marketing

PREPARE TO LAUNCH – 6 Steps to a Successful Book Launch!

/ Edwina Shaw / 2 Comments
Editors, Edwina Shaw and Rod Goodbun discuss the creation of Queersland at the book launch, with drag queen hostess Evalyn Eatdith looking on.

At the Queersland launch with our hostess Evalyn Eatdith and my co-editor Rod Goodbun

Woohoo! You’ve written your book, it’s been published, now all you have to do is sit back and rake in the big bucks! Right? 

Wrong. 

Marketing and promoting your book are a job in themselves – actually a few people’s jobs. All writers would be well advised to do some kind of marketing course because even if you publish with a major publisher who LOVES your book, they’re only going to put their marketing team behind it for a maximum of a month. Yes, that’s right, a month. Then they move on to their next big release. 

Sally holds a copy of Queersland open to her story at the launch.

Sally holds a copy of Queersland open to her story!

We authors are the ones who are most passionate about these stories we have worked on for years, so it’s up to us to ensure the people who would love to read it, find out it exists. Read more MARKETING TIPS here. And here is some advice on DISTRIBUTION for those publishing with a small press with limited distribution, or independent publishers. 

Marketing your book starts with giving your book baby a beautiful birth into the world with a book launch. I love book launches – they’re the best party ever, because it’s celebrating so much hard work done in solitude, hidden within our computer files, unloved and unseen. 

And then THE LAUNCH – finally the world can see you haven’t gone crazy, you weren’t just eating chips in front of the telly all that time, you were writing. Writing a wonderful book, a book you can now hold in your hands and share with others. Congratulations. 

A successful launch sells a lot of books and gets your publication off to a good start. A book launch is not just a party celebrating all your hard work, but also a powerful marketing tool. A successful launch creates buzz around your book and may even get you on your local bookstore’s best seller list, which is a thrill, but more importantly, brings your work to the attention of more readers. 

So how to create a successful launch?

Here are my…

SIX EASY STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL BOOK LAUNCH!

  1. Book a venue – depending on your purpose this can be a bookstore or somewhere else. We launched Queersland at a local gay bar so we could fit in more people, as we knew with 35 contributors we’d have a big crowd. 

        When you launch at an independent venue, if you are self-published, you get to keep all the profits from book sales, rather than 40% per copy going to the bookstore. My dear friend Gay Liddington launched her memoir Will I Ever Be Who I Am at her local community centre because of the work they do with DV support. 

        BUT if you want to get your street cred as a writer up, then bite the bullet, pay the fee and launch at your nearest independent bookstore (or local equivalent).

        Wherever you launch, unless you score a special deal or you launch at home, you’ll have to pay a fee for hiring the venue.

        Nick Earls reading at the launch of Bjelke Blues

        Nick Earls and the panel of readers at the Bjelke Blues launch in 2019.

        2. Find someone to launch your book. The person who hosts your event should be able to help bring in a crowd and be experienced in hosting events like this, lively, engaging and intelligent. Ask your most famous writing friend or alternatively someone who is knowledgeable about your book’s topic or theme. I hosted Gay’s launch, and we also invited her ex-commanding officer from her time in the army to do the official launching. For Queersland our hostess was the fabulous Evalyn Eatdith, drag artist – the perfect host for a queer event.

        Come up with a list of questions you’d like to be asked to help stimulate discussion. Make the conversation interesting and ensure it drives interest in the book. Organise the discussion and readings to engage the audience’s emotions. Make them laugh and make them cry.

        Drag artist Evalyn Eatdith at the launch of Queersland

        Our hostess with the mostest at the Queersland launch, drag performer, Evalyn Eatdith

        3. Invite other readers/Select good sections to read: If you’re launching an anthology featuring the work of many writers – like Queersland and Bjelke Blues, this is super easy. Pick a variety of readers to give an overview of the book and get them to stick to two minutes maximum. Two minutes (or shorter) is a good length for readings in these days of shortened attention spans. 

        If the book is only yours, I recommend interspersing short readings with an interview that illustrates your main themes and the narrative’s trajectory, without giving too much away. 

        If you’re shy, consider asking other writers you know to do short readings as well. That will give them a leg up, and also boost numbers as they’ll bring along friends and family to hear them read. 

        PRACTISE your readings. It’s all well and good until you start to read in front of a crowd – then the emotion hits. So practise until you know your well-chosen sections by heart. Stand tall, read loudly and with emotion. Vary the cadence of your voice and remember to look up at the audience sometimes. Slow down. When we’re nervous we tend to speed up. Don’t be afraid of emotional scenes – showing emotion will help sell books!

        Our talented readers from the Queensland launch. Steve MinOn, Ollie Lanagan, Shane Rowlands, Odette Best and Stevie Velour.

        Our talented readers from the Queersland launch. Steve MinOn, Ollie Lanagan, Shane Rowlands, Odette Best and Stevie Velour.

        4. Make the launch free or cheap. People who have had a free drink and an entertaining show are much more likely to buy a book. These days some established bookstores are charging quite a hefty entry fee for launches, without providing much in the way of snacks or beverages. I always pay the venue up front so my launch is free for punters, so they have more cash left to buy my book. That’s the aim, after all.

        5. Make your launch a special event. Call on friends with talent – a local guitar player, your friend who sings, some interpretive dance perhaps, a video maker, any performance or music will help lift the atmosphere to party level. That’s what you want for a memorable launch. Music, images, fun and food. You can create a playlist of music that resonates with your book, show a slide show of related images, raffle off prizes, find ways to involve the audience and get them laughing (and/or crying).

        Feed your readers too. For Bjelke Blues and Queersland I made a few cheese platters, and we provided a free drink with the entry fee. Gay baked enough delicious biscuits and cakes to feed a small army for her launch. Lubricate those impulse spending neurons with fun, food and a glass of wine.

        Gay, Kylie and Mary with Gay’s launch table packed with treats!

        6. Tell everyone about it – EVERYONE! Make sure you spread the word about your book and the launch well in advance. Even if the launch is free, you can create an event on Facebook or on Eventbrite or some other online entity for people to register to attend. Email anyone who’s had input into your writing and invite them personally. Personal invitations go a lot further than a Facebook invitation. 

        As part of your marketing campaign join lots of groups attached to your topic/themes and let people know about your launch. If you’re holding your launch at a bookstore, they will also advertise the event, but don’t count on that filling your seats. Your friends and family will be the main attenders so get them to spread the word too. You can also advertise the event on community noticeboards and/or contact your local paper and let them know about it. Who knows, the local paper may even write an article about your book and launch. You never know your luck!

        Edwina signs a copy of Queersland

        Edwina signs a copy of Queersland

        Launches are crazy and nerve-wracking, with hordes of people and fun! The best part for me is signing copies of your book at the end. Wherever you hold your event, make sure you set up a signing table for yourself and enjoy meeting the readers who are going to love your book. Make each inscription as personal as you can – include the person’s name and something specific to them – even if only – Thanks for coming to the launch, or Lovely to meet you. That personal touch makes a difference.

        You’ve done all the hard work, so enjoy celebrating this chapter of your book’s life. Let yourself shine a little. Remember to thank everyone and feel the reward of successful completion. WELL DONE!

        I hope my hints and tips help you create a memorable launch. What ideas do you have to make your launch special? Let me know in the comments.

        Lots of love,

        Edwina xx

        PERFECTING YOUR PITCH!

        / Edwina Shaw / 5 Comments

        Recently I attended my third ASA Literary Speed Dating pitching event. This great initiative by the Australian Society of Authors brings writers face to face with publishers and agents to pitch their work. For $27 or so per pitch you get three minutes to sell your book to trade publishers or agents. YAY! These opportunities are the best way to get your work noticed by the publishers or agents you’re aiming for, and I highly recommend you give it a go once your MS is ready. Here’s more info on LITERARY SPEED DATING. Next sessions are in July.

        But you don’t need to do the Speed Dating to pitch. You can still submit your pitch online to most trade publishers or agents through their slush piles, or directly to any publishing contacts you may have, if they’re happy for you to do so. 

        Here are a few Australian publishers accepting direct submissions right now – no agent needed.

        PAN MACMILLAN AUSTRALIA Open for submissions

        HACHETTE AUSTRALIA – ONLY ACCEPTING Children’s, YA and non-fiction (As at end April 2023)

        UQP looking for Literary fiction, non-fiction and Stories for the Future

        ALLEN AND UNWIN – Friday Pitch! Submit your pitch on a Friday!

        TEXT PUBLISHING – 6 months wait here

        PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA Currently closed for submissions but opening up for children’s books in August.

        You don’t need to limit your pitching to Australian publishers either – my first two books were published by a small UK press – so do your research and find a publisher that feels like the right fit for your book. Follow their submission guidelines to a tee.

        A general rule I follow when submitting is to AIM HIGH – GO FOR GOLD! Start with the big guns – those dream publishers or agents. If you don’t hear back or get a rejection (gird your loins – you’ll be facing a few of these. All badges of honour!!) then send out your next round of pitches to smaller trade presses, and so on, until you’re left with hybrid publishers or independent publishing. Independent publishing isn’t tricky and is very empowering. All you need is a good book designer to do the interior and cover for you and a printer to create the books. And now with the ASA DISTRIBUTION SERVICE for Independent Authors our books also make it to bookstores. Plus of course, make sure it’s been properly edited! Essential. There’s no use having the fanciest cover in the world if your story doesn’t make sense.

        So onto – THE PITCH.

        If you are pitching in person or in an email you only have a bare minimum of space and time, so it’s essential you cover all the most important elements quickly.  We want our pitches working perfectly to hook the interest of our targeted publishers. 

        OPENING

        Start with the TITLE of your book, the GENRE you’re writing, the WORD COUNT and the LOGLINE ( a sentence or two that gives the essence of your story in a nutshell – think of the movie descriptions on movie streaming apps) plus some COMPARATIVE TITLES (these are important as they automatically give the reader an idea of the flavour of your work). You can also include your target audience – Eg Women readers from 30 to 50 or in my case Readers of true crime searching for more depth and meaning.

        Here are my opening paragraphs:

        TITLE Shadowman is GENRE literary true crime (88 000 words WORD COUNT) based on a tragedy that has haunted my family for generations. Think Garner’s search for meaning This House of Grief meets Schmidt’s first person murderer narrator in See What I Have Done. COMPARATIVES

        In 1911 my great grandfather, Bill Williams, unwittingly hired a dangerously disturbed man with a history of violent crimes against girls to work on the family farm, endangering the lives of his wife and four young daughters. LOGLINE

        the not so jolly swagman
        the not so jolly swagman

        LOGLINES

        The logline needs to identify the protagonist, why they are of interest, their main story goal, and what is at stake if they fail to achieve it.

        Here’s a simple template to help you write your logline

        An ADJECTIVE, CONTRASTING ADJECTIVE OCCUPATION (describe the character through contrasting traits and their job if relevant) must DO SOMETHING OR STRUGGLE AGAINST SOMETHING or else RISK – WHAT IS AT STAKE?

        SYNOPSIS

        After the logline you need a greater explanation of your plot in a paragraph long synopsis. This is tricky! How do you take 80 000 words and shrink it to one paragraph? For a pitch synopsis you don’t need to include the ending so you can leave the reader with a hook. You need to include at least a couple of actions that the protagonist takes in pursuit of their goal and show the tension and stakes rising. If you can, inject some of the tone or style of your book. Eg, if you’re writing a comedy make it funny, a thriller? – make it suspenseful.

        Here’s my SYNOPSIS

        The farmhand, Joseph Throsby, suffered horrific ongoing abuse in an orphanage as a child and this combined with untreated epilepsy has resulted in a vulnerable but violent man who has only recently been released from jail. Rejected by his family and the community and desperate to create a new life for himself, he gives a false name to secure the job, but when he accidentally reveals his true identity, Williams fires him, setting in motion a chain of events that leads to murder. Not long afterwards, Throsby attacks the eldest Williams girl, Grace, in her bed. She bravely fights him off and Throsby is imprisoned, but only for six months. In court, he swears his vengeance. True to his word, as soon as he’s released, he returns to the farm and lies in wait where Grace always takes the cows out. That day however, she sends her younger sister in her place. 

        Laidley Corn Day
        Laidley Corn Day

        After we’ve got the main gist of the story across, we then need to add another paragraph about ourselves as writers. This can be the trickiest part! How to not sound like a wanker?!!

        Here is where we show off about any previous publications or prizes or courses we’ve done, any manuscript development we’ve undertaken or professional edits of the work etc. MOST IMPORTANTLY though is to state why you are so passionate about this topic you had to write a whole book about it! You can also make a note about HOW you have written it, to give the publisher an idea of the style and tone of the book.

        Here’s my WHY ME, WHY NOW or ABOUT THE AUTHOR section.

        The story is told in 3 interwoven sections, the first-person colloquial voice of the murderer, the omniscient voice of the Williams family, and the contemporary voice of the writer herself, reflecting on the echoes of violent crime and her attempts to break the family curse. 

        I’ve been writing and publishing for over 20 years. My first book Thrill Seekers was shortlisted for the 2012 NSW Premiers Awards and since then I’ve published another 4 titles as both author and editor. I teach Creative Writing at UQ and to adult survivors of institutional abuse whose experiences have informed Shadowman. This MS has undergone multiple drafts with support from a Varuna Residency award and an ASA mentorship award.

        That’s it for your elevator pitch! Keep it as short as possible – under 300 words if you can. Remember to leave time for questions if the pitch is in person and to research where you submit your pitch. There’s no use submitting a rural romance to a military history publisher or vice versa.

        So, what do you think of my pitch? I was very lucky to get requests for materials from both an agent and publisher. Now comes step 2 – THE WAIT! Please cross your fingers for me, a little luck can go a long, long way in this crazy business. And when we finally get our chance let’s all party by the light of the moon!

        I hope you’ll find this article helpful when you write your pitch. If you’d like me to give it the once over just drop me a line!

        GOOD LUCK PITCHING!

        Lots of love

        Edwina xx