A launch event is a fantastic way to get people excited about your new product or service. It’s an opportunity to thank people who’ve contributed towards the project, treat your customers like VIPs and to create an opportunity for images and publicity.

But events aren’t just a way to get attention, they should also be a celebration.

As a writer, a Book Launch is a must; not only does it allow you as an author to engage directly with your readers, it’s also an excuse for a party and to mark the end of one project before moving on to the next.

Most writers opt for a rather conservative evening in a bookshop with some readings and maybe some cheap plonk.

You’ve spent months, years even, to bring this book to life, it’s a wonderful achievement so why not make it more of a party?

I launched my first book ‘The Bronze Box’ in style by hiring a boat and we took a trip around Bristol harbour with music and drinks, and bunting – you can’t have a party on a boat without some on-theme bunting.

Everyone was happy to contribute a few pounds towards the cost of the boat hire for the novelty of an unusual evening out including some drinks and nibbles.

For my second book, I asked my guests to find the key to ‘Solomon’s Secrets’ and had a treasure hunt. Guests were split into teams
and given a series of clues that took them to historic pubs around old town Bristol where they found a box of keys.
Each team brought a key back to base and had to test the key in the lock on a bronze box. The team that had the key to the box, won the prize inside. We had some bubbly and a big chocolate cake with an image of the book on it – every party needs a cake!

For the launch of my third book, ‘Gabriel’s Game, Part 1: the White Queen’ – I put on a quiz. All the answers were to do with the city of Bristol; where much of the books are based. Guests all contributed to a tapas buffet and some fizz and paid £1 for the quiz – the winning team then got the quiz kitty.

I have plans for an even bigger and better party when I complete the final book in the Sheridan and Blake Adventure Series because not only will I be marking the completion of a book but also the end of a series.

Here are my top 10 tips to make your launch party something special:

1.Choose a suitable venue

Find somewhere relevant to your book, if the venue features in the book, even better.

2. Consider hiring actors

I’m an experienced and accomplished public speaker and enjoy speaking off the cuff with energy and enthusiasm, but I really hate reading out passages from my books. In my head, I hear the voice of my characters and I sound nothing like them, so reading from my book for me feels stale. One of the most engaging readings I’ve ever been to at a literature festival was when a professional voice actor did the reading – it felt so real and visceral.

Why not go one step further and script out a scene for your book and have some pop up theatre at your event?

3. Food and drink

As well as entertainment, a good party should have food and drink. Make sure there is a bar at the venue and consider offering some nibbles.

Venues, drinks, food, actors, merchandise, books; all this costs money. Don’t be afraid to charge people to come to the party. When something is free people often don’t value it but if they pay for something, there’s a commitment.

Spread the costs to make it good value and people are willing to pay for an unusual night out with that keeps them fed, watered and entertained all night for a relatively small amount of money.

I charged £15 for my last launch and that included a buffet and a welcome glass of prosecco.

4. Be on theme

Make all of the staging and entertainment for the event on theme with the book. Use images, colours, tastes and sounds that are relevant to the story. The first book in the Sheridan and Blake Adventure Series is called The Bronze Box and the mysterious lost box is a constant theme in all the books.

Whenever I take my books to any event; I display them in a bronze box. I also have a colour theme for each of the books.

5. Make sure you have a ready supply of books

Depending on your budget, the entrance fee could also include a free signed copy of the book. Make it a bit special by putting the book in a goody bag with other bits and bobs such as a bookmark, a thank you card, a few sweets scattered in the bag etc.

I included a short chapbook of teaser quotations from the other books in my goody bags and that alone interested people enough to ask about my other stories.

6. Merchandise and Marketing Materials.

Make sure you have other merchandise at the event. Have some flyers advertising your other books, your business card etc. Again, depending on your budget and ticket sales, you could get other merchandise for your books i.e. mugs, pens, notebooks, tote bags etc.

7. Prizes and giveaways

A bit of competition always gets people involved. It’s surprising how people’s competitive sides come out when they’ve had a few drinks and there are prizes at stake, it brings fun and energy to the event and gets people talking.

8. Take pictures

Remember your camera! You may also wish to consider hiring a professional photographer for the event to create some great publicity images. If you have actors involved, filming or recoding them performing can also make for great promotional material to use later.

9. Stay in touch

Have a way of capturing guest’s details so you can add them to your mailing list. Get them to sign a guest book, better still, ask them to leave comments. With their permission, you could use the comments in your future publicity.

Most important of all;

10. This is your party – enjoy it!

If you have any other book launch event ideas you’d like to share or maybe share some ideas you ave seen at other book launches, feel free to share them below!