Hey, authors! World Read Aloud Day is Feb 1 and Annie Sullivan and K.M. Robinson are teaming up for an incredible project that you can be a part of!
To participate, all you have to do is a film a short video of yourself reading your first paragraph (or so) of your story.
Then, on Friday Feb 1, we’re going to be posting our videos on social media (Facebook, Instagram, IG TV, Youtube, etc) at 3pm EST. You can post manually or set up a scheduled post, but if you can’t do either, posting any time on that day is fine…we just want to make a big splash by posting as many as we can together.
Specifications for video:
*It’s World Read Aloud Day
*Introduce yourself and your book
*Read your first paragraph on camera
*Let people know where to learn more about you and your book (give your website and social media)
*Encourage readers to shout out their favorite opening paragraph in honor of World Read Aloud Day
Sample Video Script:
“It’s World Read Aloud Day! I’m K.M. Robinson and I’d like to share the first paragraph of my Goldilocks on a mission retelling, Golden. *reads first paragraph* You can learn more about Golden at kmrobinsonbooks.com and @kmrobinsonbooks on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, IG TV, and Youtube. Thanks so much for joining me for World Read Aloud Day 2019—be sure to give a shout out to YOUR favorite opening paragraph and share in the Read Aloud fun! Happy reading!”
Please remember:
This is to be a short video. We know your entire first chapter is amazinggggg, but viewers only watch videos they feel they have time for. Please keep your videos 1-2 minutes long, but remember, Instagram only supports videos up to one minute long, so shorter is better.
This also doesn’t need to be a professional video. You can film this with any camera, phone, or computer.
Grab the overlay:
We’ve created a World Read Aloud video overlay if you’d like to use it on your video. You are not required to use it, but if you have the ability to add it to your footage, please feel free!
You can download the png overlay by clicking >>>here<<<
Need a caption to go with your video?
Feel free to grab this one:
It’s World Read Aloud Day and I’ve teamed up with my author friends to bring you #firstparagraphread where we’ll be reading our first paragraphs on videos for you! Check out the tag to see all the author’s videos and make sure you give a shout out to YOUR favorite opening paragraph! For now, here’s a look at (book title)’s opening!
**On Instagram, be sure to use some of these hashtags to get more exposure:
#worldreadaloudday #worldreadaloudday2019 #bookstagram #amreading #amwriting #booksofinsttagram #auhorlife #authorsofinstagram #bookish
Our Goal:
We want to give authors a place to share the opening of their books with their fans, but we also want to encourage readers to get in on this too. Shouting out their favorite opening paragraphs is a fantastic way to encourage them to get involved.
If you want to take it a step further, feel free to ask your fans to do their best interpretation of your opening paragraph. Put a spin on it and ask them to read it in a silly/dramatic/scary voice. Do something to make it fun and memorable.
Have questions?
Feel free to get in touch with Annie or K.M. if you have questions. We want to make this a huge success and can’t wait to see your videos. Please be sure to tag us in the comments of your posts so we can watch your videos and support you (and also use #firstchapterread that hashtag to make it easy to find!)
RECAP:
*Film a video of yourself reading your first paragraph
*Post video on social media on Friday Feb 1 @3pm EST/noon Pacific using hashtags #firstparagraphread and #worldreadaloudday #worldreadaloudday2019
*Encourage fans to join in
*Support other authors by watching their short videos and leaving a comment
We can’t wait to see you there! Feel free to let us know if you’re participating so we can make sure we show up to engage with your video! Happy filming and reading!