It’s been one year since I launched my self-published cookbook. Being that I didn’t have a fancy publishing company to help me along on my marketing and sales journey, I had no guidance except google on how to launch my book. I also never considered myself good at selling things, or at least I thought based on the cliché idea of a pushy salesperson, the ones you face at a car dealership (no offense). I had found one blog on trusty google that I really related to and found some great ideas for my own launch party and made the rest up. Since I had a cookbook that was centered around family traditions, it felt natural to kick off the launch with family. However, being that I lived on a separate coast than my family, I also wanted to celebrate a kick off where I lived as well. So I landed on having two launch parties, and I am so happy that I did. So in honor of all those self-starters out there working hard on your books that you’ll be publishing on your own, I thought I would share some ideas and tips around the book launch.
I set my launch date based on a date that I had an article write up about it. I wanted to have copies of the book ready for sale once the article published. Also, being that I was having two launch parties, I had to allow for some time in between for travel. And I started thinking about these dates months in advance, even before I had finished copy editing. The article was going to be published in the August issue, meaning it would mail out in mid-July. I wanted to be launched and have the book on sale by that time frame. It was February when I had found out the date of the article, so I set a date for the end of June for my family launch date, which also coincided with my birthday, and made for a great time to travel back east for the party. I then decided to have my west coast party two weeks after that. Talk about stressful, but it also held me to a deadline and ensured that I would actually finish the project I had worked so hard on. Hold yourself accountable by setting deadline dates, and your launch date is a great way to do that.
Being that I self-published, I had to keep cost to a budget and as cost effective as possible. My aunt and uncle offered to host my family launch party in the backyard of their house. Since it was the summer, it made for the perfect weather for a backyard party, and we decided on the area surrounding the pool, which created an intimate environment. The second launch party I wanted to be still intimate but more inviting for friends of friends to come, so I called around to a few local stores to see who would be willing to have us in the store. Since I didn’t have a huge social media following, I hit a few roadblocks in a few of the boutiques in town, but I was able to have it in a local wine shop, and being that my cookbook had wine pairings to some of the recipes, it was the perfect setting for my launch. The venue was free but I paid for the wine pairings for each guest, giving the shop some business out of the event but also offering me the ability to have wine served along with the food. The key to a great party is for your location to fit the theme. If you have a book about flowers, have it in a garden or out in nature somewhere. Your location may also help you facilitate sales of the book. I had set up a seller’s permit already and was prepared to collect payments directly. You may want to only sell wholesale to stores and therefore have it at a store that can help you with point of sale. Location sets the tone for your event and creates that intimacy but also may be an important aspect of your transactions. Location will also help to determine the amount of time you want the event to be for. Your venue may have an allotted time for you so be sure to plan that out in advance when confirming your location.
Ok, location is decided, now what? Start with the guest list. Who do you want to share in this moment with you? It’s a celebration of a big milestone in your life, so treat it as such. I invited close family and friends that lived local in location to each of my launch parties. I allowed friends of friends to come to each if they requested. I sent out individual paperless post invites to each invitee to provide information on the event time, location, and a small note about how to buy the book. After all, they are coming to buy your book (hopefully), so it’s important to make note of how they can get a copy. A personal invitation also creates buzz for the event and builds excitement for your guests. For most, they have never been to a book launch, this is exciting to not only celebrate you but be a part of this amazing milestone!
Now that you’ve decided on who to invite and you’ve sent out the invite, it’s time to set that brief plan you wrote out on the invite to reality. You most likely mentioned that you’ll have books for sale at the event; that means you’ll be collecting money and signing the books at the event. Have you planned how you will manage the money collection? Will you be doing it via cash, Venmo, Square? Or will you designate someone to be collecting it for you? Either way, the buyer will want their book signed, of course. Invest in a signing pen. These are the pens that I bought and they worked beautifully! You want a pen that will dry quickly and not smudge, that will glide across the paper with ease, that is thin without blotting, and one that writes without bleeding to the reverse side of the paper. You created this beautiful book, you do not want to ruin it by writing your pretty name and note to your buyer, only to see it smudge onto another page! Get these pens, you will not regret it. And once you have those pens, plan the phrase that you will write out. You will (hopefully) have lines of people waiting to get their book signed and your event is only for a designated amount of time, so pre-plan what you will write and memorize it so you can write it quickly on every purchase. Always sign the note with your full name (first and last) and date.
This is a book signing so you’ll ideally have prepared to bring an inventory of books, enough for every guest at the event. You want to have more than enough books as people will want to take physical signed books home with them. I actually ran out of books at my first launch! Don’t make that mistake and bring plenty of books! This event is going to be a key place to sell your book and you want to optimize on that opportunity. Plan to have a table to keep that plentiful inventory on display, an easel with a picture of your front cover, and a chair for you to sit in while you sign the books. I placed two chairs next to the book table as I found the person who was getting the book signed wanted to sit and have a moment with me while I was signing it. Most of the event I was sitting and signing books so it was my only time to socialize with everyone at my party. Since this is your book launch and it’s more intimate than a library or book store signing, it’s nice to create an intimate place to have that signing interaction with your buyer.
Every event needs a party plan, a plan of the layout of your space, the flow of your guests, and what you will serve at the event. Since I was launching a cookbook, I served small bites along with wine pairings that were examples from my book. These servings illustrated an experience for my guests of what my book was about and how buying my book would make them feel. Everything you do at your event is marketing for your book. Since I was doing food and wine pairings, I hired event staff to serve the pairings together to really create the experience. And because I knew my guests would have to juggle a plate and a glass in their hand, I knew that there would have to be a place for them to set down items, especially for when they had my freshly signed book in hand. What you decide to serve and how you will serve it will determine the layout of your space and set it up so your guests have room to mingle and move around, close to your book signing spot but not so close that there isn’t any room for anyone to be comfortable or interrupted by the long line waiting to get a book from you! Create a flowing party environment and your guests will leave feeling like that was such a fun event and they will be talking about it to all of their friends! Buzz after the party means book sales outside of your immediate social circle and you need that as a self-publisher.
So you want to create buzz after the event by creating an event experience they won’t forget. And an unforgettable event is all in the details. I ordered cocktail napkins with my book cover on them. I ordered some business cards so people could contact me after the event to get more books if they wanted. I made plastic, stemless wine glasses with my book title printed on them for guests to use at the party for the wine servings and also take them home afterward. Guests were fighting over who they could steal their glasses from to take a full set home! Someone taking home a glass meant they wanted to use it at home, and once they use it, they think to take a photo and share that with you and their friends, and hopefully post it on social media, giving you free advertising and more buzz for your book. Be creative and keep it all in the details.
Be prepared for the event, this is number one priority when throwing any party but it ensures an organized and flowing party where your guests feel at ease. Since this is your event, be prepared to help set up, put together the favors, and solve last minute issues. Not only are you the party planner, but you are also the star of the show. Be prepared to dress to impress and look pretty for when you give your speech. But don’t fret, it’s just a small book talk, a small speech about a project you know well as you’ve worked a long time on completing it, it should come natural. Thank everyone for coming, give a brief synopsis of the book, and announce that you’ll be in a specified location signing books. Keep it brief and have someone introduce you as the speaker. Give the speech after you’ve had some time to mingle but before you start signing, about 45 minutes into the event. Having a timing outline for the entire event, including the speech and any additional things you want the event to have, including serving food, will ensure the event keeps to the time you agreed to with your venue, vendors, and guests.
Remember to stay present. It’s very easy to get caught up in the details and stress of throwing an event all while launching a book. All of that mixed with figuring out inventory and how to actually sell the book is a lot. But try to enjoy the event. You’ve worked hard for this moment, it’s a celebration of your book and you deserve it!
Finally, this is an event to create buzz around your book. Treat it as such. Designate someone at the event to take photos of you signing, of the the books on display, any special details you arranged, ensure to capture the day as you will want to use those photos for marketing later. Reach out to local newspapers and magazines, even try the local news station, anyone you can find an email for. Send them the date, time, and location and send them a brief write up about the book and why they should come to write a feature about it. Even if you don’t get any responses or if you do get a response but they don’t show, don’t let that deter you. Do a write up after the event and send it in to your local newspaper. Our local newspaper published my write up along with a photo that I had sent in of me signing books at the event. I also got a large number of hits on sales that day from the article so it’s free PR! Explore any avenue you can as this is the start of your crash course in marketing and sales. Enjoy the journey, it’s a fun one!
