You’ve completed the arduous but rewarding process of publishing your book. Congrats! Why not host a book launch party to welcome your book baby into the world? Book launch parties are unique in their focus, but above all, they’re still parties. Even if your primary motivation for hosting the party is to celebrate, they present an excellent opportunity for authors to combine book promotion with play. Of course, setting up a book launch party isn’t all fun and games. Below are some tips for planning and hosting your book launch party.
Set a Budget
This may be one of the most difficult steps, but you should know how much you’re able/willing to spend on the process overall. This will help you determine several factors, including where to host your party, what refreshments you’ll have, and what party favors you’ll create.
Decide Who to Invite
In most cases, you won’t be able to predict the exact number, as some people may be unable to make it. However, having a rough idea of your party’s capacity will allow you to select a venue and plan refreshments better. You will also need to determine whether you’ll send invitations only to those you know or whether your event will be advertised to the public. The latter will be more challenging to host and could be more costly depending on your offerings; however, it would diversify your attendants and could lead to more sales.
Choose Your Venue
Bookstores, churches, restaurants, and libraries could be good options, especially if they have event rooms you can reserve for the occasion. Depending on your book’s genre and the topics covered, other venues may be better suited to your party (see below). Just remember to choose a venue that will welcome whatever activities you plan. Make sure you understand the rules and limitations of each venue.
Select Your Refreshments
This isn’t a requirement; you don’t need to go all out. Guests will be more likely to stay longer if there are refreshments, but they can be as simple as tea and coffee, an assortment of pastries, cookies, etc. Keep common food allergies (like allergies to peanuts and soy) in mind. You don’t need to exclude food and beverages that contain these allergens, but they should be kept separate from the rest of the selection to avoid cross-contamination if possible. If you have the time and energy, you can cook/bake your own food. This and potlucks could be fun if you know those attending.
Order Party Favors
Party favors can be as simple bookmarks branded mugs, or even bookstore or Amazon gift cards. Christian Living Books makes awesome, custom bookmarks, by the way. If you choose to order party favors, you should do so well before the party date to allow time for shipping (and reshipping should there be any issues with your order).
Plan Activities
It is a party, after all. Activities aren’t necessary, but they can help make the party more engaging for your guests. Activities could include literary-themed trivia games, drawings for small prizes, or a storytelling improv game.
Advertise
This only applies if you wish to open the event to the public. Some authors prefer to keep their book launch party private among relatives and friends. Others want to use their book launch parties to promote their work among a wider audience. If you want your party to be public, consider advertising on social media, over the radio and other news stations, and creating fliers to pin up at bookstores, libraries, and other places book lovers gather.
Have a Backup Plan
Life happens. Not everything is within your control, but you can plan for the unexpected as much as possible. Each backup plan will vary depending on the factors decided upon above. One example for parties involving music could be bringing an iPod and a portable speaker in case another sound system falls through.
Additional Tips and Ideas
- While conducting a reading or book signing is perfectly acceptable, try not to let yourself and your book be the party’s sole focus. You should be more concerned with your guests’ enjoyment than pushing your book on them. If your guests enjoy the party, you’ll have promoted and celebrated your book.
- You can make your book launch a costume party. This would work exceptionally well for historical fiction, horror, fantasy, westerns, or other fiction books with distinct settings. Guests can dress according to the time period of the book.
- Create a playlist that fits your book’s time period or themes to help set the mood.
- Offer refreshments that suit your book’s theme. Obviously, if you just published a cookbook, this would be exceptionally fitting, but this can also work if your book mentions specific dishes or, again, if you make dishes in line with the book’s setting. For instance, if you wrote a mystery thriller set in Italy, you could try to provide traditional Italian snacks.
- Pick a venue that coincides with your book’s genre or setting. As with the rest of these ideas, this won’t always be viable, but you may be able to get close. For example, if you wrote an environmental or nature-themed book, you may be able to host a party at a local nature preserve, some of which have areas for special occasions.