Last week I wrote about how self-publishers can use social media to help get the word out about their books. But there are plenty of ways to get the word out and keep things interesting when your book launches that aren't based on social media. This week I'm going to look at a few examples I've either done or seen as suggestions for anyone going down the self-publishing road.
When I was working on my book Sidewalk Ritual, I wanted to do some creative marketing that connected it to the city it was set in: San Francisco. One of the things that is bubbling up here as well as in other parts of the country is the craft beer revolution.
A good friend of mine is a stellar nano-brewer and routinely makes beer in his garage that is better than what I can get at the local bar. We were talking one weekend and I asked him if he would be interested in me commissioning him to brew a beer based on my novel that we could then serve at the book's launch party. He was into it. And it turned out amazing.
I gave him an advance copy of the book and he read it and chose ingredients connected to the characters and themes. For instance, he used a type of hop called "cascade" because my book talks a lot about water. Each ingredient had a story like that. And we even got to call it Sidewalk Ritual IPA. It was beyond a treat to have a friend pouring amazing, inspired beer at the launch party.
For anyone preparing for a book launch, this is a great way to have fun and prepare something special for your launch party.
But even if you're not interested in going the beer route, you can take this approach with anything. Have the food you serve be inspired by characters or themes in your book, or ask other creative people you know to work on a related project. I'll be talking about some of those other kinds of creative projects later this week. But for now...
Cheers!
Image courtesy of WordRidden via flickr
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