Ingredients for a Happy Book Launch
What I learned this past weekend as I sent my book into the world and enjoyed a super celebration; plus a gift recording of the launch for you subscribers
Time’s strange. Seems like months ago that we arrived home from our winter camper trip, my “in between book launches” recovery time. It’s been just over a week. A Saturday late afternoon, after we’d driven about 400 miles from southern Pennsylvania, we pulled in and sat staring at the early spring beauty of April in New England. So different from anywhere we’d passed through in the last two months.
Ahead of me, only six days away, was the launch of my third novel, Last Bets. Unreal to contemplate. I didn’t even know where I was located in my life anymore.
We emptied the van fridge and grabbed pillows and dog bowls. Headed into the house we hadn’t seen in over two months.
The book launch had been on my mind for all that time, of course, because how couldn’t it? A lot of planning goes into the moment when a book meets the world. I’d done it before, in October. I had decided to streamline the in-person part, make it virtual. To my astonishment, almost 100 people had already registered. I’d watched the number climb all week as we drove home.
I was lucky in my support team—as well as those who came to the event. AWP-award-winning author Ginger Eager, and my writing partner, Rachel Eve Moulton (her newest book made a New York Times “ten best” list this year) were my buddies for the launch. Ginger sent me a list of questions for her interview, which I found quite profound, and Rachel handled the audience Q&A’s which are always my favorite part (a total surprise, what people want to know and what comes out of my mouth as answers).
I didn’t sleep that well all week. I distracted myself by cleaning up winter debris in the garden and our tiny greenhouse, each day outside for four or five hours, getting very dirty. Almost convincing myself I wasn’t the same person as the one about to be on camera.
Ginger and I had a long call mid-week. We talked about the questions, chose three excerpts from the book that I’d read, and worked out the logistics of timing and recording.
As soon as we finished, I went back out to the garden.
I needed the distraction, big time. Not sure why I was nervous, but it’s all about giving birth, I guess. Hoping your baby makes it out OK, is loved, looks good too. We didn’t empty the camper that week; maybe a quick getaway would be useful? And it took many days to get used to being in a house—ours isn’t large but so many rooms! Our two dogs followed us around for days, trying to herd.
I guess you could call me testy that week, and my shoulders ached not just from all the driving but the tension of the launch.
It all went so well. I loved seeing all those fellow writers, past students, family, and friends crowded in the pages of my Zoom screen. I loved all the emails and texts I got after. I loved reading out loud the excerpts from my book, and I loved having to be prepared yet spontaneous about my responses to questions.
Last Bets has been out a week. Today it’s back on the Amazon bestseller list in two categories. It’s getting daily posts on Instagram from the bloggers on the tour I booked. And reviews are getting posted.
Looking back, here’s what I learned. What made the launch successful, in my view.
Steps to prepare for my book launch
I started early, imagining what kind of celebration I wanted for this book.
I wrote a “presume” or future resume: I imagined myself the evening after the launch and what I’d love to feel about it. I wrote it as if it had already happened. It’s a simple form of visualization and it works well to calm my nerves and help me focus on what outcome I most want.
I thought about who to ask to be my support team and what they might do. As one of my past launch team members said: My job is to celebrate you and your book. That’s it. I knew Ginger and Rachel would do that, totally.
I asked Ginger to sent me her ideas and possible questions early so I could think about answers. I wrote the answers down. I let them sit a few days then tweaked them. This would be my backup if words failed me in real time.
I created the launch event link in my Zoom account (I have a pro account so I can host long meetings). But my wifi in the country here is a bit spotty, while Ginger’s in Atlanta is excellent. So she agreed to open the Zoom meeting and use her wifi for the signal. She made me a host and Rachel one as well, so we could access all the features.
Once I had the Zoom link, I created a launch invite graphic in Canva and posted it on social media. I also sent emails to past students and family/friends. And I invited all of you, here on Substack. I think the attendance was evenly divided between all three outlets.
Ginger and I had that great phone call to discuss the flow of questions, when we’d insert short readings from the book, which readings we’d use, and when we’d have the audience Q&A’s.
Rachel and I talked about her jobs—handling the waiting room as registered attendees logged on then reading the Q&A’s that attendees posted in the chat.
I opened the event about 10 minutes early so I could say hi to everyone—that was lovely (people came from all over and from all points in my life).
The invite said to come for a hello, an hour, or the entire event. About 40 people stayed for it all. They posted their questions and comments in the chat, an ongoing conversation that was so lovely and supportive. I saved it, of course. It’ll be like a very positive review for me to read months from now to remind me of this day.
I made sure my lighting was great, the background was cheerful, and Last Bets was prominently displayed. I had water and tea at hand, a comfortable chair, and I tested the video view a good half-hour before we opened, just to make sure it looked good. With all those people, my thumbnail was tiny, but I knew folks could switch to presenter view (just me) so I wanted it to be worth looking at.
We offered two giveaways. Rachel drew a name from the hat for a book bundle, including signed copies of our (my, Ginger’s, Rachel’s) latest novels. The winner was thrilled. I also offered signed bookplates to any attendee who had purchased a copy of the book in pre-orders and wanted one. It felt good to give gifts!
This might be woo-woo for some, but I appreciated Prune Harris’s energy prep for being on Zoom, before and after, here and here. It does seem to help with Zoom fatigue. But I also made sure I went directly out to the garden afterwards, to refresh my eyes, do some far-seeing.
I also made sure to thank everyone. Especially my team.
We got a pretty decent recording of the launch. I wanted to share the audio of it for those who wanted to attend but couldn’t. The audience Q&A’s are especially worth the listen!
And if you’d like to help me celebrate this week, you can buy a copy of Last Bets. I’m very grateful!