Running a Physical Book Launch (Fiction)

By Christine Dillon @ACWriters

Last week I shared my experience in running the physical book launches for my traditionally published non-fiction books. Today I'm talking about the opposite: launching my first self-published novel, Grace in Strange Disguise.

I found launching fiction harder than my non-fiction. This may have been because I no longer had a publisher behind me. However, I think it was also because fiction is a more personal thing rather than something based on an area of expertise.

The ‘how to’s’ of fiction will also depend on your genre. I looked on in envy at those who wrote historical fiction and thus could have fun with ‘fancy dress’ in the era of the book’s setting.

I took my time planning for my book launch, thinking about why I wanted to do a physical launch and therefore what elements would bring about my purpose.

Why?

Fiction was a new thing for me. I wanted to launch it properly so potential buyers would notice it. I also wanted to ‘reward’ people who had been behind me during the four and a half year gestation.

My non-fiction work with Bible storytelling had also demonstrated to me the power of ‘story’ and I knew that the ‘story behind the book’ was powerful. All my life when I bought a piece of artwork or similar, it was the ‘story behind it’s crafting’ or the ‘story of the artist’ that really made me want to buy the product.

Since my novel was Christian fiction, this was another way to minister to people and give a testimony of God’s character and work.

I wanted people to leave the launch saying, “Don’t we serve an amazing God.”

My book launch: Saturday 18 November, 2-4 p.m.

1. Warm welcome & prayer

2. ‘Story behind the story’ interview

• You never intended to write a novel what happened to change your mind?
• You didn't spring immediately into action, why not?
• It took you 4 1/2 and a half years to write and edit your novel. What kept you going?
• What was the process of writing a novel?
• You struggled to know how fiction fits in your life. Why have you struggled?
• What is self-publishing and why have you chosen that route?
• Why write this story? Why write a question fiction? Christian fiction?
• What has God taught you?

3. Q and A

I allowed the audience to ask their questions.

4. Book reading

I read the prologue and first chapter

5. Competition

Along the way we had a competition to name some characters for the next book. I described the characters and they could write down a name and will ‘win’ an acknowledgement in the next book and a free copy of book 2.

I also gave away some ‘thank you’ copies of the book to people like my editors, the cover designer and those who were a significant part of the book like the lady who I interviewed about breast cancer and the woman who designed my website. I wove these gifts into the ‘story’ of the book’s process.

6. Prayer

We had a prayer time to conclude which is very unusual but fits because of my ‘normal’ job (as a missionary) and how I view my writing. It also included a prayer that I would not be negatively changed by being an ‘author’.

Reflections

Timing

Mid-November turned out to be a good time because people were already thinking about Christmas presents’. Saturday afternoon mostly avoided the children’s sport issue and ensured more people were available since they’re often out in the evenings on a weekend. I would use this time again.

Interview

An interview is much easier to listen to than a monologue. I chose a good interviewer and we worked on the questions upfront. The questions focused on allowing attendees to take the spiritual journey with me. Obviously you wouldn’t have this focus when releasing a general market book but there are still plenty of questions about how your got the inspiration and the process of research and writing that would interest people.

Question and Answer time

This is a good time to learn what interests your audience. It gets them involved and increases their desire to support you (or not). I would definitely include this next time.

Book reading

I included this because when I asked around people expected it. Obviously with a young children’s book you could read more or perhaps the entire book. The key I think is for this not to be longer than ten minutes.

Competitions

These are fun and if it can be something that increases the audience’s connection with your books, even better. It could even be something like ‘vote’ on the title for the next book in the series or …

Thank you gifts

It is so hard to adequately thank all those who have been a part of the team. Keep this short and sweet and if possible weave it in and include bits of the ‘story behind’ the story with each presentation.

A general principle for me has been to involve as many people as possible and acknowledge them in some way.

What elements would you include in a physical book launch? Why?

About Christine Dillon

Christine never intended to become an author. The only kind of writing she wondered if she might do was biography. However, it was a surprise to her to write poetry, non-fiction and now, fiction.

Christine was a physiotherapist but now she writes ‘storyteller’ on any airport forms. She can legitimately claim to be this as she has written a book on storytelling and spends much of her time either telling Bible stories or training others to do so from her base in southern Taiwan.

In her spare time Christine loves all things active – hiking, cycling, swimming, snorkeling. But she also likes reading and genealogical research, as that satisfies her desire to be an historical detective.

You can find Christine online at:

www.storytellerchristine.com
www.storyingthescriptures.com (for Bible storytelling)
https://www.facebook.com/storytellerchristine/

Launching Your Book Baby

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

CWD/ACW Cross-Post

Christenings, twenty-first birthday parties, weddings, ship launchings, bridge openings, house warmings—all ways to celebrate new beginnings.

Having a book launch provides a great opportunity to celebrate your book, make a splash, spark initial visibility, and it may be the one time people don’t mind if you raving about your book.

So what makes a successful launch?

Be clear about your goals.

What do you hope to achieve with your launch. Is it primarily to celebrate your achievement and/or to bring your book to attention of potential readers and fans and/or to make some initial sales?

 Who is your target audience?

A family history may (or may not) be targeted more at the extended family rather than history buffs or members of the historical society.  An e-launch of a book aimed at techno-challenged seniors may not be the best choice.

Be prepared

• Make sure your book is properly edited, critiqued, formatted and ready to publish in time for the launch.
• Talk to your publisher (if traditional published) to work out what they offer & what they expect from you.
• Start planning well before hand— the type of launch, who you’ll invite, giveaways etc.
• Have a budget— this might be small or large but you don’t necessarily have to spend big to have a successful launch.
• Maybe form a ‘street team’ —a group of people who are enthusiastic about your book and who are prepared to review and promote it via word of mouth, sharing links etc. and therefore create a buzz early on.
• Make sure you have enough books on hand (if physical launch)—allow leeway for delays or mistakes in printing/sending.
• Reviews—arrange reader reviews (through advanced reader copies) several weeks before the launch.
• Announce your launch—through social media, your website, email list etc (your platform).

Decide on what kind of launch

Most people, when they think of a launch, think of a physical one—with a physical venue and physical (print) books but you can also have an e-launch (or maybe combine it with another event).

Physical launch

• You need to arrange a time and date, venue, decorations, suitable refreshments and activities or entertainment.
• Send out invitations to friends and family, fans and readers, and other interested parties.
• Advertise—on Facebook (unpaid & paid), announcements of new releases (e.g. ACW), other social media, blogs, among groups that might be interested in your book, local media etc
• Make sure you have enough books for people to purchase on the day.
• Have activities, giveways—maybe takeaway items with your brand or book title such as bookmarks, T-shirts or coffee mugs.
• You could have a launch theme (does your book have pirates, horses or dragons in it; or maybe it’s set in an exotic location or celebrates a certain kind of cuisine.)
• Unless you are big name author or celeb—it’s probably best not to charge entry. If you do charge, include a signed copy of the book in the price.

Pros of a physical launch— a sense of connection, you have the books there to sell and they can be a lot of fun. Besides, not everyone is on social media.

Cons—not everyone can attend especially if they live at a distance and it can be more expensive and take greater organisation.

E-launches

It is possible to have a virtual-launch (eg Facebook or Twitter) and these (depending on your target audience) can be quite successful.

While I’ve heard of Twitter-parties, my experience has been with Facebook launches.

• Set up the event (date and time) on Facebook & invite interested parties to (virtually) attend and suggest inviting friends who may be interested.
• With an anthology—different authors can have 5 min intro and then each offer giveaways, prizes etc —which can result in a very fast-paced exciting launch with lots of offers and interactions.
• If you are the only author—you can invite other authors will similar book/readership to participate and/or just do it yourself. Make sure you have a list of questions for competitions or discussion:
•    About you as author & the writing process
•    About the book or book series, its characters and or narrative world
•    Related to the setting, the themes or issues
•    About the reader—their favourite book or genre, tastes, or opinions
• Tie in the giveaway into some activity—signing up to email list, liking author page or twitter account, Giveaways can be vouchers, or free books/short stories/illustrations or services (editing, providing a graphic) or inclusion in next book (ie they can name a character)

Combo:

Have an event on Facebook & with posts leading up to the physical launch.

Tie the launch in with other promotional activities.

A launch works best if you tie it in with other (ongoing) promotional activity.

• Blog tour— a ‘tour’ of participating blogs in which your new book (and you) are showcased, you can have giveaways for each blog and/or one big one at end of tour. Treasure hunts (with questions or comments on each blog needed to win). You may want to look at ways at keeping the different blogposts fresh and interesting—a different set of questions to answer, an excerpt from the book, or an interview with one of the main characters in the book (if fiction) or some interesting titbits of research about the culture, setting or period.
• Giveaways— leading up to the launch maybe set up a Rafflecopter giveaway or other giveaways on your blog. You could also do a Goodreads giveway or Amazon promotion.

Follow-up:

The launch is just the start. It takes time to build traction in the market, to get visibility— so you should continue to promote your books (without putting everyone off by a constant, annoying ‘buy my book, buy my book’ drone).

Look for opportunities:

Encourage reviews if you can, guest blogs, book signings, visits to groups connected to your target audience (schools, family history groups, women’s groups).

Don’t despair—remember the long-tail of publishing:

In the past books had a definite (and short) shelf-live. Unless a genuine best seller, a book often had a 6 week turnaround in the bookstores. So it was important to make a big splash at the beginning.

These days, with e-books, online buying and print-on-demand (POD), a book effectively never goes out of print. It remains available for purchase long after the launch. So even if your launch rates barely a blimp on the radar and you don’t make any Amazon best-seller lists, if you continue to promote your book/s, it’s possible to build up a visibility over time. This works best if you have more than one book, so keeping writing is also important (and because, after all, that why you are a writer in the first place).

And when all is said and done, while we can plant and water, it is God who 'gives the growth'. (cf 1 Cor 3)

Have you launched a book or participated in the launch? What things would you recommend as part of a successful launch? 

This post was also published on Christian Writers Downunder 6 June 2016

Jeanette O’Hagan enjoys writing fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. She is writing her Akrad’s Legacy Series—a Young Adult secondary world fantasy fiction with adventure, courtly intrigue and romantic elements. Her short stories and poems are published in a number of anthologies including Glimpses of Light, Another Time Another Place and Like a Girl.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and, more recently, a Master’s in writing. She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life and communicating God’s great love. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

You can find her at her Facebook Page or at Goodreads or on Amazon or on her websites  JennysThread.com or Jeanette O'Hagan Writes .