A Novice's Guide to Launching a Book Part 2, by Georgie Tennant

At the end of my last blog post (A Novice’s Guide to Launching a Book Part 1), I promised a Part 2 this month… well, the wait is over 😀. Thank you to those of you who commented so positively on how useful the post was. I’ll dig deep again for this one and try to impart some hard-won wisdom that might help you on or in the lead up to your big day.

First, I'll rewind slightly to a few weeks before the big day.

L-Day minus a few weeks

A friend better at such things than I, suggested I create a playlist to go with the book, containing the songs I mentioned in each devotional. I asked Kevin Mayhew if they could design me a bookmark and a postcard, containing the links (I used both Spotify and YouTube). They came up trumps. I priced up 100 of each on Vistaprint, and it didn’t prove bank-breaking (though bear in mind anything like this will eat into your meagre profits). It offered another reason to buy from me directly as, if purchasing from online stores, people wouldn’t receive this added bonus.

Learning Point: chat about your book with people who are interested. They might come up with a fresh idea you hadn’t thought of.

L-Day minus two weeks

Whilst not directly related to the launch event, managing the distribution of my book into the world by post to coincide with the launch week, felt like it would create an important buzz. So, with a few weeks to go until launch day, I purchased 100 Sealed-Air envelopes (this worked out at less than 20p per envelope) and began to stuff them with books, stuffed with postcards and bookmarks. Note: I didn’t write in or sign any yet.

Remember the impressive spreadsheet I mentioned last time, created by the husband containing the pre-orders? Now it was to come into its own. I had been diligently gathering addresses since people had expressed an interest back in April and had been typing them into it. Now the magic husband turned columns on a spreadsheet into handy printed address labels, which I stuck to the book-stuffed envelopes, ready to send out.

I then sent out a stock message to those on the pre-order list, requesting payment. This was to a bank account dedicated to book sales only, so I could keep track (Note, this was for people I knew. Later, as strangers began to become interested, I set up a My PayPal link, which felt more secure. Money can easily be transferred from this into one’s bank account). Each time someone paid, I signed a book and added a bookmark and postcard. I also printed a little note, popped it into the envelope, sealed it and moved it to a ready-to-post pile.

I’m sure those of you who have reached the dizzy heights of your own website operate things much more smoothly and people can pre-order at the click of a button. This is a novice's guide though, remember, so this worked for me.

Learning Point: find a system that works for you and stick to it so you don’t lose track of money and orders.

L-Day minus one week

In receipt by now of most pre-order payments, and with only a week until the launch, I now felt it was time to send out books. This is down to individual taste. You may prefer to spread out the release of your book into the world, but I wanted to create the feel of a “launch week.” It took me all day to pluck up the courage to go and post 40+ parcels, and I eventually enlisted the husband for moral support and chose a time when I knew the post office (inside our village shop) would be quiet, as I feared the glares of those queueing behind me.

Books ready to be sent

As it turned out, the post office lady was very nice and we had a good chat as we went along. As the week progressed, it was exciting to see posts on social media or get messages from people excited to receive their books, generating the buzz I’d hoped for – plus a few extra sales!

Learning Point: getting books out to people by post slightly in advance of your physical book launch can create a nice buzz.

L-Day

Before

We arrived at the venue (church in our case) several hours before the advertised start of the launch. This might feel unnecessary to those preferring to fly by the seat of their pants, but I’m a “way-in-advance,” kind of girl and prefer to be ready with time to spare. There’s always a PowerPoint that won’t display, an extension lead that trips the coffee machines and a laptop that has been left at home (all of these really happened for me) and the extra time will be swallowed up before you know it. Also people arrive early - way early. Anticipate that your prep time will be cut short by those early birds!

Learning Point: give yourself loads and loads and loads of time for a stress free life. You can always start on the coffee and cake before the guests arrive if you have time to spare.

During

Being a teacher, I couldn’t help myself, but have a clear plan for the afternoon, which I put on a PowerPoint and shared with my guests. Taking the advice of those that have gone before, I provided a couple of opportunities within that time for people to mingle, chat and refresh their cakes and coffee, so they weren’t just listening to me. Within the mingling was a fun competition so people had a focal point/talking point if they ran out of conversation. For my talk bit, I chatted through how the book came to birth and its journey to being published and did a couple of readings to give people a flavour of the book.

Learning Point: keep the program varied to allow for mingling as well as listening and let people know what to expect.

A bit of mingling!

During/after

After the formal part of the afternoon, I offered people the opportunity to buy books. Many pairs of hands were crucial to this part too. It wouldn’t work for all venues, but for me, some people continued to chat and eat cake and some began to queue for books. I had a system whereby one son took money and handed out books and one ticked off the spreadsheet pre-orders, leaving me free to chat to people and sign books. Crucially, (especially if you’ve hired somewhere, and need to get out soon) as most people began to leave after purchasing books, willing volunteers manfully (and womanfully) cleared and tidied around me, while I obliviously sold books and enjoyed every last bit of conversation and celebration.

Learning Point: many hands make light work (again).

After

Afterwards, I felt elated, but exhausted and so did the rest of the family. We collapsed with a takeaway and lots of leftover cake.

On the Sunday, we went to church, where I sold some more books, setting up a stall at the back at the end of the service, and spent the rest of the day enjoying spending time with some visitors who had come from afar for the launch.

Learning Point: book launches are fun but exhausting. Give yourself space and time to come down afterwards.

I hope that all helps. If anyone ahead of me on the publishing journey can spot any ways I could have done things better or more efficiently, please do go ahead and let me know. If you’re not bored of my ramblings, I’ll spend September‘s blog writing about the ensuing months, and how I slowly sold more books once the launch momentum waned.

Georgie Tennant is a secondary school English teacher in a Norfolk Comprehensive. She is married, with two sons, aged 15 and 12 who keep her exceptionally busy. She writes for the ACW ‘Christian Writer’ magazine occasionally, and is a contributor to the ACW-Published ‘New Life: Reflections for Lent,’ and ‘Merry Christmas, Everyone.' She has written 8 books in a phonics series, published by BookLife and is a freelance writer for King's Lynn Magazine. She writes the ‘Thought for the Week’ for the local newspaper from time to time and also muses about life and loss on her blog: www.somepoemsbygeorgie.blogspot.co.uk. Her first devotional book, "The God Who Sees You," was published by Kevin Mayhew in March.