BOOK LAUNCH PARTIES
- Why & how to hold -
For a lot of authors (and especially those who choose to self-publish) a book launch party is something that may not at first spring to mind, admittedly not every author holds one, and for those who choose not to it could be down to time or financial constraint.
If you are thinking of holding a book launch you need to be clear on one thing, what is your design or purpose for the party? This may sound obvious, but if you’re holding one which will just be for close friends and family then it’s more about the celebration of the book and its completion. On the other hand, if you’re holding one to increase the books publicity and future sales then you’ll need to design a focused plan to ensure it works for you.
If you are thinking of holding a book launch you need to be clear on one thing, what is your design or purpose for the party? This may sound obvious, but if you’re holding one which will just be for close friends and family then it’s more about the celebration of the book and its completion. On the other hand, if you’re holding one to increase the books publicity and future sales then you’ll need to design a focused plan to ensure it works for you.
So before you decide to hold one or not bother here are some ideas to get you thinking of how one can work for you and how to fully cover organizing it.
For a lot of authors (and especially those who choose to self-publish) a book launch party is something that may not at first spring to mind, admittedly not every author holds one, and for those who choose not to it could be down to time or financial constraint.
1) Set a budget – be realistic in how much money you have to invest in to the promotional launch of your book and if you’ll get back what you spend. For example, would the money be better spent in advertising, and if so would it give you a better return? Or could the people you invite reach out to a wider audience than the alternate advertising? Set your budget and stick to it.
2) Find a location – Check out your local book stores, cafes and bars ensure you visit them prior to ensure you would have enough space. Some book launches can be done in varying locations too, such as a book on photography could be held in a photography shop and so on.
3) Design your floor space plan – if your book launch is in a store then you will be provided with just a table and a cover (if lucky) and placed in the corner, you have to remember that the store will still be trading and their priority is in their own sales. So take decorations and freebies that you can give out to people who are interested. If you’re holding it in a café or bar you may find you have a little more room and of course the atmosphere will be louder, for bars try and aim for the trendier locations and away from pubs, it’s also worth holding here during the afternoon or very early evening.
4) Promote your launch party – cover ALL angles, get on to the social networks, blogs and emails, you should be telling as many people as possible and give as much advance notice as you can. Speak to some of the top bloggers and send them a copy of your book to give away free to one of their readers, as long as they promote your launch, you can even invite them to it too. Ensure you get some flyers designed & printed to put up at the venue, also see if they’re able to further promote the launch day via their own social media and website (again, its great advertising and interest for their customers). Don’t forget to invite your friends and family too, also get them to use their own social media feeds to promote your launch (it all helps).
5) Invite the press – depending on where you are may decide the level of press which you would be able to invite to your launch, send a promotional press release and an invite to the book review/arts journalist at several local newspapers and even some national ones too (you will have more success if you’re in a large city).
6) Invite some VIPs – send invites out to more notable people within the publishing world and maybe even well-established authors too, be polite and courteous, you will get declines but you may also get a dream guest at your event too.
7) Plan the event – so once people have turned up what’s next? You will want to do a reading but for how long and will it keep the people entertained (if you go on for an hour or so people will get bored and leave). So think about entertainment, speak to your local college or university and see what musicians you could get involved at your event. You would be able to get them for a far better price, and of course if you’re inviting the press then a lot of aspiring musicians will jump at the chance. You could also use a slide show or video being screened in the background to promote and also explain more about the book and even its conception.
8) Have stock – make sure you take enough copies of your book with you. Once you have a date then speak to your printer and establish how long the finished books will take to be delivered. Having a clear design plan here will enable a smoother day with the correct volume of books ensuring no opportunity is missed.
9) Shoot! – If you are able to, have a friend you trust take some shots of the day, ones of you book signing, talking to the press, readers and if you’re lucky maybe even a VIP guest too, these will all look great on your website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
10) Prizes – get together some prizes to give away on the day (include this in your budget), they could be just copies of your book, bottles of wine or even iPods. Make this part of the event and advertise along with it.
11) Contacts – the people who you spend time with on the day you should be looking to stay in touch with, so look at ways of capturing their email addresses, this could be worked in to the prize draw or simply taking their business cards. Building this list will help you cover future endeavours and launches with ease.
The book launch party although hard work can bring you rewards too, you’ll certainly make new contacts and hopefully see an increase in both publicity and book sales. So give it some thought, and if you do decide to hold one send us some shots of your day, we’d love to know how you got on. Good luck!!
For a lot of authors (and especially those who choose to self-publish) a book launch party is something that may not at first spring to mind, admittedly not every author holds one, and for those who choose not to it could be down to time or financial constraint.
1) Set a budget – be realistic in how much money you have to invest in to the promotional launch of your book and if you’ll get back what you spend. For example, would the money be better spent in advertising, and if so would it give you a better return? Or could the people you invite reach out to a wider audience than the alternate advertising? Set your budget and stick to it.
2) Find a location – Check out your local book stores, cafes and bars ensure you visit them prior to ensure you would have enough space. Some book launches can be done in varying locations too, such as a book on photography could be held in a photography shop and so on.
3) Design your floor space plan – if your book launch is in a store then you will be provided with just a table and a cover (if lucky) and placed in the corner, you have to remember that the store will still be trading and their priority is in their own sales. So take decorations and freebies that you can give out to people who are interested. If you’re holding it in a café or bar you may find you have a little more room and of course the atmosphere will be louder, for bars try and aim for the trendier locations and away from pubs, it’s also worth holding here during the afternoon or very early evening.
4) Promote your launch party – cover ALL angles, get on to the social networks, blogs and emails, you should be telling as many people as possible and give as much advance notice as you can. Speak to some of the top bloggers and send them a copy of your book to give away free to one of their readers, as long as they promote your launch, you can even invite them to it too. Ensure you get some flyers designed & printed to put up at the venue, also see if they’re able to further promote the launch day via their own social media and website (again, its great advertising and interest for their customers). Don’t forget to invite your friends and family too, also get them to use their own social media feeds to promote your launch (it all helps).
5) Invite the press – depending on where you are may decide the level of press which you would be able to invite to your launch, send a promotional press release and an invite to the book review/arts journalist at several local newspapers and even some national ones too (you will have more success if you’re in a large city).
6) Invite some VIPs – send invites out to more notable people within the publishing world and maybe even well-established authors too, be polite and courteous, you will get declines but you may also get a dream guest at your event too.
7) Plan the event – so once people have turned up what’s next? You will want to do a reading but for how long and will it keep the people entertained (if you go on for an hour or so people will get bored and leave). So think about entertainment, speak to your local college or university and see what musicians you could get involved at your event. You would be able to get them for a far better price, and of course if you’re inviting the press then a lot of aspiring musicians will jump at the chance. You could also use a slide show or video being screened in the background to promote and also explain more about the book and even its conception.
8) Have stock – make sure you take enough copies of your book with you. Once you have a date then speak to your printer and establish how long the finished books will take to be delivered. Having a clear design plan here will enable a smoother day with the correct volume of books ensuring no opportunity is missed.
9) Shoot! – If you are able to, have a friend you trust take some shots of the day, ones of you book signing, talking to the press, readers and if you’re lucky maybe even a VIP guest too, these will all look great on your website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
10) Prizes – get together some prizes to give away on the day (include this in your budget), they could be just copies of your book, bottles of wine or even iPods. Make this part of the event and advertise along with it.
11) Contacts – the people who you spend time with on the day you should be looking to stay in touch with, so look at ways of capturing their email addresses, this could be worked in to the prize draw or simply taking their business cards. Building this list will help you cover future endeavours and launches with ease.
The book launch party although hard work can bring you rewards too, you’ll certainly make new contacts and hopefully see an increase in both publicity and book sales. So give it some thought, and if you do decide to hold one send us some shots of your day, we’d love to know how you got on. Good luck!!