“Start planning your book’s destiny-NOW”
This is a phrase I got from Susan McBeth, founder of “Adventures by the Book.”
Susan creates events for authors, and says she has a “connector personality.”
Like Susan, I also like to connect people and one of the first questions Susan brought up during her presentation at Publishers and Writers of San Diego (PWSD), is to ask yourself:
“What am I good at?”
There is no one-size fits all, as far as book events, and Susan believes that we need to take our time and do it right.
Not everyone likes, or wants to speak in front of large crowds, so why not organize a smaller event where you have a glass of wine and chat one-on-one with each person.
I know how terrifying it can be to stand in front of even 100 people and speak, and since I was made fun of as a teenager, when I made a speech in front of my peers, I’ve decided to get over it, and prove that I’m no longer going to let that bother me.
“What do you consider a successful event?”
Everyone is different, and as Susan states, there are many ways to measure a successful event. Here are some of the ways:
- Book sales
- Attendance
- Exposure (get your message out)
- Engagement (one-on-one)
- Personal Satisfaction
- Other
From my own experience, I have different objectives for my book events, and book sales is never the main reason. I believe if you focus on sales, you may be disappointed, and you won’t focus on your audience and creating relationships with them.
“Word-of-mouth” is still the best way to sell books, and to ask for Amazon reviews–Sonia Marsh
Most indie authors hope to sell hundreds of books, and the most I ever sold was 37 books at my book launch. I remember saying that I should bring 100 books to Laguna Beach Bookstore when I did my first launch, and someone told me that even Bestsellers don’t sell 100. That was a wake-up call for me.
I launched my memoir: Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of gutsy Living on a Tropical Island, at Laguna Beach Books, and offered a themed party, rather than a traditional book launch. Since my memoir takes place in Belize, I organized a Caribbean party and had sponsors. We offered a traditional rum punch, and food.
Themed events offer a myriad of possibilities and increase press opportunities–Susan McBeth
There are many ways you can have a non-traditional book event. Susan McBeth listed the following, which she organizers for both traditionally published authors and self-published authors.
- Book Clubs
- Fundraisers
- Panels
- Themed Events
- Cultural Events
When I created the launch for the 1st: My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World, I decided to make it like an Academy Awards event and held it in a movie theater in Southern California.
I did everything right, except I should have charged an entrance fee and offered a copy of the Anthology, free wine and food
Thanks to my connections, asking my author friends to participate in a panel, and inviting Marybeth Bond, (the Gutsy Traveler) to be my keynote speaker, and giving back to a non-profit, Womansage, I know that you can also create a unique book event based on a theme.
I would like to share some articles I’ve written on various book events I’ve done, and hope that you’ll get some ideas for your own events.
- Costco is definitely for exposure, not to make money.
- How do I sell my book?
- A Different Way to Market Your Book
- Why book promotion is like being a Viagra salesman
- Book Promotion is like Breathing; You can never take a rest from it or you might die.
Susan McBeth is offering a workshop on August, 9th, 2014 from 12-4 pm., on Video Presentations for Authors. For more information, visit: www.adventuresbythebook.com.
If you need help with blogging, building your platform, publishing, marketing or planning a book launch, please visit my “GUTSY BOOK COACHING” page.
Next Webinar with expert Jason Matthews on July 11th at 9 a.m., PST. “Metadata Made Easy: Find the Best Keywords for Books, Blog Posts and Social Media.”
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I should be writing (next novella, Lady on the Run) but I’m enjoying playing ‘catch up’ and reading some of your great blogs/articles. I’ve had several successful book launches (east coast/west coast). It wasn’t about the books I sold, although I did quite well–not near 100 though!–and for me it is all about relationships, meeting and chatting with the people. Thanks, Sonia, for all of your valuable input.