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Welcome to The Book Marketing Action Podcast with Becky Robinson and Christy Kirk. Your book deserves a celebration! A virtual book launch party is an exciting opportunity to connect and engage with the supporters of your work. During this episode, Christy and Becky share logistics you want to consider as you plan your party.
Before we get into the logistics of a book launch party, you might be wondering the purpose behind having one. A launch party builds loyalty, connection, and keeps the momentum going for your book. It’s a great way to get your launch team and supporters connected, excited, and energized to go out in the world and support your book.
Here are some of the logistics you might want to consider as you start to plan your party:
- How many attendees should you invite? It all depends on your goals. There are two routes you can go when planning who to invite to your launch party. The first is keeping it intimate and only inviting your launch team. The second route is making it a public event or live event on Facebook. Requiring registration may increase participation and commitment in both cases.
- What time of day should the party be? It’s really important to consider what time of day will be best for your guests to attend. For example, if you have a business book that people are reading during their workday, consider having it during business hours.
- Should I be the host or have a co-host lead the celebration? If you’re not comfortable making the ask for guests to buy your book, sometimes it’s helpful to have a co-host lead the party to make those call to actions for you.
- How can you make it fun? With so many people being on Zoom calls all the time, it’s important your guests know it will be fun. Try having a fun virtual Zoom background, request people to show up with their favorite beverage for a toast at the end, or if you require registration, you can send a small gift like bubbles or a t-shirt to them before the celebration. A giveaway during the party is also a great way to get your guests excited and keep them engaged throughout the entire event.
- Will you record or share/broadcast via Facebook? Some clients are experimenting with a new tool called Streamyard, but this is a stream-only service. We prefer using Zoom meetings to broadcast to Facebook.
- What are the final closing remarks/calls to action? In advance, think about the flow of how you want your party to go from start to middle to end. It’s important to have closing remarks, a final call to action, or toast at the end, so your guests know the celebration is over.
If you take away anything from this episode, remember to have fun, be present, show up authentically during your launch party, and make the ask. When people have the opportunity to connect with you as a person, that’s going to drive so much loyalty to your work. And if you’re not comfortable making a call to action, have a co-host do it for you so you don’t miss an opportunity to mobilize your network.
Today’s action steps you can take:
- Attend a virtual launch party. Look for other authors who might be having a virtual launch party, see if you can attend to gain ideas, and observe what you like and don’t like.
- Test out different technology. If you’ve never used Streamyard, Zoom, or Facebook, try them all and decide what kind of format you want. Test different technologies to see what will work best for you.
- Schedule a launch party. Put a date on the calendar and begin to plan your own party!
Let us know below if you will take any of today’s action steps. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please email Becky Robinson here and Christy Kirk here.
In this episode, we talked about, Maya Hu-Chan, author of Saving Face. We also talked about Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of Creating Introvert-Friendly Workplaces. You can watch her book launch Livestream recording here.
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I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.