Category: Tutorials

How-to articles for writers.

How to Make a Book Trailer in iMovie Part One

Author Candace WilliamsGuest Post
by Candace Williams

RJ Crayton’s inspiring article, Authors Can Make Book Trailers With YouTube’s Free Editor, came along just when I was starting to make a book trailer in iMovie. IU asked me if I’d write an article about it for all of us Mac users. Of course! This will be in two parts. Don’t worry about the volume of information. I’ve broken the whole process down to just four basic steps to guide you. In this post, I will concentrate on the preparations, and in part two, the actual creation of the book trailer.

Before we get into iMovie itself, there are a few things you should do to make the process easier. Continue reading “How to Make a Book Trailer in iMovie Part One”

How to Remove a Pirate Site from a Google Search

www removing a pirate site from searchI recently wrote a post instructing how and where to send a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice when you find your work has been pirated. My experience has been that this is usually all that’s needed to ensure the offending site removes your content.

Usually, but not always. Some sites, particularly sites based in countries that don’t recognize U.S. Copyright law, may refuse to respond, or in some cases (as once happened with me), may respond to inform you that they don’t have to obey no stinkin’ law. Continue reading “How to Remove a Pirate Site from a Google Search”

Authors Can Make Book Trailers with YouTube’s Free Editor

YouTube_FINALI’ve been interested in making a book trailer for a while, so I was intrigued when K.S. Brooks told me YouTube had a completely online video maker that was FREE. See, FREE gets me every time. (Sorry). I thought I’d test out YouTube’s video editor, and what I’ve discovered is that it’s doable, but it’s not a simple plug-and-play system with no hitches. Continue reading “Authors Can Make Book Trailers with YouTube’s Free Editor”

Can We Talk?: Speak in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word LogoOne of the self-editing tips you hear all the time is to read your work aloud. It can be a big help for catching errors in your work. But what if you don’t have a place to read aloud to yourself? What if your cranky roommate would object?

You can get Microsoft Word to read your work to you. Built into the more recent versions of Office is a text-to-speech utility called, appropriately, Speak. I didn’t know about it until Richard Bender tipped us off – mainly because Word doesn’t put it front-and-center on any of its menus. But you can put it there yourself. Here’s how. Continue reading “Can We Talk?: Speak in Microsoft Word”