Online Book Launches in an Age of Covid

Covid has certainly disrupted a lot of writing events this year, but it doesn’t have to stop you from having a book launch. You might just need to think outside the box.

I was fortunate in being able to hold a physical book launch for my debut novel Scattered, but I decided to also do an online launch so I could reach more people. I’m sharing some of my reflections in the hope that you might be inspired to navigate the exciting waters of online launches, either as a presenter or participant. So let’s dive in.

Choose Your Platform

Three of the most widely-used platforms are Facebook Live, Skype and Zoom. I decided to use Facebook Live for a number of reasons.

• First, it’s easily accessible by anyone with a Facebook account and easy to use. I didn’t have to add participants to a Skype group or send out links for a Zoom meeting. I just had to let people know when it was on and they could tune in.
• Second, it allows a degree of anonymity for participants, as they can watch without having to sign up for anything or be seen. I thought this might encourage more people to engage.
• Third, the video is available on Facebook afterwards so that people can watch the event later if the scheduled time doesn’t suit.

I would use Skype or Zoom if I was giving a talk or a workshop to a closed group, but Facebook Live worked well for my purposes in getting people to the event.

Choose a Suitable Time

• It’s impossible to choose a time that suits everyone, but you can select a time that maximises attendance. I held my online launch in early November after daylight saving had kicked in. That meant that time zones in Australia covered a three-hour period. I decided to have my launch at 3.00 pm, my time, on a Saturday afternoon, which meant that the starting time across Australia would be between 1.00 pm and 4.00 pm, thus avoiding mealtimes. It also wasn’t too late for Kiwi friends to watch from across the ditch. The choice of time seems to have worked, as I had participants from at least three time zones (maybe more).
• If you also want to include overseas participants, it can be tricky to find a suitable time. If you’re an established author with a lot of readers/fans on the other side of the world, you might want to consider having separate online launches for the different time zones.
• Also consider your target audience when choosing a time. If you’ve written a book for business people, there’s no point having your launch at 10 am on a workday. However, that time might be fine if your book is aimed at mums with young children.

Advertise

Of course, the effort you put into an event will amount to nothing if people don’t know it’s on.

• I created a Facebook event and invited specific people to that event. I also put messages in my author newsletter and on my private and author accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
• When advertising, be very clear about where people have to go to access the livestream. I intended to use Facebook Live direct from the events page. As I had put my author page as the host of that event, it meant that the livestream would automatically appear on both. I made sure that I gave people the links for both locations.
• I also spelled out the different times for people in different Australian states and territories, so there wouldn’t be any confusion. The World Clock website is helpful for checking times in different zones.
• As an extra incentive, I let people know there would be two giveaways during the event, including a signed copy of my book. Everyone loves a giveaway.

Think About the Type of Event You Want

I decided to have a simple, informal launch with me sitting in front of my desktop computer in my home office. I drafted a running sheet that included a short talk about my inspiration for the book, a short reading, some show-and-tell with maps and a model of one of my locations, and the giveaways. I broke the sections up so that I didn’t have long talking-head periods. I planned on about 30 minutes (which took 25 on the day).

This kind of informal chat worked well for me, but of course there are many other things you could do. If you wanted to have a more professional feel, you could use a more interesting location and have a separate camera operator. You could invite guests to speak, or you could interview people or be interviewed. There’s really no limit to the possibilities. However, I would recommend keeping it reasonably brief if you want people to tune in for the whole thing.

Prepare and Practice

It’s a good idea to prepare a running sheet, practise using Facebook Live (or whichever platform you choose) and practise any segments in which you’ll be speaking. I did a short test video a couple of days beforehand just to let people know about the event. As I’d never used Facebook Live before, this enabled me to check that it worked the way I imagined and that the video did indeed appear where I wanted it.

I’m fairly good at speaking off the cuff, so I just referred to my running sheet during the event. If you’re not very comfortable with public speaking, however, you might want to write out what you’re going to say and practise it. If you can avoid having to look at your notes too much, it will help people to engage with you.

On the Day

• Send reminders around earlier in the day. As it gets closer to the time, let people know you’ll be starting soon.
• When talking directly to participants, be sure to look at the camera as much as possible to give the sense of eye contact. Be enthusiastic and friendly so that people really feel you’re having a discussion with them. Also talk clearly and distinctly. (I need to remind myself of that one as I always speed up when I’m excited!).
• If there is anything you want the participants to do, be sure to give clear instructions. For each of my giveaways, I asked people to answer a question about something I’d said or shown during the launch. They then had to send their answers as an email through the contact page on my author website. This allowed me to keep all the replies in one spot, and it was easy to see who had the correct answers for the subsequent random draw. I kept the giveaway open for half an hour after the conclusion of the livestream so that everyone had time to enter.
• When it was over, I posted the names of the winners on Facebook and also responded to all of the comments  people had posted during the event.

What Would I Do Differently?

Given that I wanted a fairly informal event, I think it worked well. If I could do it again, I would definitely ask a Facebook-savvy friend to sit in with me. Doing it solo meant I couldn’t keep track of participant comments or any potential technical issues.

In the middle of my dramatic reading from the shipwreck scene of the novel, I saw out of the corner of my eye that someone had commented that they could see me but couldn’t hear me. For one horrible moment, I thought no one could hear me, so I excused myself and stopped to look at comments for a minute. Fortunately, everyone else seemed to be fine and the problem was only at one person’s end, but it did give me some anxious moments. If I’d had someone else with me, they could have responded to comments and alerted me if there was a problem.

It also would have helped to have a separate person filming it. At one point, I had to lift the camera off the top of my computer so that I could show people a model my Mum had made of one of the locations in my novel. My dodgy camera work left a bit to be desired.

Was it Successful?

Success is hard to measure as it depends on the criteria you use. The event was also part of an overall marketing strategy so it’s hard to know which specific things were effective. However, I was very pleased with the way it turned out. I had 24 people engage in some way during the livestream by leaving a comment and/or entering the giveaways, and I assume others would have been watching as well. Many of the comments were encouraging and indicated that people had enjoyed it.

Within two minutes of the livestream ending, one participant sent me a message to ask how she could get two signed copies of my book to give as gifts. I know others who were unsuccessful in the giveaways, but have since purchased a copy of my book. The video of the livestream has also had 243 engagements to date, so others must have checked it out at different times (though of course that doesn’t mean they watched the whole thing).

However, it’s not all about sales, it’s about connection with readers. If you’ve entertained, helped or encouraged someone through your launch, that’s a blessing both for you and the other person.

If you’d like to watch the video of my online launch, you can find it here. It won’t win any Academy Awards for best documentary, but it was fun!

The Importance of Prayer

Although I’ve written this point last, it really undergirds the whole process. Although every author hopes to gain sales from events such as a book launch, the more important thing is doing what we feel God has called us to do and then trusting that the message He’s laid on our hearts will reach the right people. Pray about the best way to proceed with your launch, pray God will give you the words to say, and pray protection over the event and the participants. My husband was also praying, and I know those prayers helped. When the event is over, also remember to thank God for all He has done and entrust the results to Him. He’s the one who gives us our creative gifts in the first place, and He delights in using them for His glory.

Have you had an online launch? What worked well for you or what would you do differently? If you’re a reader, what sort of things would you like to see in an online launch? I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions.

You can find Nola at:

Website: www.nolalorraine.com.au

Facebook: @nolalorraine

Twitter: @nolalorraine1

Pinterest: @nolalorraine1