Book Launch party Archives - Sonia Marsh

How to Create a Successful Book Launch à la “Academy Awards”

November 7, 2013 by Sonia Marsh 3 Comments

You want a successful book launch right?

So how do you do it?

Well, sitting behind a desk in a bookstore and keeping your fingers crossed that people will show up is not the way.

Just like any successful party, it takes planning. And I don’t mean a few e-mails asking your family and friends to show up; no, I’m talking “ACADEMY AWARDS” style planning.

Now before you say, “Sonia, that’s ridiculous, I can’t afford that, or that takes too much effort, I’m going to stop you right now. It’s all up to you.

Do you want it to be successful or not?

If so, just like anything you want in life, it takes effort, and that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun at the same time.

So back to the “ACADEMY AWARDS” of book launches.

Here’s what I did to launch our first My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World, on September 26th, 2013.

I’m not an event planner, nor did I hire one. I’m just an ordinary indie author.

Pick a venue 3-9 months before the event. At first I planned to have it at a beautiful library where many well-known authors have spoken. When I got turned down, I found a movie theater.

Ask your contacts to help you. It’s surprising how many people are willing to help you if you just ask. Relationships are reciprocal, and if they see you’re willing to help others, they are more inclined to help you.

Decide on a theme and use it as a promotional tool for the media. They’re not really interested in a book launch from an unknown author. “Bring Out the Gutsy in You” is what I selected to generate interest.

Get a keynote speaker you admire to make a short 15-minute speech. You might be surprised how much easier this is than you think. I asked Marybeth Bond, “The Gutsy Traveler” to speak at my event, and she said she would love to help me.

Invite a Panel of authors to add a lively discussion around the theme of your event. It’s easier to do when you launch an Anthology, however, there’s no reason why you can’t do the same with a traditional book launch. The more authors unite, the better for everyone, including your audience.

Sonia with Panelists on stage — Sonia Marsh standing, Linda Joy Myers, Jason Matthews, Marybeth Bond and Marla Miller

Get sponsors to donate door prizes and create a large poster with their logos to display during the event. When you have a keynote speaker, as well as a panel, it’s easier to get a media buzz started.

Sponsors Poster Anthology Event — 8 Sponsors with Fabulous Door Prizes

Donate a % of book sales to a non-profit related to your book/event. This will also help you get media coverage. We donated a % to WomanSage, a non-profit that helps women in transition. Many of the stories in the My Gutsy Story® Anthology are written by women who have overcome obstacles in their lives. WomanSage helps women in transition, so it was the perfect match.
Get a team of friends to volunteers (4-5) and decide on which jobs suit their personality. For example, outgoing volunteers can greet your guests.

Arlene Deans a volunteer with the door prize tickets.

Supersize it, and turn it into an Academy Awards Party.

Extras:

Hire a local publicist to get you on local radio, “Real People OC”, local PBS-SoCal TV and in the papers. (I hired Barbara Kimler, a wonderful local publicist who did just that for me. Click on the links.)
Hire a Professional Film Crew to film the event (See the film excerpt above.) Copies of the DVD 90-minutes with Marybeth Bond and the panel are available for sale for $10.00 + shipping.) E-mail sonia@soniamarsh .com if you’re interested.
Hire a Professional photographer
Have some food and wine

The main reason this launch was a success is thanks to the people who helped me, and the kindness of those who participated. As Jeff Goins mentions in his article, “One Incredibly Overlooked Key to a Successful Book Launch,”

“The Secret Behind Launching (or Growing) Any Business is People”

***

Thanks to popular demand, we plan on doing another event for the launch of our 2nd My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World.

We encourage all of you to keep submitting your stories if you wish to be considered for publication in the Anthology.

Do you have a “My Gutsy Story®” you’d like to share?

NOW is the time to submit your “My Gutsy Story®” which may be included in our 2nd ANTHOLOGY.

Please view our 1st Published Anthology here.

You can find all the information, and our new sponsors on the “My Gutsy Story®” contest page. (VIDEO) Submission guidelines here

Book Launch Party! My BIG Day is here

August 30, 2012 by Sonia Marsh

Tonight is my book launch. This is a day I’ve been working towards for the last seven years since I started my journal in Belize.

In celebration of all authors I’ve met and connected with over the past seven years, I can say that you all deserve to be congratulated for your hard work. I never realized what it takes to write a book until I went through all the headaches, anxiety, frustrations, rewrites, edits, re-edits, and finally a book in my hands.

This celebration is for all of you.

On my BIG day, I am going to make a speech, and with so many people to thank, I’m afraid the speech will come across as the ones we hear at the Academy Awards.

As you can see on the poster above, I wish to thank Laguna Beach Books for hosting my event, and six sponsors.

I would like to thank the following businesses for their kind sponsorship:

K’Ya Bistro, for offering some yummy appetizers.
Eva’s Caribbean Kitchen, for offering rum punch
Laguna Playhouse for offering two complimentary tickets to the performance of “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. (One of our 4 raffle prizes)
Brighton Collectibles in Corona del Mar, California, is offering a very special necklace and bracelet gift for our raffle. Thanks to Lynn and Linda.
Regency Theaters, 4 free tickets thanks to Larrry Poricelli.
Spectrum Specialties & Awards, A bottle of Pinot Noir wine set.

My apologies for starting the voting for your favorite August “My Gutsy Story” contest tomorrow instead of today, but you will have until September 12th to vote. Come back tomorrow to VOTE.

Gutsy Book Buzz: How to make Your Book Launch Party a Success

July 19, 2012 by Sonia Marsh

Please click to listen to my PODCAST, or you can read the transcript below, or do both. I would love to hear what you’ve done for your own book launch party, and hope you leave comments in the section below. Please share with others who need help with their book launch.

Thanks, Sonia.

Hi, I’m Sonia Marsh, the founder of the weekly “My Gutsy Story” series and the author of Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island,” which will be available on Amazon and bookstores nationwide on August 21^st.

Today I’d like to give you some ideas on how to do a book launch that’s not your usual type.

How many of us enjoy sitting behind a desk and waiting for people to come up to us?

Here are some ideas

Do not call it a book launch, but a book launch party. Yes, doesn’t a party sound like more fun than a boring old-fashioned launch?

Schedule your date and time with the bookstore manager, and start telling people about it two months before the date. My book launch party is on August 30^th, and I’m bubbling with Gutsy enthusiasm.

Talk about it with the same enthusiasm you have for planning your wedding.

As Carolyn Howard Johnson says in her book, The Frugal Book Promoter, How to do What Your Publisher Won’t”

“A book launch is akin to planning a wedding. You may not need an elaborate canopy of wedding bells but all the other elements that makes a wedding a success must be considered for a launch.”

Make some special postcard invitations which you give away to people everywhere. Your friends, neighbors, people at the gym, store owners you know and like, I mean everyone.

Insert 5 invitations into each ARC, you send out, or just drop them off or mail them and tell your friend to tell everyone she knows about your launch party. If she lives in another state, tell her when your book will be released and that you’d be more than happy to do a Skype interview with any book club she of her friends belong to.

Get sponsors for your event so that you are “inviting” other local businesses to participate and this will make it easier to get press coverage.

Walk to each restaurant or store, close to your bookstore, and introduce yourself. Bring a copy of your book with you, and tell them how many people you expect to attend, I said 75, because that’s how many Laguna Beach Books can hold “as far as standing room.”

If it’s a restaurant, ask them if they can offer an appetizer and that you picked them because they… (have a great Caribbean dish that fits perfectly with your theme.)

If it’s a store, for example I went inside a chocolate store, a hair salon and a home linens store, and asked if they would like to provide a gift basket for the raffle at my book launch party. I told them to send me their logos to add to our publicity campaign. So far they all said yes, including a Caribbean restaurant that’s donating rum punch.

So be Gutsy, and just go out there and ask. What’s the worst thing that can happen? The word “No.” That’s not the end of the world.

Now I have a question for you if you live outside the U.S.

I have a feeling that here in the U.S., businesses are more willing to help.

I would love to hear what would happen if I tried this in Paris, or Amsterdam.

Please share some of your own ideas for book launch parties that have worked for you.

Am I right? Is this more of an American concept: asking for donations from companies, as an author, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Thanks, good luck to you, and keep the conversation going.

Photo credit of Laguna beach Book Store above.