Muse author of the soon to be released GUILTY KISSES rose with a courage that deserves all the rest of us to applaud.
Loving the music of
Gowan she took a chance asked him to let her use his talent for her Book Trailer...and here is the link to her success...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J41qLNKjrQA
But, here in her own words the path Killarney Sheffield took to having a beautiful song by her hero on her Book Trailer. Before I do that, though, I was to just say...
You are beyond brave, Killarney. Well Done!
The story behind the trailer
The trailer for my debut historical romance novel Guilty Kisses was released on youtube Friday March 4th. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J41qLNKjrQA
I have been bombarded with questions, 1 in particular that I would like to address today. The question? How did you get Canadian award winning singer/songwriter Lawrence Gowan to agree to the use of the song Love Makes You Believe, from his 1990 Lost Brotherhood album? Well, the answer is simple...I asked him. Now before you rush out and bang on your favorite musician's door I do not suggest you try something like this on a whim. Let's not make your favorite star think authors are all a bunch of crazy stalkers! LOL! This was a very long process for me. I suppose I should start at the beginning...
In July I signed my first writing contract with MuseItUp Publishing based in Montreal Quebec, Canada. By fall I had three more contracts signed but I really had no idea what was involved in being a 'published' author. I was encouraged by the CEO and founder of MuseItUp to attend her award winning Muse Online Writer's Conference so I took her advice and was literally blown away by the PR and other things required by an author. One of the classes I took was given by award winning cover artist Delilah Stephans on building book trailers. I suppose because I am the artistic type and love music that the class really piqued my interest. I started putting together the trailer for Guilty Kisses but where I became bogged down was adding the music. There are wonderful sites on the internet where you can download free music by composers to use in your trailers, however I had my heart sent on a certain sound and feel for mine that I just couldn't find the perfect match for. Yes I set my sites impossibly high. Then one afternoon carpooling the kids somewhere our local radio station played Moonlight Desires by Gowan. I knew right there and then this was the sound I was looking for. I got home, purchased the song from itunes and fit it on the trailer. Now please don't get me wrong, I did not release it for public viewing as it violates copyright laws.
Well, I decided to give it a shot, find out who owned the currant copyright and ask if I could use it. That proved to be harder than I would have thought. I spent weeks scouring the internet only to come across dead end after dead end. Finally I stumbled upon Gowan's official website. I took a chance and posted on his forum who I was and that I was looking for who held the rights to the song. Now I know what you are thinking, stars don't read the posts on their websites. Wrong! At least Gowan does. He was wonderful enough to send me a personal email back with the name of the Canadian company that holds the rights to his wonderful songs. Now I had a place to start!
I phoned the company, found out who I needed to talk to and began a months long email conversation back and forth. I showed the company the trailer I had made and their response was they would think about it but that Gowan had the final say. Yes, I thought my chances were about 10% I would get a yes, I mean I am just a little debut Canadian writer... The company got back to me quickly with a no to Moonlight Desires but suggested two other pieces from Gowan off his lesser know album Lost Brotherhood. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement! It took me 10 ½ hours to rebuild the trailer to fit the new song which is just as lovely as the one I asked for then I sent it back to them. They came back within hours with a yes and a 1 yr contract.
I guess the reason I wanted to share this story is to remind you all you just never know unless you ask. I am told chances are slim you will get a yes on a piece of music but you never know do you?
Thank you, Lawrence Gowan and Anthem Entertainment Group for your generosity.
Killarney Sheffield.
http://killarneysheffield.bravehost.com/
http://www.museituppublishing.com/
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