Confessions of an Author

The Launch of CLARA – A Good Psychopath? Hello, how are you? My weekend was dominated by the launch of  CLARA . It has all been very exciting, and began a few week’s ago, so I’ll tell you about it (because one day, you might be having a book launch of your own). CLARA  is the second book which I have been brave enough to have a launch party for. You have to be brave, because writing a book involves hours living inside your own head, and a book launch involves talking about the book to other people – which does not come very naturally to most authors. However, as I discovered with my previous books, if you opt to not have a launch, then some of the friends who would buy your books, find that local shops have sold out, or they never actually get round to ordering a copy, so you lose sales. After 18 months writing and rewriting and editing a book, you want people to read it. (Plus it’s nice to start paying off some of your debt!) The first decision is time. I w...

How to Host a Book Launch Having a book launch is scary. However well planned you are, you cannot be sure anyone other than your Mum will actually come. This is true for all but the most famous authors, and authors who are more successful than me assured me beforehand that this is normal. One even told me that she’d held a launch that was packed to the rafters, and another, just last year, when only her husband and daughter came. This made me feel better – because the success of the launch does NOT reflect your ability as an author. It’s random. There are however, a few things you can do to try and improve the situation. I’ll let you know what I did. Firstly, obviously, you need to decide on time and place. Decide who is most likely to be interested in your book, then consider things like school term dates, when people are likely to be skiing or away on holiday. Then choose your venue. Many authors hold a launch in a bookshop. This has the advantage of being in a public...