What a crazy fun weekend! I'm still flying after the UMS Launch Party on Saturday, followed by a wonderful chat with Barry from A Book and A Chat on Blog Talk Radio. Seriously, I'm not sure how I was able to function at school today. I may have to do an inventory of the collection - did I really check in books? Or did I just scan UPC codes by mistake? (Yikes!)
Anyway - I thought it might be cool to pass along a few launch party tips for those of you embarking on a similar journey. So, here goes:
1. No matter how stressed / frazzled you get in the days before the launch - the number one thing to remember is - you have people who love you and will have fun no matter WHAT glitches the night may bring - RELAX already.
2. You have every right to be a stressball - so many things can go WRONG! lol...
3. If you get a cake, make sure it will feed twice as many people as you are expecting for the launch - better to extra cake, than not enough.
4. Breathe.
5. Make sure the smallest act of kindness / helpfulness is acknowledged - most people are out of their element at these events - if someone offers to help clean up tables when the show's over - hug them!
6. Start planning at least 2 months before the launch. Get your venue, have a theme, find an outgoing friend to MC, tap into the local art scene and see if you can feature other artists/musicians - the more you share the spotlight - the bigger the spotlight grows.
7. Invite / blackmail / seduce people into attending - drag folks in off the street if you have to....no one is safe from an author on a launch party mission.
8. Enjoy every second - it goes by in a blur! Thankfully, people like my friend, Dave, have amazing photography skills to help you remember it all.
9. Have another friend take some video footage and add it to the end of your rambling blog post:
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing all of this, Tracy! I wish I could have been there, but with the video I almost felt like I was. It looks like everyone had a blast and it all went down without a hitch! You are adorable!
Congrats again! I still need my copy signed! ;) For those who haven't bought their copy of UMS, make sure you do. It's awesome.
The video and post were very informative. Thanks for sharing.
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