annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

How to have a book launch party

11/8/2017

6 Comments

 
While babies might have naming parties, couples wedding parties, a book launch party can be both celebration of a significant milestone and a marketing opportunity. I might be only on my second novel, but I have a fat party-to-publication ratio of 3:2. So, still buzzing from my latest, I hope these pointers based on my experience of hosting a launch party might be of use to others who have yet to foist one on your friends.

Picture
Budget
 
Find out, before ordering in crates of champagne, how much, if anything, your publisher is prepared to contribute. Even with their input, you’d be lucky to break even on profit versus outlay, so it’s worth giving some thought at the outset to the balance between finance and festivity that’s right for you. While this isn’t the Oscars, it’s still a party. You don’t want to max out your credit card to pay for it but, when you’ve gathered your nearest and dearest together, you don’t want to be too mean.
 
Refreshments


Picture
I’ve provided wine and nibbles, with non-alcoholic alternatives, and, while wine buffs might wrinkle their noses, I’ve served boxed wine for both convenience of transportation and price. Home-baked fairy cakes or, in my case, shop-bought mini muffins, look impressive, for minimal outlay, with rice-paper toppers printed in edible ink with the cover of your book. But, beware: while my first cover printed beautifully, my second came out too dark. Rice paper is off-white, so what appears clear on-screen may not be when printed. I was able to photo-shop my cover to make it lighter; however, while this looked effective the colour turned my tongue a disturbing blue. Lesson learned: no cake toppers for dark blue books.

Venue
 
A bookshop is an obvious choice but, if like me you’re small-press published and taking the books along yourself, think carefully about whether the use of their facilities is worth the 40% cut they’ll require on sales. On the other hand, you might be able to hire a function room in a pub for nothing more than sales at the bar but, for me, it wouldn’t provide a sufficiently literary atmosphere. Hiring a room in a library might be a suitable alternative, as it was for
the Newcastle launch of my debut, Sugar and Snails, with the advantage of building a relationship with the people you need to champion your book. For the others, I’ve capitalised on my membership of a Writers’ Studio.

Picture
Picture

Choosing a venue that reflects your book’s theme or setting would be neat but might blow your budget, as I found when investigating hospitality services at Newcastle University where Diana,the narrator of Sugar and Snails, works as a psychology lecturer. On the other hand, having chosen the venue to launch my second novel, Underneath, primarily for convenience, I was initially unconscious of how fitting the basement event space was for a novel about a house with a cellar.

Picture
Who to invite
 
The advantage of holding your event in a venue open to the public is that people might turn up out of curiosity, so make sure that it’s appropriately advertised through social media and a notice on the door. Otherwise, invite whoever you’d like to share the occasion with you, whether they’re interested in books or not. It’s great if friends can help spread the word but, unless you are already extremely famous, it’s probably not worth inviting the press.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Assistance
 
You’ll probably need to rope in some friends and family to help out on the night. You’ll be too busy greeting people, signing books and feeling excited to orchestrate the event. Unless you’re in a bookshop, someone will need to sell your books, and have the foresight to bring a cashbox so they can hand out change. It helps if someone else can introduce your reading, but it’s not essential. At my first launch, I had the luxury of preambles from both the director of the Writers’ Centre and my publisher. At my third, there was only me – and a teacher friend with a loud voice to let people know we were starting! Other considerations worth delegating to others include taking photos, keeping track of time and pouring the wine (although your guests will probably be sufficiently motivated to manage the latter themselves).

Picture
Annette introduces me at Jesmond library.
Picture
Picture
Entertainment
 
A friend having arranged for a couple of young musicians to perform (solely for the experience) at one of the parties for my debut novel, I was worried about affordable entertainment at the other. So I set up a laptop with
music associated with the novel and another to display the reviews. But they weren’t needed. People were happy to mingle and chat until it was time for me to do my reading. Lesson learned: you are the entertainment.
 
The reading
 
This is your chance to let people know about your fabulous new book. Tailor your reading to the interests of your audience and to your own specific strengths. For example, if you enjoy ventriloquising different voices, a conversation between your characters might work well but, otherwise, dialogue is much harder to follow than description.


At my first event, I read the first chapter. At my second, I read the third – because the party took place very near that chapter’s setting – but had to introduce the characters and context before I began. At my most recent launch, I told a story about the novel, obviously without spoilers, interspersed with short readings from each of the three versions of my narrator, Steve.
 
Half an hour is a good length to keep people’s attention and, of course, do practice in advance. I’ve also learnt that I can omit, or alter, the words I might stumble over, such as pensive in the opening chapter of my first novel and sangfroid in my second. No-one will be checking up on you or, if they are, there’s no shame in making it easier for yourself.
 
Dress code
 
Just as only you could have written the book you’re launching, only you can decide what to wear. Dress up or dress down, formal or informal,
in character or not, unlike a wedding, there’s no standard against which your outfit can be compared. If, like one of my fictional characters, you’ve ever felt nervous about dressing for an occasion, relax! This is the one time you can’t possibly get it wrong.



Do let me know, via the comments, about your own experience as guest or host, and whether I’ve omitted anything important from my checklist. Otherwise, enjoy the party! You’ve worked hard to get here.

Picture
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
6 Comments
Charli Mills
12/8/2017 03:50:40 am

Ann, congratulations on hosting three launch parties for your two books. You've assembled a good post of tips based on your experienced insights. Your reading voice is pleasant and captivating. I enjoyed hearing you read Diana's opening chapter! I laughed over your discovery of blue book covers leaving a blue tongue! My only question is -- do you make time for Q&A with your gathered audience, and if so, were there any questions that took you by surprise? You've been doing a tremendous job of getting your book out in the public awareness in a professional and yet fun way.

Reply
Annecdotist
12/8/2017 12:56:54 pm

Thanks, Charli, glad you enjoyed the post. I had planned to do some more videos for both books – and wasn’t going to post this until I had a clip of me reading Underneath too – but decided it would be most useful to do prior to an event as practice, and currently haven’t got anything booked until October.

A very good question about questions! Yes, I have also allowed about fifteen minutes for audience questions, although some people like to save theirs for a one-to-one, which can slow down the queue for signing if you’ve got a lot of people – not something I’ve managed well so far as I feel obliged/motivated to chat.

And yes, some of those questions, although pertinent and very welcome, wasn’t particularly well equipped to answer. Blog tours aside, the launch party is the first public appearance for a book, and you don’t necessarily have your thoughts in order about what you’ve written!

For Sugar and Snails, I didn’t give a very good answer to “How does your professional background as a clinical psychologist influence your writing?” although I’ve written about this since, or to a very good question that somehow unwittingly spoke to the secret embedded in the novel, which of course I couldn’t give away, or even hint that it was pertinent to the story, which probably wasn’t very satisfactory for the person who’d posed it.

With Underneath, I was asked how I’d applied what I’d learned from the first to the second – another good question to which I gave a rambling not so satisfactory answer, mostly because, although I started the second two years after the first, it was more or less finished by the time Sugar and Snails was published and, like with your two projects, the writing overlapped.

This makes me think I’ve almost got enough for another post on “questions about my novels I haven’t answered very well”! Personally, I haven’t minded being unable to give pat answers” but I suppose some people might consider it unprofessional. I quite like having a dialogue about it, which is why my favourite book experience was probably at a local book group.

Reply
Charli Mills
14/8/2017 09:25:47 pm

You bring about a good point, regarding the anticipation of questions. I'm not sure we can prepare for the ones we don't expect.

Annecdotist
18/8/2017 09:29:33 am

I suppose it doesn’t do any harm to at least try to anticipate, as if preparing for an interview. But the unexpected can be fun – and keeps us on our toes.

Norah Colvin link
13/8/2017 12:27:13 pm

I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences and receiving your advice, Anne. I'll know where to turn if I ever have a book to launch! I love your idea of the rice paper book cover toppers on your cup cakes. Another great way to promote. There's nothing wrong with a blue tongue, though. Especially if you're six! :)
Thanks for posting the videos. I must confess I haven't yet listened to your first chapter all the way through, but it's lovely to hear you read. You sound so confident and proud of your work in both your reading and your post. I am delighted to have accompanied you, if from a distance, on a good part of your journey. Nice to see Geoff at the launch too. He's been a supporter for even longer than I. How I wish I could attend one of your launches in more than spirit.

Reply
Annecdotist
18/8/2017 09:36:35 am

Thanks, Norah, and how I’d have loved you to attend one of my launches.
I did consider leaving people to have blue tongues to take away from the party but it might have been unnerving for people trying to interact with those they didn’t already know.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon