My book launch was earlier this month. And it... was... awesome.
I know I've been remiss in posting pictures and information, but I learned something pretty important for future reference.
I should not schedule a book launch right in between arriving back in Canada from a major school trip, and report cards' season.
But it all worked out!
So let's start at the beginning.
It was held at our local community library. The library was amazing. They did some advertising for me, posting about the event on their Facebook pages and putting up posters and everything! They were so supportive.
In the pictures, the wall looks really, really yellow. Well, the wall is yellow, but I promise, it isn't that yellow.
We had some snacks. Cheese, crackers, deli meats, fruits, and a chocolate fountain! That was a big hit, especially with my students who showed up!
My in-laws did all the food and drinks. They made coffee, tea, punch, and all the treats. My husband's grandparents who live a province away even helped us out, lending us things like the coffee perk we used. His parents helped plan the event, came early to set it all up, and stayed late to clean it all up. That chocolate fountain alone was probably such a pain! But it was so great, and really impressed the people who came.
So, for the launch itself, I introduced the book and thanked people for coming, then read a chapter. For my online launch I read chapter 3, so for this one, I read chapter 4.
I was pretty stressed in the days leading up to the launch. My books were ordered so they would arrive a full week before. After phone calls and emails every day leading up to the launch, that morning I found out the only way we would get them in time was if someone could pick them up at the center... about 2 hours' drive away. In Canada. In November.
Luckily, my parents were coming from that basic direction, and so they swung through the city and stopped at the center. Unfortunately, the boxes I had arranged to have held there were put on a truck heading out of town. They were able to track down the driver though, stopping the trucks. The drivers helped them find 3 of my 4 boxes of books, and they arrived about 15 minutes before my launch began. A student who was there a few minutes early helped set up the books, and it all looked perfect by the time people started coming in!
After the reading, I answered questions. I was worried no one would ask anything. I needn't have worried! There were a lot of questions, and all of them so great. Though I was a little nervous speaking in front of grown-ups and not teenagers, and about something so important to me, I really loved the chance to talk about my book. People asked such well-thought-out questions, and some really tricky ones, too!
I was so humbled by the support that so many people showed. After the Q and A, people mingled, ate some snacks, chatted, bought books, and asked me to sign them. That was so exciting! I was so pleased with so many people buying books and wanting me to sign them.
I live in such a supportive community. I was overwhelmed with the reaction of community members to the event, and in the days following it. One woman even showed up with flowers from her daughter, a student who graduated two years ago! My aunt was a couple hours away on vacation, when she decided to come out this way to celebrate with us. A friend brought a beautiful necklace with a heartfelt message that brought me to tears. My mother-in-law gave me and my mom matching necklaces that she made herself for the occasion, with a homemade book and charms. (I have a really, really talented mother-in-law.)
Family and community members, students and their relatives, friends and acquaintances and just fans of books, all came out.
As the event was winding down, we finished cleaning up and then my parents, my in-laws, and my aunt and her friend, all came with my husband and I to a nearby pub where we had a few drinks and a toast and some more food.
Overall, it was so perfect. It went better than I ever could have hoped for.
I suppose I'm probably supposed to act all cool and confident. Screw that.
I am humbled, and excited, and so, so happy. I can't believe that I get to say that I'm now an author. I can't believe that actually happened.
So forget cool and confident. I'm doing a total mental happy dance.
Thank you for your support of me and The Girl with the Empty Suitcase!
If you want information about the launch, or anything about purchasing a book, please contact me here. And thank you again for everything! I am, as I've said, so humbled. You guys are awesome.
Be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletters, which go out the first Tuesday of every month. This next one's pretty cool. It has the link to my latest entry in that flash fiction contest I keep going on and on about!