FOR AUTHORS & SELF-PUBLISHERS
Market a book without a publisher’s video budget.
Readings, trailers and behind-the-desk clips, made on the machine you wrote the book on, with no subscription attached.
THE PAIN
- Publishers fund video for their biggest names, not you
- A book is a static object and the feeds want motion
- Launch is one week and video takes longer than that
THE WORKFLOW
Record a reading or a piece to camera
Add captions, a title card and quiet music
Export vertical and 16:9 from one edit
FROM YOUR PHONE
Film a shelf shot, a reading or a signing on the phone and cut it the same afternoon.
Zella for iPhone →WHEN THIS OUTGROWS THE FREE TIER
A launch usually needs the same trailer in three shapes at once, which is the multi-aspect queue rather than three exports.
Everything else here is free forever: the complete editor, all the AI, unlimited recording, and watermark-free export up to 2 minutes at 1080p. Pro is $89 once and covers Mac and iPhone on a single purchase. See pricing →
Book marketing has an awkward shape. Launch week is short, the budget is usually your own, and the object you are selling does not move, which is a problem on feeds built entirely around motion.
Zella is the cheap way to make a book move. Readings, cover reveals, a piece to camera about why you wrote the thing, a shelf shot with a title card - all filmed on a phone and edited in a couple of taps, captioned so they read on mute.
It is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, which suits a release cycle where you make eight videos in a fortnight and then nothing for eight months.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SHIP
A reading from the book
One take, filler words removed, captions burned in so the words are readable as well as heard.
A book trailer
Intro and outro cards, kinetic titles with gradient fills, and music that ducks under a voiceover.
A behind-the-desk clip
Camera with a clean background so the room does not have to be tidy or well lit.
A quote short for the feed
A caption-led vertical cut, reframed with tracking rather than a centre crop.
THE HONEST ANSWERS
I release a book every two years.
That is the argument for not renting the tool. A subscription bills through the eighteen quiet months; $89 once does not. Zella has no licence server, so it also still opens for the next book.
I have no idea what makes a good book video.
Neither do most authors, and the format that works is usually the least produced one: you, talking about the book, captioned. Zella makes that specific thing quick, and the 45 documentation chapters assume no prior editing knowledge.
Can I do this without a publisher or a videographer?
Yes, and that is the point. Phone, one take, one tap. The free tier covers a 30 to 60 second launch clip with no watermark.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
How do I make a book trailer without a budget?
Film a reading or a piece to camera on a phone, then use intro and outro cards, kinetic titles and ducking music. A short trailer fits the free tier with no watermark.
Do I need a subscription?
No. Zella Pro is $89 once and Founder is $299 once, which suits a release cycle with long quiet stretches.
Can I add captions to a reading?
Yes. Transcription runs on-device and captions style with one of ten presets on Mac or nine on iPhone.
Will it still work for my next book in two years?
There is no licence server to phone home and no kill switch, so the app does not stop working if a server does.
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