Judging Success
Success never comes pure and simple. There is always a little bit of good and bad. The higher you reach, the farther you fall if you don't make your goals... but if you never reach far and put yourself out there then you will never succeed. It takes giant leaps and bounds, with lots of confidence to make it across the chasms of failure ready to suck you in.
The purpose of a book launch is to promote a book. The purpose of promoting a book is getting visibility and getting it in front of people who might want to read the book.
How my launch was successful: it generated online reviews and book sales.
How my launch was a failure: it cost money and took a lot of time to plan and prepare.
Was it all worth it? Honestly, I have mixed feelings.
I thoroughly enjoyed the party aspect. I'm also super appreciative of the people who made it a wonderful time (my husband and sister Crystal especially). They worked so hard and made me feel so loved because they were so supportive.
It was a surreal experience reading aloud and signing copies of my book: I felt like a celebrity. It was my first official book signing event. Plus, I ate my favorite pizza and soda. The cake tasted yummy and the environment/venue was entertaining for everyone.
The launch generated several donations for VALA Eastside Art Gallery and I will be handing them a nice check from ticket sales. These donation help local artists and people interested in art in the Redmond, WA area. I feel fabulous about helping others.
So, throwing a party for friends and family, getting to be a celebrity for a day, and generating donations for a non-profit I believe in were all very very good things.
However, overall it did not meet my promoting expectations for the book (I had high expectations). I was hoping for close to 100 people in attendance, most of whom I didn't know. That was not the case; there were less than 40 people -almost all of which I already knew. But, I learned a lot for next time:
1) Don't schedule the event during a major competing event. (LIKE COMIC-CON)
2) Flyers didn't bring in ANYONE and took a lot of time and effort to post all over town.
3) Facebook Ad ($25) didn't bring in ANYONE or generate sales. Twitter and Instagram seemed like a waste of time too. However, maybe it is just because I'm new to all of this and don't have a huge following yet, I don't know.
4) Affiliations/Sponsors are a good idea, cross-promotion and support is nice for everyone.
5) Getting friends/family to invite people directly to the event is a very good idea.
6) Setting up an online review contest is a very good idea.
7) Raffles are fun and everyone enjoys them, great idea.
8) Handing out invitations in person at comic-con or outside the venue beforehand would have been good.
9) Getting media attention was nice, but didn't necessarily help in any way. Again, this could have been mostly due to competing events.
10) Personal connections are the most likely to be involved. So appreciate your loved ones!
I've got two more books coming, so learning from this experience will be key to making the next two launches even more successful. Below are pictures from the launch taken by my sister Crystal, who managed the event and was integral in all things that were successful about it. She could have a job in PR I think.
The purpose of a book launch is to promote a book. The purpose of promoting a book is getting visibility and getting it in front of people who might want to read the book.
How my launch was successful: it generated online reviews and book sales.
How my launch was a failure: it cost money and took a lot of time to plan and prepare.
Was it all worth it? Honestly, I have mixed feelings.
I thoroughly enjoyed the party aspect. I'm also super appreciative of the people who made it a wonderful time (my husband and sister Crystal especially). They worked so hard and made me feel so loved because they were so supportive.
It was a surreal experience reading aloud and signing copies of my book: I felt like a celebrity. It was my first official book signing event. Plus, I ate my favorite pizza and soda. The cake tasted yummy and the environment/venue was entertaining for everyone.
The launch generated several donations for VALA Eastside Art Gallery and I will be handing them a nice check from ticket sales. These donation help local artists and people interested in art in the Redmond, WA area. I feel fabulous about helping others.
So, throwing a party for friends and family, getting to be a celebrity for a day, and generating donations for a non-profit I believe in were all very very good things.
However, overall it did not meet my promoting expectations for the book (I had high expectations). I was hoping for close to 100 people in attendance, most of whom I didn't know. That was not the case; there were less than 40 people -almost all of which I already knew. But, I learned a lot for next time:
1) Don't schedule the event during a major competing event. (LIKE COMIC-CON)
2) Flyers didn't bring in ANYONE and took a lot of time and effort to post all over town.
3) Facebook Ad ($25) didn't bring in ANYONE or generate sales. Twitter and Instagram seemed like a waste of time too. However, maybe it is just because I'm new to all of this and don't have a huge following yet, I don't know.
4) Affiliations/Sponsors are a good idea, cross-promotion and support is nice for everyone.
5) Getting friends/family to invite people directly to the event is a very good idea.
6) Setting up an online review contest is a very good idea.
7) Raffles are fun and everyone enjoys them, great idea.
8) Handing out invitations in person at comic-con or outside the venue beforehand would have been good.
9) Getting media attention was nice, but didn't necessarily help in any way. Again, this could have been mostly due to competing events.
10) Personal connections are the most likely to be involved. So appreciate your loved ones!
I've got two more books coming, so learning from this experience will be key to making the next two launches even more successful. Below are pictures from the launch taken by my sister Crystal, who managed the event and was integral in all things that were successful about it. She could have a job in PR I think.
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