BellaOnline Forums Computers Blogs & Social Networking Running a Book Launch Party on Facebook

Lisa,

This is all so helpful.

Another game idea for your book - ask people to name any famous real life mysteries (like the Lindbergh baby).

another game idea - think up movies, tv shows and novels set in Massachusetts. This can work with any location-based book or project.

Dear Sandra -

That's a great idea - thank you so much!

Definitely a key here is to have lots of ideas up front. You don't have to use them all. By having a collection of things to choose from, you are ready for anything.

My plan here is to have a separate Notepad file for each category - prizes, games, the virtual snacks, and so on. In each file I'll have pre-written text I can cut-and-paste into the Facebook event. I'll put a star by each one as I use it, to mark it as used. That way I don't have to type, and everything is prepared. I just cut-and-paste from the various files. That frees me up to respond to comments and keep the conversation going.

I did my one promotional post in my event page today (Sunday). It was an image of one of my prizes - the CafePress tote bag with the aspen leaf image on it. So this way my event stays active in the minds of my group, without it feeling spammy. Their note they received was hopefully perceived as a positive one, and with it just being one during the day it wasn't too much.

OK I've done a promotional post for today - Monday - talking about the origami prizes I'll be giving away. So again it's something they'll be excited to hear (I hope) and it will keep them energized about attending.

One of the things I'll be doing at the event is having a "virtual reading". I will do the reading beforehand, and video tape it. Then at the event I'll post the link to my video. I will keep the reading short - I don't want to lose everybody for 5 minutes while they go off and watch a video . So just a minute or two, so they can see me and hear my voice.

I got a sunburn yesterday while watching Bob march in a parade, so I have to wait another day or two to record the video, so I don't look like a lobster

OK I've aimed for a promotion a day about a cool prize I'll be giving away. I'm assembling my text file lists of the different things - virtual foods I'll be sharing, prize listings, games, and so on. Bob did a shopping run and brought home some of the "actual foods" I'll be eating, so I can post about those. He'll make me devilled eggs for example. I have a pile for the prizes I'll be giving away. I still need to get some bottles of Champagne, that's on the list. That can be tomorrow afternoon.

So now I'm sending out all my various newsletters to promote the launch party, to catch anybody who didn't see my Facebook promotions for it. Just about 24 hours away now!

I'm cutting it VERY tight on the IPPY awards - my CreateSpace order of 4 books should be arriving Friday. The deadline to get the package postmarked to IPPY is Saturday . So the books better come in on time!

Woo hoo Jeanne's soaps arrived in the mail, and they are so pretty! Whoever gets the various soaps will be quite happy

OK here we are the day of the launch party. All the newsletters have been sent out promoting it. All of my "friends" on Facebook have been invited. I've put out daily messages on the event page talking about different prizes, to lure people in. I posted a video montage of Sutton, so people can feel "a part of" the atmosphere.

Bob did the food shopping so we have the "appetizers" raw ingredients in the house; he'll cook those up soon.

I still have to do my video recording for my virtual reading. I wanted to do it by the fireplace but Bob has piles of stuff there. So when he finishes with the classwork he's doing, I'll work on that.

I also need to set up all the sweepstakes pages. Again, this cannot be done via Facebook directly. I can't draw winners from people who post or guess things. So I need a completely third party solution in order to have it meet their terms. So that's my task right now.

OK my coding is complete for the sweepstakes pages and administration of them. So that's good! I can turn sweepstakes on, off, and draw a random winner.

Next up, I have to make the 31 pages that have the entry forms. Each page needs a photo and description of the prize.

I plan on doing one every ten minutes, so that will keep us busy for a few hours! I figure it's better to have too many prizes vs too few.

OK that took a little while, but I'm all set. I have the 31 pages all containing the proper legal language, showing an image of the prize, its description, and its value. I double checked each page. Hopefully I didn't miss something .

So the prize area is all ready to go!

Next up, I still have to videotape my reading. So I have to figure out where I want to do this . I'll be reading the first four or so pages of the book.