(Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )
Welcome
to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's
time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop.
If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog
hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy,
ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek
behind the curtain of a writing life.
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Natalie Aguirre!
March 4 question - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?
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There's been quite a variety of types of book launches in my writing life so far. Some were polished, some fell apart, and some just kind of happened when I wasn't looking.
When my first book, Going Through the Change, was published the first time in 2015, I arranged for a book launch party at a local indie book store and it was FABULOUS! Lots of family came in from out of town, everyone local in my writing life showed up, and I really felt like a feted celebrity.
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| A favorite photo from that day: Me, my daughter and my dad showing our genetics. |
I tried something similar for my second book in the series, Change of Life, with a party at my local library through the Friends group. People were super supportive, but my publisher let me down by missing their deadlines and I didn't have any books to sell at my launch party! (sad trombone noise)
So, by the time, the third book, Face the Change, was due out, I was wary…and it was a good thing! Because they missed that deadline, too, and the book was delayed. So, I never really had any formal book launch for that book. I was disheartened.
It was three more years before the next releases in that series came out. Rough years with a hassle getting my rights back from the publisher (which was folding), signed on and re-released with the new publisher, and dealing with all my feelings about all of that. (I wrote more about that here if you're interested)
My only launch activities for the re-releases, the novellas (Friend or Foe and The Good Will Tour), the shorts (Through Thick and Thin), the fourth novel (Be the Change), the omnibus of shorts (Agents of Change), and the final novel in the series (Change for the Better) were virtual.
I *wanted* to have a big event to celebrate finishing the series, but the timing lined up poorly with other parts of life. There was a *lot* going on in summer 2025 and I couldn't find the time and energy to put together any kind of celebration, even though finishing my series was a major landmark in my writing life.
Some of my short story publications have come with online launch parties--things like zoom parties or Facebook parties. They're kind of fun, and they have the advantage of letting you get people together who aren't geographically convenient to one another.
As I move into my indie phase, I've taken a different tactic when it comes to my book birthdays. I've been seeking early ARC readers and putting my titles up on NetGalley to try to build a little buzz and have some reviews there on day one. I'm still seeking author events, but I'm more interested in multi-author events and I'm not concerned about whether they line up with release day. I'm planning for the long haul and I know that a book can take off on day one, or on day one hundred and one or day one thousand and one, or never at all--and that a lot of that is outside my control.
Still, I remember that first launch party with a happy glowing feeling in my heart, so maybe I should think about getting something set up again. We'll see what the future holds.
