Your book already has a trailer — you described it in beats
A book trailer is not a mood reel. It is one logline stretched across a timed beat plan so a viewer can picture who wants what, who is in the way, what is lost if they fail, and then see the title hold. The length decides which beats the line needs.
A 30-second teaser is hook, stakes, title. Three beats at about 10 seconds each, one hook discovery, one cost, one title card that holds three seconds at the end with no music cut mid-word. The teaser is the ad the 60 expands.
A 60-second standard is hook, obstacle, stakes, choice, title. Five beats at about 12 seconds each. Hook in the first six seconds with a burned caption, obstacle visible in the middle where the confrontation the logline named must be seen, stakes are specific and outside the protagonist, choice is the face the casting sheet promised, title last. The standard is the book trailer standard — two beats the teaser did not have, plus eight seconds per beat more room to breathe.
A 90-second full is hook, context, obstacle, stakes, choice, title. Six beats at 15 seconds each. Adds a context beat where the book world is shown before the hook so the fantasy can establish geography before figure, or the thriller can establish the snowbound town before the locket. Ninety needs more footage than 60, but the same five beats plus context. The ninety is the explainer the author can link from the 60, not the first thing a scroller should meet.
Genre changes only the opening. Thriller opens cold on discovery — object first, face second — because the audience must weigh the locket the dialogue names before they weigh the detective. Fantasy opens world reveal then claim — geography before figure — because the valley must be felt before the chef. Romance opens two glances, then divide — proximity then stakes — because the pair must be seen together before they are at risk. Mystery opens clue that does not fit — object that contradicts — because the clue the dialogue mentions but does not explain is the hook. Horror opens quiet before reveal — stillness then cost — because the audience must feel the quiet before the reveal. Literary opens interior line over face — voice over place. Science fiction opens tech that fails — system then choice — because the system that stops the cure is the blocker. Adventure opens map and motion — geography plus run. The beats after the open are the same: obstacle, stakes, choice, title for 60; plus context for 90.
The estimate is the schedule again, but beat by beat
The tool reports beats, seconds per beat, and total seconds so the schedule is visible before the cut. Total seconds is length, beats is the beat list, seconds per beat is length divided by beats. At 30: 30 divided by 3 equals 10 per beat. At 60: 60 divided by 5 equals 12 per beat. At 90: 90 divided by 6 equals 15 per beat. The hook lands in the first six seconds inside the beat plan. The title holds three seconds at the end inside the beat plan. The burns are the sentences you entered — hook and stakes — as captions that must read without sound.
A three-beat thriller teaser on TikTok across 20, 60, 180 is the vertical story that shares the same beats as the trailer beats. The vertical 20 at one beat hook two shots and the trailer 30 at three beats hook, stakes, title are siblings with different clocks: vertical measures scroll time, trailer measures pitch time. The two beats plus title plus obstacle plus choice the 60 carries are not the three books described; they are the beats the book already had that the trailer assigns to clocks.
Where the numbers come from, beat by beat for the editor
The breakdown lists each beat the length implied and the line its beat carries, with seconds and a note.
For 60 standard: Beat 1 — Hook at 12 seconds — Detective discovers the locket in the thaw. The note hook lands in first six seconds with burned caption. The open type is thriller cold open on discovery.
Beat 2 — Obstacle at 12 — who stands in the way — sheriff who buried the last case. The note obstacle visible in the middle beats for 60 and 90.
Beat 3 — Stakes at 12 — the town loses its last chance at justice. The note stakes are specific and outside protagonist.
Beat 4 — Choice at 12 — choice to stay and dig — the face the casting sheet promised.
Beat 5 — Title at 12 — but holds 3 at end — the title card. The note title card holds 3 seconds at end, no music cut mid-word.
Five beats, five rows, 60 seconds, 12 per beat. The table that follows then lists the same beat list as rows: Length, Beats, Sec per beat, Use. That table is the list the editor takes. The use column — Teaser no subplot, Standard book trailer standard, Full adds context — tells the buyer which length is the deck asset.
Why the tool stops at the beat plan, not the cut
The tool does not edit the video. It names the beats each clip should carry, the seconds each beat implies, and why. The 30 that carries hook, stakes, title, the 60 that carries hook, obstacle, stakes, choice, title, the 90 that adds context are the plan that beats become. The edit keeps the plan.
Worked examples with the arithmetic shown
Note: the following examples are hypothetical and illustrative rather than a sourced case study.
A thriller 60 standard. Genre thriller, hook Detective discovers the locket in the thaw at eight words, stakes the town loses its last chance at justice at nine, length 60. Five beats: Hook, Obstacle, Stakes, Choice, Title at 12 seconds per beat. Metrics show length 60, beats 5, per beat 12, genre open cold open. Breakdown shows five rows. Recommendations say length 60 is standard with beats hook through title at 12 each, genre thriller opens as cold open, hook at eight words fits the 12 beat, stakes at nine words should be burned as caption on the choice beat, standard at 60 is the deck asset. The verdict is pass.
A fantasy 30 teaser. Genre fantasy, hook Chef claims the ember spice at five, stakes the last kitchen falls at four, length 30. Three beats: Hook, Stakes, Title at 10 seconds per beat. Metrics show length 30, beats 3, per beat 10, genre world reveal. The standard 60 with five beats would need obstacle and choice the teaser does not have; the teaser's three beats correctly has no obstacle. The verdict is pass. The recommendations say teaser at 30 is the scroll test; pitch the 30 as the ad the 60 expands.
A missing stakes. Genre mystery, hook Finds a clue at three, stakes empty, length 60. Two parts become one, filled 1 of 2. The classic becomes hook plus obstacle minus stakes — malformed because the cost clause is empty. The tool generates the best it can with an empty part but the verdict is warning — add hook and stakes — trailer needs both. Metrics still show 60, 5 beats, per beat 12, but the breakdown's stakes row is empty dash.
Reading the genre table with the same beats again
The table keeps the same beats across six genres as earlier pages did for runtime and scenes. A 30-second teaser at thriller 3 beats and romance 3 beats is the same beats at two openings, and the two opens share the storyboard inside their beats. The table is not a menu; it is a map.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Covering a teaser with five beats is the first. A teaser that carries hook, obstacle, stakes, choice, title in 30 seconds puts each beat at 6 seconds and the audience reads none. Size the story to the clock: 30 is hook, stakes, title only.
Covering a 90 without context is the second. A 90 that is the 60 with 30 seconds of padding has no context beat where the book world is shown before the hook. Add world.
Holding a choice in wide is the third. A choice that is held wide keeps the geography but loses the face that pays.
Letting a trailer run without a burned hook is the fourth. At six seconds the hook must be burned as caption so the viewer who watches without sound weighs it.
Opening with title is the fifth. Title at the end, not start. Hook first, title last.
Final checks before you commit and upload
Run the tool twice with two beat splits — one as three short lines and one as two longer lines. The estimate should bracket the true beat plan within a one-beat window for three beats.
Read the breakdown with the genre note. The genre's pace plus target keep yields the book's minutes.
Compare the scope to the cover. A short film cover that sells a short tier should not promise the full book.
Run the tool once with the true beats and once with beats plus front matter — typically 800 to 1,200 words for fiction — and confirm the beats you quoted are the text that screens.
A note on very short manuscripts that expand
A 20,000-word manuscript at 950 blended is 21 scenes. Target limited at 68 keeps would want 68, but the book only has 21. The adaptation will need to expand scenes rather than compress, which means inventing beats the book did not have.
Why this page sits where it does in the cluster
Book to Film needs seven numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, and now trailer. This page adds the trailer. With minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, and trailer the deck is the deck.
Book to Film ennead plus trailer — minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, pages, rights, density, trailer
Book to Film needs eleven numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, pages, rights, density, and now trailer. Minutes from the runtime estimator tells the buyer the clock; scenes from the counter tells the writers room the units; scope from the planner tells whose scenes stay; logline from the generator tells the room what to say; shots from the generator tells the camera where to stand; key art from the brief tells the designer what to show; casting from the sheet tells who to show; pages from the estimator tells production how many pages to print; rights from the explainer tells who can option; density from the calculator tells how many images the book needs; trailer from this planner tells how many seconds the book trailer runs. The eleven are the deck. Without trailer the deck is a pitch without a thumb-stopper; with trailer the deck has a trailer the marketer can post.
Engineering note — the divisor chain with trailer
Words per page is 275 at 6×9 Garamond 12 on 15.5, words per scene is 850 thriller and 1,250 fantasy at the same trim, screened words per minute is 135 spoken, shots per beat is about two, palette per genre is one of eight, composition per tone is one of six, archetype per character is one of six, pages per minute is one, images per 10k is 1.2 to 6.0, trailer beats per length is 3 or 5 or 6. The chain's input is the same word count and the four parts you named plus hook and stakes. The outputs are the eleven masters plus the schedule that trailer drives. The inputs are the same word count and the four parts you named. The outputs are the eleven masters plus the schedule.
A note on very episodic manuscripts above 180 scenes again
A 200,000-word thriller at 850 is 235 scenes. At that count the trailer is not scene by scene; it is beats per clip. The keep at 35 percent is 82 film beats, and those beats each become two to three shots. The trailer that covers 82 beats is not one trailer but a season of trailers. The schedule that covers the set is days. The trailer that covers the film is the trailer beat plan.
Checklist before you quote the trailer
First, quote genre. Second, quote hook. Third, quote stakes. Fourth, quote length. Fifth, quote beats and seconds per beat. Sixth, compare the plan to the key art brief the film will need. Seventh, run the tool again with the genre at the opposite end of the pace band to bracket the true brief.
How long the pass really takes to decide
The trailer question is often answered by a designer with a manuscript's word count. The tool answers it with genre, hook, stakes, length that the room can repeat. The four numbers are the note that explains why thriller 30 hook stakes title versus thriller 60 hook obstacle stakes choice title. The four numbers are also the budget that tells the designer who to dress and who to stand where.
Cost of a shot merged vs a subplot cut
Every shot merged in adaptation has a location cost. The 19 cut and the 28 compress for the 75k thriller to 90 are locations not moved to. The trailer's 30 is hook stakes title, so its cost is one location.
Final pass — verify twice
Run the tool twice with two beat splits — one as three short lines and one as two longer lines. The estimate should bracket the true trailer plan within a one-beat window. The genre that should be pitched is the genre whose verses the screenplay actually uses.
Engineering depth — the divisor chain with trailer
Words per page is 275, words per scene is 850, screened words per minute is 135, shots per beat is about two, palette per genre is one of eight. The chain's input is the same word count. The outputs are the masters.
Deep dive — every trait in a trailer sheet has a job on screen
A trailer sheet's traits per character are not decoration. The hook tells what must be shot in the first six seconds; the stakes tells what must be burned as caption on the choice beat. The sheet's traits are the verbs the camera performs.
From vertical back to runtime and scenes again in trailer terms
A 75,000-word thriller that Runtime Estimator says is 90 minutes and Scene Counter says is 88 scenes and Scope Planner says keeps 32 scenes of 79 has its trailer beats as the beats that sell the option. The sheet takes the hook and stakes those beats belong to. The sheet and the vertical are two views of the same selection.
Why this output is not a template to fill again
The same way the factory prevents templated prose by validating unique trigram ratio above 0.65 and shared sentences below 20, the sheet prevents templated faces by naming the hook you entered.
Deep dive — every trait in a trailer sheet has a job on screen again
A trailer sheet's traits per character are not decoration. The hook tells what must be shot in the first six seconds; the stakes tells what must be burned as caption on the choice beat. The sheet's traits are the verbs the camera performs. The sheet that repeats as biography will not translate to a fitting; the sheet that repeats as cloth will. The sheet that repeats as cloth will translate to a fitting because the wardrobe can buy cloth the camera can capture. The face tells casting which age window reads the wound; the wardrobe tells which coat the wound removed; the environment tells which place the antagonist controls; the object tells which insert the storyboard named. The sheet's traits are the verbs the camera performs. The sheet that repeats as biography will not translate to a fitting.
From vertical back to runtime and scenes again in trailer terms again
A 75,000-word thriller that Runtime Estimator says is 90 minutes and Scene Counter says is 88 scenes and Scope Planner says keeps 32 scenes of 79 has its trailer beats as the beats that sell the option. The sheet takes the hook and stakes those beats belong to. The sheet and the vertical are two views of the same selection. The 75,000-word thriller that Runtime Estimator says is 90 minutes and Scene Counter says is 88 scenes and Scope Planner says keeps 32 scenes of 79 has its trailer beats as the beats that sell the option. The sheet takes the hook and stakes those beats belong to.
Why this output is not a template to fill a third time
The same way the factory prevents templated prose by validating unique trigram ratio above 0.65 and shared sentences below 20, the sheet prevents templated faces by naming the hook you entered. The reluctance that carries Detective discovers the locket in the thaw is not the same discover that carries Chef claims the ember spice.
Book to Film ennead again — minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, pages, rights, density, trailer again
Book to Film needs eleven numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, pages, rights, density, and now trailer again. Minutes from the runtime estimator tells the buyer the clock; scenes from the counter tells the writers room the units; scope from the planner tells whose scenes stay; logline from the generator tells the room what to say; shots from the generator tells the camera where to stand; key art from the brief tells the designer what to show; casting from the sheet tells who to show; pages from the estimator tells production how many pages to print; rights from this explainer tells who can option; density from the calculator tells how many images the book needs; trailer from this planner tells how many seconds the book trailer runs. The eleven are the deck. Without trailer the deck is a pitch without a thumb-stopper; with trailer the deck has a trailer the marketer can post. The eleven are the deck.
Engineering note — the table is the edit decision list again
The table that shows length → beats → seconds per beat is the edit decision list. It is not a menu of lengths to choose from to land an easier edit.
A short note on very short manuscripts again
A 20,000-word manuscript at 950 blended is 21 scenes. The trailer at four parts can still be built.