The room is teeming with people, who are milling around, meeting authors, and getting free copies of books. Yes, that was the scene when I served as ghostwriter for Greg Williams and we launched Body Language Secrets to Win More Negotiations in Manhattan at a C Suite Network Event.
That was a different world and a different time.
Now, virtual book launches allow people from diverse parts of the world to celebrate the author’s success.
I’ve been involved in three kinds of roles at virtual book launch parties:
- In my first experience at a virtual book launch party, I supported my client as her editor. She invited several guests to discuss the book and their reaction to it. I’ve since provided this role for other authors.
- For each of the volumes of a compilation book, as their editor, I assisted the authors and trained them to produce material to help market the book. Each had a chance to come to a Zoom call to share some tips from their chapter.
- When I’ve served as an editor and helped my client launch her book, I asked my client, the author, questions about the book to draw out the author’s expertise.
Here’s what I’ve found to be effective when creating a virtual book launch.
Success Steps for a Virtual Book Launch Party
Stage 1: Planning
Plan your virtual book launch party. Start setting an agenda 6-8 weeks in advance. Think of how to keep people engaged.
Set up a series of invitation and reminder emails. Schedule them in the weeks leading up to the event, and ask for confirmation of attendance.
Make announcements on social media to encourage people to attend this free event.
If you are the author and would like to have guest speakers, pick those who can discuss the book and you. Set the expectation as to how long they will talk and what you’d like them to contribute. Review the process of getting onto your platform (such as Zoom or Streamyard) and be sure their microphone and camera work.
Consider providing door prizes – offer a coaching session, a free book, a card deck, or other prizes.
Pick the date with your publication date in mind. Hold the party on launch day or within a few days of it. You want people to buy the book while they’re still excited about it.
Check the time zones. Your guests may live in three or four of them. Name the time zone in every invitation so nobody shows up an hour late.
Use a registration page rather than posting the Zoom link in public. You’ll keep out people who want to disrupt the event, and you’ll collect the names and email addresses of people who care about your book. Those are the first readers you’ll tell about your next one.
Write a run of show. This is a minute-by-minute outline of who speaks, in what order, and for how long. Send it to your master of ceremonies and your guest speakers a week ahead. Everyone relaxes when they know when it’s their turn.
Test the buy link before you send it to anyone. Amazon sometimes takes several days to connect the Kindle and paperback versions of a book on one page. Click the link yourself, on your phone and on your computer.
Create a short link or a QR code for the buy page. Put it on a slide you can share during the event. Nobody will copy a 200-character Amazon address out of the chat.
Keep door prizes separate from reviews. Amazon doesn’t allow reviews given in exchange for a prize or anything else of value. Give prizes to people for showing up, and ask for honest reviews after the event.
Practice the Technology Ahead of the Virtual Book Launch Party
Although many people are familiar with Zoom, chances are that at least one person on the event will not know how to unmute or mute themselves or won’t have a functioning camera. Offer instructions or a practice session for your guests.
Make sure your microphone is working and your camera is clean. Set up a virtual background if appropriate, featuring the cover of your book.
You may have guests who cannot attend the virtual book launch party and want to create a brief video for you. That’s great! You can play the video during the virtual event. Know how to share the video with full sound. This is not hard to do in Zoom but you must activate the sound or else your viewers will be lip reading.
Hold a tech rehearsal a day or two before the party. Bring in your master of ceremonies, your speakers, and whoever is helping you behind the scenes. Share your screen, play the video, and test the slides. You’ll be glad that a problem you find at the rehearsal won’t happen in front of your guests.
Recruit a producer. This is someone who isn’t the master of ceremonies and isn’t you. The producer admits people from the waiting room, posts the buy link in the chat, mutes the person whose dog is barking, and helps anyone who can’t get in. Your job is to talk about your book.
Turn on the waiting room and set a passcode. Uninvited guests have taken over public Zoom events. Give your producer the power to remove anyone who disrupts the party.
Stage 2: Run the Party
The big day is here. Keep the event moving – an average duration might be 30-45 minutes, depending on the number of speakers. If your guests speak longer than their allotted time, gently and firmly take charge and encourage them to relinquish the microphone so that everyone has a chance to speak and viewers can ask questions.
Record the party, and tell your guests you’re recording. You’ll send the replay to people who couldn’t attend, and you’ll cut short clips from it for social media.
Have a backup plan if your internet fails. Make your producer a cohost so the event keeps running if you drop off. Keep your phone nearby so you can rejoin from it.
Foster an appreciative, warm atmosphere. A master of ceremonies will help take some of the responsibility off your shoulders so you can concentrate on the guests.
Ask people to put messages in the chat to increase the engagement.
Be sure to provide the link for purchasing your book. Announce it several times and encourage viewers to go to the link or QR code to purchase either the Kindle version of the book or the paperback.
Start on time. The people who arrived on time deserve it. Greet people by name as they come in.
Tell the story behind the book. Your guests want to know why you wrote it, who it’s for, and what surprised you while you were writing it. Keep it to five minutes.
Read a short passage. Pick one that stands on its own and takes no more than three minutes. Practice it out loud. Reading your own words to an audience is harder than it looks.
Seed the question and answer period. Ask two or three friends to have a question ready. Once the first person asks, others follow. Have your master of ceremonies read questions from the chat so nobody has to unmute.
Draw the door prizes near the end. People stay to find out whether they won.
Take a group photo. Ask everyone to turn on their camera, tell them you’ll share the picture, and take a screenshot of the gallery view. Let anyone who would rather stay off camera turn theirs off first.
Close with the buy link one more time and a thank-you to your speakers.
Stage 3: After the Party
Send a thank-you email within 24 hours. Include the replay, the buy link, and a request for an honest review. Some of the people who bought the book that night will have started reading it, and a reminder helps them follow through.
Thank your guest speakers personally. A note, a call, or a signed copy of the book shows them you noticed what they gave you.
Post clips from the recording over the next few weeks. A 60-second clip of a guest talking about your book makes a good social media post. So does a minute of you reading.
Look at what worked. Which reminder email got the most clicks? When did people start to leave? Write it down. You’ll want those notes when you launch your next book.
And if you have a book that needs editing, please contact me at patiyer.com/contact. I’d love to help you create your book.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is a consultant, speaker, author, editor and book coach. She has written or edited 73 of her own books and worked with dozens of authors as an editor and book coach. Her most recent books include AI-Powered Video for LNCs book and workbook.
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Pat is an Amazon international #1 bestselling author. Coaches, consultants, and speakers hire Pat to help release the knowledge inside them so that they can attract their ideal clients.
She delights in assisting people to share their expertise by writing. Pat serves international and national experts as an editor, book coach, and a medical and business writer.
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