Catherine Austen
Creative Writing
Book Launching Afterword
Now that I’ve had my first book launch–which everyone tells me went very well, though I was so nervous it’s a bit of a blank–I thought I’d pass on three bits of advice for future launchers.
First, you need more set-up helpers than you think. Bank on unforeseen delays. (It took me half an hour to cart everything from my car to the party room.) These delays will leave you twenty minutes to set up a room for a party of sixty people. Not good for stress levels.
You don’t want to have to choose between laying out refreshments and hanging up decorations. You need extra pairs of hands so that you can do both. Over-preparing works well–with several activities for children, a variety of refreshments, lots of things to read and admire on the walls–but it requires a lot of set-up time at the venue itself, not just at home in the days beforehand. Ask several friends to come early.
Second, you will be stuck in the book-signing chair for pretty much the entire event. This does feel special, but it means that you’re not out in the room mingling with your guests. Don’t think of this as a regular party where you can pair people up and introduce friends with common interests and catch up on things with your old colleagues. Forget it–you’re in a chair absolutely clueless as to what else is going on in the room. Your great-aunt who takes a pottery class may or may not meet your neighbour who teaches a pottery class. It’s out of your hands. Plan on an after-party if you want to make this a social event for you.
On another note, though, don’t feel bad for those guests who came out of their way to your launch but never really got a chance to talk to you. (If they buy your book while they’re there, they can talk to you in your book-signing chair.) It’s the nature of book launches. A quick hug and “thanks for coming” before you’re tied to the chair is all they can expect.
Third, this is definitely a social event for everyone you invite and, as tends to happen when people are not paid for their labour, the friends you assigned duties will forget about them entirely once they’re having a good time meeting people. Your cake-cutter will be flirting while your cake sits intact and uneaten. Your photographer will crack jokes with the camera around his neck still in its case. Children will help themselves to coffee (double doubles) while your server catches up with an old girlfriend. And whoever you put in charge of the kids’ table will be on the opposite side of the room while stacks of colouring pages and mazes lay undiscovered by the crowd of children.
And, strangely, it’s all good. It will all sort itself out. Someone will eventually beg you to cut the cake. Someone else will take a couple of great photos and email them to you later that evening. The kids will be so happy drinking coffee they won’t care that they missed a few activities. The mixed CD you forgot to play will be the perfect background for cleaning up. And you’ll realize that those few things you’d planned to do but totally forgot weren’t really that crucial after all. Everything sorts itself out.
Then you’ll go home feeling high. A few hours later, one of your guests will call to tell you she just started reading your book and she loves it. The next morning you’ll get an email from another guest who read it all the way through and loved it. You’ll run into someone in the grocery store whom you didn’t even know was at the launch and he’ll tell you what a good time he had and how he loves your book.
And you’ll feel satisfied, and ready to finish your next book.
10 Comments on “Book Launching Afterword”
Leave a Reply to Lizann Flatt Cancel reply
Catherine Austen writes books for kids and teens, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. She lives in Gatineau, Quebec.
Top Posts & Pages
Catherine Austen 
What a wonderful synopsis for the whole event! Glad that everything went so well – even if it wasn’t according to plan. Of course, those of us promoting your book from the West Coast were dying for a picture of you signing books at the launch, but I’ll let you take that up with your husband. 🙂 Congrats on your first book launch – here’s to many more!
Thanks, Leslie. I’m glad I figured out how to upload pictures onto this blog so I could show it off a bit. (Though husbands left in charge of photos could use a little more direction, I guess. :)) It was a really good event–and you were up near the top of the list of people to thank for helping with it. I’ve never been to a book launch before (let alone hosted one), but I think I might start seeking them out.
Excellent summary! And I laughed about your kids and the double-doubles! I’ve never held a book launch so I thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through yours. Way to go!
Thanks, Lizann. The kids were pretty funny. When my 7-year-old approached me (in the chair) with a coffee, I assumed it was for me. “How thoughtful!” I thought–until he started sipping and chatting. I asked, “Who gave you that?” Sure enough, a 6-year-old friend was manning the Tim Horton’s coffee bar. Oh well–no permanent damage done. (No requests for coffee at breakfast yet, either.)
WOW! Loved this post and found it very helpful for when my turn comes around. And like the book, your subtle sense of humour rises to the top.
Thanks, Terry. I can’t wait till your turn. (Although I really enjoyed my book launch, I’d prefer to be a guest next time.)
I’m a kid and I read your book. It was really good. red plastic power ranger. lol
Thanks, Anna. I’m so glad you liked it!
Pingback: Book Launch – the Missing Fable « Catherine Austen's Blog
This is a great post tthanks