Book Releases and Book Launches

What happens when my book goes on sale?

What does that mean?

I recently had the pleasure of being part of one of my client’s book launch party for her book release, and thought it would be good to explain what that means for you! There are a lot of words that revolve around children’s picture book publishing when it comes to selling a book for the first time. No matter your avenue for publishing, eventually, your book will spawn into the market.

So what do you do about it? The author’s job is done once the book is complete, right? Think again.

A book release date is a very crucial part of your money-making and helping propagate sales for your children’s book. You should have pre-orders already flowing through, you should be yelling to the world, “Hey! I’ve got something to share with you! Comes see!” But a book release is just that, a date. It’s the deadline for racking up presale numbers, hyping up your fans, and preparing the world for the entrance of your book into society. It will not on its own make your book sell. People will not know to be on the lookout for your book just because it is released. So make sure you use your book release date wisely. It’s an amazing opportunity to get people excited for something, make sure they don’t miss out. Tell them what’s going to happen, what is so special about that date, and create the buzz your book deserves.

What’s something you can do on your book release date? You should have a book launch party! You want to plan this one, and go big! Do it online, do it at a library, a local market, a venue where your book content fits in to the audience seamlessly. Have a support group do it with you. Far different than a book release, which is just a day on a calendar, a book launch is a marketing strategy to sell your book, get the attention of your target audience, and celebrate all your hard work that went into making it this far. Every children’s picture book launch is different, but at its heart, it’s a celebration of all that went into producing a book so that people know about it. The best part about having your close friends and family involved, is that it will feel joyous, even if you don’t sell as many copies as you want, or the venue gets rained out and it’s a tough day on you. Surround yourself with your people - they will make it a wonderful experience.

So, what does a picture book launch look like? Well, an example of this was the beautiful community that showed up when Joy Corley released “Percy Does Yoga… Not!” this spring. Joy got on her socials and shared all around the town for a couple of months leading up to the release date. She invited everyone. Don’t be shy about family and neighbors. They can be your biggest allies and help you feel like you’re not having to do it all alone. Joy had a impromptu friend get dressed up and on the spot (no pun intended) did a hilariously punny song for her audience. People surrounded her with love and were hyping each other up about the book. It’s a beautiful thing to see.

Your book launch doesn’t have to have even a dozen people - it doesn’t need a ballroom reservation or a giant convention book signing. I highly recommend investing in a book marketing guru if you’re looking to setup a big book launch and pile in the pre-sales. They’re brilliant at what they do, and have so much more to teach you and guide you on marketing your book to sell. But showing up for your book launch and putting yourself out there means you are proclaiming to yourself, as much as everyone else, that you’re glad you did this. And it’s time for the world to know about it! Be proud about your hard work, your voice, and your story no matter what your release date looks like.

So get some ideas and some friends, and plan your book launch. Be ready for a great day of fun and options for promoting your book to people that day. And most of all, remember, it’s a time to celebrate. Your book is real, in the hands of others. It’s officially leaving it’s mark on someone’s life!