book launch

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

        CREATING QUEERSLAND: Tips for publishing anthologies.

        / Edwina Shaw / Leave a comment
        Cover of Queersland

        Late last year, I was doing some editing for my old friend, queer rights activist and all-round good guy, Rod Goodbun, who I met as part of the first Queensland Pride Collective back in 1990. He mentioned he’d like to create an anthology of stories from a wide spectrum of queer voices, and that he’d like to call it Queersland. “Great title!” I said. “Let me know if you need some help editing.” 

        I mentioned Roddy’s idea to Matthew Wengert, the publisher at AndAlso Books that I’d worked with to create my first social history anthology Bjelke Blues, and he was keen. He also suggested we get an Arts Queensland grant to cover some of the costs and to enable us to pay contributors. 

        Cover of Bjelke Blues

        Fast forward past the arduous and odious days spend getting the grant together (that’s another book on its own!) and our great good fortune in securing funding for the project and… WHAM! We were on! Thank you Arts Queensland.

        The process of collecting voices for the anthology began, with the aim of giving voice to as many of the different colours of the Queer QLD rainbow as possible, as well as covering some of QLD’s queer history (we have a story set during WW2) and the length and breadth and of this huge state.

        An old photo of me and my old friend Stevie who has his first story in the collection!

        TIPS FOR CREATING AN ANTHOLOGY

        Here are a few tips for people wanting to create their own anthology around a topic/theme or subject.

        1. COLLECT CONTRIBUTIONS 

        For Queersland both Roddy and I had a number of contacts who were either writers and/or had a good story to tell. We wanted to showcase established writers but also provide a forum for new and emerging voices and to record some of the history behind the queer movement that arose during and post the Bjelke-Petersen regime. We also wanted to ensure we had a strong First Nations voice and voices from cultures other than white Australia. Most importantly, we aimed to include a variety of writing and art. 

        Queersland includes poetry, song lyrics, memoirs, personal essays, fiction, photographs and artwork. After our initial call out, we realised we had some important voices missing, eg Transwomen, so searched for these missing voices. Luckily, in my teaching capacity I meet lots of lovely people in workshops, so found a few of our missing pieces in my classes and leapt upon them with the lure of publication. For Bjelke Blues, I’d put an advertisement up on Facebook to gather extra pieces, but we didn’t need to do that for Queersland. We were also lucky enough to score a foreword from one of Queersland’s most successful sons, Darren Hayes, who grew up in Logan but went on to international music stardom with Savage Garden.

        • SELECT & EDIT CONTRIBUTIONS

        Most of the stories were requested which took away the need for any rejections – the worst bit of doing anthologies. So once we had our stories in, both Roddy and I rolled up our sleeves and helped each writer polish their contribution until it shone. Stories from established writers like David Kelly, Kris Kneen, Kelly Parry and Steve MinOn, were a breeze. Other stories needed a bit more tidying, or tone adjustment, and others from brand new writers attempting their first pieces, needed a lot of back and forth. Our story from Aunty Dawn Daylight, Blak Queer pioneer and respected elder, was a longer process, with my friend Sitara interviewing Dawn over a few sessions, then typing up the notes, which I then shaped into the story you’ll find in the book. Most stories took more than one edit, so it was a long process, but worth it in the end. And, thanks to the grant, each contributor was paid.

        • ORDER STORIES

        When ordering stories, we decided chronology would be the main shaping force of the collection, with oldest stories first. I wanted a light touch and a sense of humour for the opening piece though so chose a short pithy memoir piece from Evalyn Eatdith where she tells someone, “Buy a girl a drink before asking personal questions”. This made sense to me, as Roddy and I had bought the drinks for all the contributors and inside the book was the answer to very personal questions. 

        In ordering collections/anthologies too, I always like to consider light and darkness, making sure any heaviness is tempered with a lighter story. We also wanted to have a good balance of masculine, feminine and non-binary voices. Our closing story is a timeless modern metaphor that resonates beautifully with Kris Kneen’s piece early in the book. Finding these echoes and resonance between stories is one of the joys of creating anthologies. Using these echoes and patterns to help order your stories also helps the collection feel more satisfying for the reader.

        • SELECT IMAGES

        We were very lucky to have images from artists like Jackie Ryan, Garett Huxley, Ivan Dyke-Nunn andAnge Bailey. When inserting images, a lot had to be sorted out directly with the printer, as good quality white paper is needed for the best reproduction of the artworks. This limited the number of images we could use and also where they could be placed.

        • ANTHOLOGY LAYOUT

        After several rounds of proofreading – Thank you Tuesday! Thank you Georgina! – the anthology then went to our designer, the wonderful Susi Blackwell, who was also an inaugural member of the 1990 QLD Pride Collective. Susi designed an eye-catching cover and wrangled with the interior and fonts, and everything involved in making the book a pleasant reading experience. If you are creating an anthology with a large trade publisher, then all this will be handled for you.

        Being from FNQ I wanted a cassowary on the cover – colourful, uniquely Queensland and a little bit scary – but a bush turkey will do!

        • MARKETING AND EVENTS

        Luckily, we’ve been able to use grant funding to employ someone to help with organising our Queersland launches. The book is being released at the first launch in Brisbane at Come to Daddy’s on Friday 5th September – yup, not long! FULLY BOOKED. 

        This is followed by a Melbourne launch at Hares and Hyenas at the Victorian Pride Centre on 18 September. 

        On October 11, 2- 4 pm, we’ll be at Rosetta Books as part of the Rangebow Festival.

        The happy crowd at the Bjelke Blues launch.

        A fabulous panel led by Steve MinOn follows at the Brisbane Writers Festival on October 12 and then we’re at Avid Reader on Sunday 9 November at 3pm as part of the Melt Festival. 

        On 24 November we will be in Sydney at Qtopia for our NSW event, and to top them all off we have two events at Woodford Folk Festival right over the new year! WOWZA! 

        It would be wonderful to see you at any of these. Do come along and say hi!

        Along with all these events comes marketing through reviews, interviews and articles etc. Whatever your anthology topic is, focus on that audience and do your own launches and talks/panels of voices from the collection at venues where you will find your readers.

        I really enjoy creating these social history anthologies about aspects of Queensland that are often hidden or overlooked. It is a pleasure to provide a platform for voices that aren’t often heard and a publishing opportunity for emerging writers. I also get to publish stories of my own in them. Bonus! You can buy a copy of Queersland HERE – available now for preorder and from all good bookstores after September 5.

        Have you got an idea for anthology? What topic, group or theme deserves multiple voices? What missing part of history needs to be recorded? Bear witness for your tribe.

        I hope these tips will help you get started! Having a grant helps, but we didn’t have one for Bjelke Blues and the process was the same, just less money to play with!

        In the meantime do get dressed up fancy and come along to celebrate Queersland with us at any of the events above!

        Lots of love

        Edwina 🙂 xx