Strategic Book Marketing Official Blog

Book Launch success, it’s not just a book signing, it’s a whole new adventure… Having a book published is quite an achievement and it’s a very exciting time. So it is natural to want to have a party to celebrate, but first ask yourself a very important question…. Is your newly published book your business or a hobby? If you can see writing and illustrating as a business this will help the success of your book launch. It is a very exciting time to have your hard work and toil finally produced into a book with a front and back cover, but unless you tell the world about it, your book will remain on the shelf unread. Hosting a book launch is a great way of selling books, creating media attention and opening new doors. Its only one of many methods of celebrating your newly published book, but it’s one of the most enjoyable ways to do it, especially if you like meeting people and networking.
http://www.astarmedia.org.uk/page4.htm
The importance to planning→ Five P’s – Prior, Planning, Prevents, Poor, Performance. This is a common phrase often used but how many of us really use the Five P’s strategy. Not everyone has been an event manager before but most of us have organised a party or similar event before. So put into practice the Five P’s and you will surely succeed. Things that you need to consider before you start:

1. Location – is it suitable for your attendees, is parking adequate, and is access easy. Will the venue hold the number of people you wish to invite?
2. Time – As a children’s author myself, some of my special guests where children, organising this with a local day nursery dictated timings. So pick yours wisely.
3. Date – Avoiding any local events that may clash with your event. Give yourself plenty of time to invite special guests and the media. Most business people have busy schedules.
4. Ordering Books – make sure you have your books on order in plenty of time. There is no point in holding a book launch without your product. Your book is your product, showcase it at every opportunity.
5. Catering – Do you need to cater or do you want to offer drinks only.
6. Agenda – What do you want to achieve out of the book launch? Can you combine your book launch event with a specific message and/or another guest speaker that compliments your work and book.
7. Guests – Who should attend? More importantly, who do you need, at your book launch. Ask yourself, why you want them present?

It is a lot to consider, however, the questions are very simple ones to answer. Once you have the answers then you can begin organising your book launch event.  Remember your book launch will be and can be as successful as you wish it to be. A planning table has been attached at the end to help you do this.

Enlisting help→ Treating your book as a business is the best way to plan for success. Manage what you do on a weekly basis. Just like any other business. Enlisting the help of others is sometimes crucial to a person or products success. I like to see it as forming partnerships and alliances, making friends and influencing people. Business support can really help guide you on all important decisions. http://www.leobusiness.org Check out your local business support organisation; see how they can help you. Leo became a major supporter in my book launch and secured funding of £600 for this event. Remember if you are a business professional tap into any resources you may have. Having worked myself in a business support role for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I know and understand there are lots of organisations that can help support you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and sell yourself. Remember you might be and probably will be the only local author in the area. This type of news story or involvement is unique and people love getting involved in such events. Encourage others to ‘champion you’ this is a very powerful tool. Some of my champions include one of the UK’s largest news paper groups and BBC radio.

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Mansfield-author-launching-new-book-series/article-1579441-detail/article.html

http://www.creativegreenhouse.org.uk/newsitem.php?type=news&id=1909

http://www.leobusiness.org/news/news_story36_index.htm

insert radio interview  link

You’re Goal→ Focus on your goal, what do you want to achieve? Maybe 150 book sales, create media attention, building relationships with potential business partners. A book launch is a great way to sell more books and promote you as an Author. Another way to grab attention is to give away books. For me doing all of the above was important. Your goal (what you want to achieve) needs to be reflected in your invitation. Your message needs to be strong and clear as to what your book launch is all about. This is your book, your work, your project and you should be proud of it. You don’t have to behave as if you are famous, but smile and speak with confident about your work. Rome was not built in one day; an event like this is only one part of the marketing mix. You should aim to do a mixture of work to see your book becoming more successful. It’s one small step for author but one giant leap for your book.

Location, location, location→ It’s all about the location, everyone knows a location can make or break an event. Pick wisely and think carefully about your attendees, do you want or will your event be filmed? Can the camera crew get in and work around the location? If you’re a children’s author do you have little people to consider.  You can hold an event at any location providing you have approval and the venue is suitable, a school, library, book store or even a creative business venue. For me I opted for a creative business venue – The Mansfield i-Centre, was first set up for small business who wanted to grow. http://www.mansfieldi-centre.com/index.php

My reasons where based on access to the facility, good parking, modern day facilities that came up to health and safety regulations. It had a cafe that would cater for my guests and bi-folding doors that opened up into the main conference area. It would accommodate up to 100 guests. It was also a safe environment for little people to attend. With space to hold a book reading whilst being perfect for me to deliver a speech to my adult audience,  additional break out areas for me to film a promotional video, sign books, network with guests and a separate play area for the children. I approached the Head of Centre and asked if they would host my event free of charge in return for promotional exposure and the answer was yes. This saved me £200.

By invitation only→ It is always nice to invite friends and family along to your special book launch, but they probably already have a copy of your new book. Don’t forget your goal who would you like to invite and why? Inviting the media is a definite yes. Send out a pre – press release this will send the right message. If you do not feel confident in approaching your local media including news papers, radio and TV you should ask your publisher to write you a professional press release about your forthcoming book launch. Going back to my business support, I was able to tap into their PR team who provided me with a press release. This was sent to all the local and regional media outlets alongside the official invitation. It was from this press release that I gained a radio interview at Nottingham’s BBC radio station. Insert link to radio show. I was also published on the Nottingham Evening Post website http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Mansfield-author-launching-new-book-series/article-1579441-detail/article.html

The importance of PR and media review is a must have when trying to launch your book. But don’t worry if you only secure your local news paper, all national stories come from local media outlets. Any media attention is worth its weight in gold. On a more practical note make a list of all the people you want to invite, if possible send the invitations by email, its fast and will ensure it gets straight to their desk immediately. My invitation was created by myself and my business support advisor. My own invitations where sent to around 100 people and around 70 attended, many people went away with 2 or 3 copies of the book and we decided to give away copies to the children and 30 copies to go for free to help promote the book. http://www.leobusiness.org/pdfs/book_launch_flyer2.pdf

Budget→ You don’t have to hold an elaborate event that’s going to cost you the earth. After all, money does not grow on trees. A book launch does not need to cost thousands. You can hold a very professional event on a shoe string. My top tips for doing this:

1. Get someone to ‘Champion’ you, this could be your local news paper or a business support group or even a successful entrepreneur. You will be amazed how many doors they can open for you and how many offers of help they can source.
2. Ask the venue to sponsor your event in return for publicity or free advertising on your invitations. Business people who have been there before know all too well the need for a helping hand. Do not be afraid to ask, they can only say no.
3. Create media attention, who knows how successful you will be, but if you can talk positively about your work and show an abundance of enthusiasm people will think you’re going to be the next J K Rowling. Often people make reference to me being the next J K Rowling. It makes me smile when it happens. The only thing I have in common with J K Rowling is my first name and we both lived abroad for a short period of time, not together I must add. The genre of our books, are very different. All the same, I take it as a massive compliment.
4. Ask for a discount on everything you purchase, make sure you stick to your budget and don’t be tempted to over spend. I asked an associated company if they wished to sponsor the print of 4 x A2 posters. They declined the offer, I took the business decision to purchase my promotional posters elsewhere at half the cost. Remember it’s your business so look after it.
5. Advertise pre-ordered books on your invitation.  Remember you have money coming back to you. So whilst it may seem your spending money initially you will get some in return, if not all of this back on the day of your book launch.
6. Email – if you can send all your invitations out by email, it’s quick, easy and cheaper than sending it out via the post. Plus you will save on printing costs.
7. Catering – The essentials are only ever needed, if you are catering ask if you can do your own, if not, negotiate, but only cater if it is necessary. My event was pre-Christmas and a hot drink and mince pie was sufficient and very seasonal.
8. Admin support – If you can’t handle the bookings and administration yourself, ask friends to help you out. If most responses come via email it makes it easier to manage and to compile a list of attendees.

Courtesy counts→ Be respectful at all times and treat people how you want to be treated and they will certainly do business with you again. Always be polite and appreciative of what others do for you. My business advisor asked local business award winning company A-Star Media if they would film my event, again for free! We were delighted that they agreed. Why did they say yes, well, at the same time as the launch I had an application submitted to appear on the BBC TV for a new documentary? The opportunity was there for their film footage to be used on this TV show. They were keen to support my project and the results are simply amazing. I also agreed to do a short promotional film for Leo (business support) with A-Star in return.

Do you have an Agenda→ We all need an agenda, what is the format of your event. Naturally you want to sell books, you even have some pre-orders from your invitation RSVP’s. Seriously a book launch is more than a book signing. It has to become your springboard or launch pad for your book. How are you going to get your audience to stay at your book launch? Think about your book, your target audience and then introduce another element to your book launch, maybe a book reading, maybe a digital slide show of your illustrative work, or your illustrator present to do some doodles on the day. If your book is topic related can you have a special guest speaker or a high profile person at your launch? A cookery book would be a great way to demonstrate some of your recipes by taste testing. The opportunities are endless you just need to think about your core audience, who does your book appeal to, what would be off interest to attendees on the day.

The Launch→Always try to get a good night’s sleep the night before. You need to be alert and fresh faced and enjoy the day ahead. Being professional at all times is important in any business and your book launch is no exception. Arriving 3 hours before to check the venue is set up to your approval, working with any venue support staff and building upon your relationship is crucial. Setting out your books and setting up your signing table. Place promotional colourful posters around so that your guests know instantly they have arrived at your book launch. Always make sure there is an Agenda printed out and placed around the venue so that people can see how your launch event is planned out. If presenting by means of PowerPoint, this is a good time to do a rehearsal and check that all IT equipment is fully functional. But most of all relax and enjoy the event; your guests will see this shine through.

Gaining credibility→ The logistical part of organising an event can seem an endless one, ensuring you have crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s. Focussing on the long term goals and success is far harder, especially after the event is done. What should you do now? Remember your media and PR, this is an ongoing relationship. Writing a post press release to tell the media about your event success is just as important as telling them you are hosting a book launch. Having secured an interview with the BBC radio I was told by the show’s producer, I am now a friend of the show/BBC radio and I am welcome back to give them any updates on my progress. So I make sure I emailed presenter Jo Davies to tell her what I am doing and to offer my services within the topic of Children, fun education and books. It is important that you begin to build strong bridges to the world that can easily help make your book a success. Little steps often lead to larger ones and then one day you’ll look back and see you have actually come quite a long way on your journey. Take up ongoing business support if it is available to you, this can prove invaluable and remember your publisher has an abundance of tools to help you along the way. As part of my launch, LEO my business support organisation jointly wrote to UK publishers – sending a copy of my book and inviting them to my event. There is much follow up to do. With the London Book show fast approaching I will be writing again to tell them that I will be attending with my publisher and that I would love to meet with them. Any planning that can be done is to be done, don’t leave anything to chance and don’t leave anything until the last minute. Finally if you have a successful event, sell books and make new media links then you should continue telling the world. Creating a media pack is very important, nice pictures and a well written bio is important but don’t forget information about your publisher how they can be contacted and your contact details so that if any opportunities come along to have your book reproduced in another country they know how to contact you.

Tools for the job→ Having the right tools to do the job is a must have. Having someone else’s tools available should make your job a little easier. Together with the links there are a series of templates to help guide you. As an Author I’d like to share my experience with you and hope it helps you Launch your Book.

→Time Line for planning (appendix A)

→Example Invitation (appendix B)

→ Example letter of support (appendix C)

→Example Agenda (appendix D)

→ Example Press Release (appendix E)

→ Broadcast Interviews (appendix F)

All documents are exact documents used for my own Book Launch event. These tools are provided to assist you with the organisation of your Book Launch event. Remember you are as successful as you want to be, hard work will give you results and persistence will see you achieve your goals. For me, I dream of becoming a worldwide known children’s author. But more importantly what do you want to be?

Good luck and I wish you every success.

Joanne Bekis

Author & Illustrator

www.sociabubble.com

http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/BubbleAndButterfly.html

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