Online Launch Party
Last month saw the launch of the new Dane Maddock Kindle World, and with it,
the publication of six new Maddock adventures. Because this was a big deal, I
wanted to do something more than what I usually do with a book release. So, I
decided to host a virtual launch party on Facebook. If you’re thinking of doing
something similar, here are a few tips:
Set up a Facebook event:
Doing it this way keeps your author or personal page from getting cluttered
and also gives the event that “special” feel you’re looking for.
Choose the date and time:
I chose the day of the Kindle World launch for the event. It was a
Thursday, which I think was better than a weekend night, when people are more
likely to have other plans. Because the vast majority of my audience lives in
the US and Canada, I chose a time in the evening when people were likely to be
home from work, and not too late for the folks in the Eastern time zone, which
is the most heavily populated time zone in the US. This also worked out for
some of my friends in Australia and New Zealand, though the fact that it was a Friday
morning there limited participation. Readers in Europe mostly slept through it.
Sorry!
Send invitations:
Obviously, having the launch outside of your usual pages means you’ll have
to reach out to people, or else no one will come. With a Facebook event, you
can send direct invites as well as posting an open invitation to the event. Beginning
a little more than a week before the event, I posted invitations on my author
page and personal page, then followed it up several days later. I didn’t want
to overdo it, so I didn’t do any more advance open invitations, just a
last-minute reminder.
In terms of direct invitations, I didn’t want to be obnoxious, so I gave a
lot of thought to those rather than blasting everyone on my list. Also, I wanted
people in attendance who actually wanted to be there, and not people who were
merely dropping in just to be polite. First of all, I sent direct invitations
to Facebook friends whom I knew to be among my most ardent supporters. I also
invited my co-authors (and not only those who wrote Kindle World stories) and
other fellow authors whose work I thought would be interesting to my
readership, and who might add to the discussion. Finally, I invited folks from
Cohesion Press, who published my (then) forthcoming thriller, Primordial.
Incentives:
I’m a firm believer in giving back, and I didn’t want this event to come
across as, “Everybody drop in and listen to me talk about how awesome I am.”
So, I did lots of giveaways, and advertised ahead of time that I’d be giving
away lots of free books. I spread these out every ten minutes throughout the
two hour block of time in order to keep participants interested. The giveaways
included:
*Ebook copies of backlist titles. Since I didn’t know which attendees
already owned which books, I selected some of my books that haven’t sold as
well, and would simply post, “I’ve got X free copies of X. Comment below if you
want one.” Ten minutes later, I’d choose the winner(s) and then post another
giveaway. Ebooks are great to give away because they’re easy to deal with and
doesn’t cost you anything to give away.
Signed books- I gave away a few of these (one every half hour, I believe.) Obviously,
with a signed book, you’ve got to pay for the book, sign it, package it, make
the trip to the post office, and pay for shipping. I don’t mind the expense,
but it’s an hour round-trip from where I live to the nearest post office, and I
can be a slacker about such things, so I keep the singed books to a minimum.
Advance copies of a forthcoming book- Cohesion Press was happy to permit me
to give out advance reader copies of Primordial, which came out two weeks after
the Kindle World release. Readers loved getting the advance copies, it created
some excitement for that book, and we’ve gotten some reviews out of the
giveaway.
*Books by fellow authors- Each of my co-authors was happy to do some sort
of giveaway from their own catalogs. This was wonderful, because it added
variety to the giveaways and hopefully brought those authors some new readers.
Best of all, I didn’t have to deal with sending out the prizes! (I told you, I’m
a slacker.)
*Note- I don’t recommend giving away copies of
the book(s) you are promoting! The purpose of the launch party is to create
excitement for the new release in hopes that the attendees will buy the book,
spread the word, and give you a quick rankings boost to increase visibility. If
you’re a big-time author, it might not make any difference, but if yours is a
more modest audience, you need every sale you can get around launch time. Give
away back list; sell the new book.
The plan:
*A two hour event
*Giveaways every ten minutes
*Inviting participants to ask questions (sort of an “Ask me anything.”)
*Being prepared with a few anecdotes to share about the new books. (Where
the ideas came from, what the writing process was like…) This was helpful to
get the ball rolling.
*Periodically posting the link to one of the new books (I was launching six
at once) and in the comments beneath it, inviting my respective co-authors to
talk about the book. This was a blessing because it got them involved and gave
me more time to respond to the questions and comments participants posted, and
to deal with the giveaways. Also, whenever a participant asked a
writing-related question, I responded, and then tagged my co-authors and
invited them to add their thoughts.
*Cover reveal- I used this event to create a little excitement for a book
that’s coming out this summer by doing a cover reveal during the event.
*Comic relief- I created a Facebook profile for a popular character from
the Maddock series, and had him participate in the party. It was difficult
trying to be two people at once, but it was fun.
*Obviously, having six co-authors participate in the event is unique to
this launch, but even if you’re simply launching a single solo novel, you might
find it beneficial to include fellow authors from your genre in order to add to
the discussion and add to the giveaways.
In Summary:
I was very happy with the way the launch event turned out. Everyone, me
included, had a good time, and the Kindle World enjoyed a solid launch. I don’t
think it’s something I’ll do for every book, but I’ll definitely do it again.
If you have thoughts, questions, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in
the comments!
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