We’ve been receiving a lot of videos to post at IndyPlanet Digital, but unfortunately we’re having to reject most of them for one reason or another. Let me run down a few of the most common mistakes we’re seeing see that you can insure that your video makes it to the site —

Far and away the biggest problem we’re seeing is the use of copyrighted music in the videos. This is a HUUUUUGE no-no. I understand that you want awesome music in the video, but you can’t use copyrighted music without paying a licensing fee. We absolutely will not run a video with unlicensed music.

The second problem is the inclusion of things that would cause confusion to our site visitors. For example, many of you no doubt created these videos a while back to help you sell copies of your printed comic. I understand that and don’t mind the re-purposing at all. However when a visitor to IndyPlanet Digital sees order instructions on your video, or Diamond re-order codes, or “for more information visit www.mywhatever.com” that doesn’t help them decide to click the “buy it” button. It only muddies the water and makes them wonder whether we’re trying to sell them a digital download or a printed comic. Similarly, we can’t have a big plug in your video for a competing site. (I hope I don’t have to explain that one.)

I hate to make an analogy to movies when comics get so over-compared to movies already, but think of a movie trailer — it tells you the studio it’s from, it teases you with text, video, and music, and other than a release date or a “coming soon” that’s pretty much it. There’s no instructions on how or where you can see it, etc. There’s no extraneous information at all. Your video should follow a similar format — you don’t even have to put a release date or a “coming soon” since the comic is immediately available.

Finally, we’ve had to reject a few videos for content problems. The comic that you’re selling at IndyPlanet Digital does not have to be an all ages comic — however IndyPlanet Digital is an All Ages friendly site. Back to the movie trailer analogy … think of the MPAA notice at the beginning of the trailer. Your comic can be rated “R” … that’s fine. However, your “trailer” must be suitable for all viewers. This means no nudity in the video, no F bombs or other inappropriate language, and no overly graphic violence or disturbing images.

If you’ll just keep those things in mind then your videos will have a much, much higher chance of making it to the site.