At least I think it does. Here's one of the slideshows I made today...

So what do you think? Not only that, but I've discovered how to embed all my book trailers onto the sidebar of my blog so they're always there to play... I know, some of you blogger types had that figured out long ago, but I swear, I'm like a kid in a candy shop... of a hot momma in a sex shop, lol. I love tinkering with this stuff to see what I can create. And since I didn't have it ready for my last post, here's my book trailer for Checkmate, my erotic thriller that was released December 8th...

Now I know some readers don't bother with book trailers, and there are some that probably think the only true selling feature is a great blurb and a great cover, followed by an even greater excerpt. I agree, of course. No amount of fancy looking propaganda will get a reader to buy your book if they read an excerpt and aren't intrigued to read more. But the value of these items, especially trailers, goes far beyond the obvious.

I'm amazed at where my trailers end up... when I google to see what's up with my books (yes, we authors must do this to keep a vigilance on piracy, but I promised I wouldn't get into that here... I have a bit of an issue at the moment) I'm stunned at who has grabbed my trailer and posted it on another site. There were a few that I couldn't even read because it was in some kind of cryptic language I thought belonged in Egypt. But there it was, for all the world to see. And that my friends, is exposure.

Now I don't claim that this kind of promotional material increases my sales any... heck I haven't been at this long enough to know... but I'm hoping it can't hurt. And the best part is... most of it's free. Well, making the trailers does cost a bit—for music and photos. But if you purchase them at the right places, it's really only a few bucks a trailer. And making them yourself is a huge savings factor. As for the slideshows... well, yeah, I broke down and upgraded to the pro package so I could get unlimited space and ad-free slideshows, but it works out to $20.00 per year, or about $1.70 per month. Now that's the kind of expense I can afford. And in the end, if I'm happy with the results—or absolutely ticked pink with them—then it's worth it, regardless of the cost.

So there you have it. My leap into the world of HTML tags and youtube movies. I'd love to know what you think of my experiments. Do you have any kind of "wow" factor if you visit a blog or website that has this kind of stuff, or do you consider it flashy? (You can see more of my handiwork on My Website) Of course, I'll probably keep dabbling, either way, but feedback is crucial. If nothing else, I strive to improve, in every aspect of my career. And in the new millennium, that means conquering technology as well.

Thanks for dropping by...

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

KrisNorris.ca