Thanks to everyone who attended last week’s booklaunch.
It was lovely to see you all, a goodly number of books were sold.
And as a result of your generosity I was able to make a
$100 donation to the Red Rose School through the Children of KiberaFoundation and
$75 to Volunteer Grandparents, Vancouver.
Launch of The Paper House and The Wrong Bus
Saturday, April 14, 1-3 pm in Newton, Surrey BC
1. Set a date… so far in advance that as time goes by I start to see so many conflicts, but it’s already too late.
2. Book a venue. In the past I have had wonderful support from Surrey Libraries where I work. This time I opted for the ‘rehearsal space’ at the new Newton Cultural Centre – recently converted from a decommissioned fire hall. The space is huge, with cement floors and black curtained walls so I will be able to adapt it for the various activities.
3. Contact bookseller. I can’t sing the praises of Vancouver Kidsbook Surrey store and staff enough. These are my fifth and sixth books, my fourth launch, and the wonderful Maggie B has sold books for me at all four launches – and helped herself to my cowboy boots at one of them! (But they do look much better on her than me.) This time I told her costume was optional.
4. Forget all about it while the book gets revised, edited, copy edited, promoted, etc.
5. Feel great relief when the book appears well ahead of the pre-planned launch. The Paper House has been out for a couple of weeks, in my hands for a few more than that. The Wrong Bus showed up on Vancouver Kidsbooks website early this week and my copies arrived yesterday. Sighs of relief. Both will be there, and on sale.
6. Plan activities. In this case the drum circle seemed a natural. I had previously booked Billy Knutson of Rhythm Wellness for a staff development event, later seen him generate some energetic drumming at a community festival. We played phone and email tag for a few months while details got hammered out, but he has been ‘in’ all along, and just last week confirmed cost, the number of instruments he will bring along (20 drums plus assorted percussion instruments) and other details.
Mancala is one of the oldest known games in the world and features in The Paper House, so I made up little handouts about its history and how it is played, created ‘goodie bags’of enough stones for each person to take away for a game, collected egg cartons for making the game boards, bought paint, scissors and glue so anyone who wants one can make their own, and created signage with easy to follow instructions. I will also take along the lovely board Shelley and Mohammed bought me at the Masai Market in Nairobi as a show and tell piece.
Serendipitously, a young student friend was scheduled for a church youth trip to… Kibera this spring, and would be home in time for my event. Hilary Brown will present a short slide show about her trip there and some of the people she met.
7. Cater food - I try to provide refreshments that reflect the theme of the book – perhaps the easiest was the beans and cornbread I served at the launch of Knuckles. In this case I’ve opted for a couple of trays from the local deli, and a double batch of of sugar cookie dough is cooling its heels in the fridge in the hopes that the African- shaped cookie cutter I ordered online arrives tomorrow. If not, I may have to opt for randomly shaped cookies decorated in green, red or black, the colours of the Kenyan flag.
Even though much of this event is built around the theme of Africa and The Paper House, my nod to The Wrong Bus is to provide a bowl of some of the candies mentioned in that story.
8. Plan draw prizes – I have learned not to give away my own books in draws (after all, this event is designed to help sell books!), but Orca Book Publishers kindly donated copies of Eric Walters The Matutu, a picture book about the small community buses that move people around Kenya, I have a copy of Beatrice’s Dream: a story of the Kibera slum to give away, a pair of stuffed hens made by the Go Go Grandmothers and a book of African-themed stickers for kids, along with handmade Kenyan key rings – for adults. Tickets. I must remember to provide tickets to everyone gets a chance to win one thing or another.
9. Send out promotion – PSAs and news releases are my prime tools for sharing info about community info. The PSAs often hit the target, and this time the Leader newspaper and the Surrey NOW both picked up the news release, filling out the story with pics and some background info. from my blog. I sent out about 25 posters to local libraries and community spaces, but basically it is still word of mouth that gets people out.
10. Support non profits – A percentage of my author royalties go to Volunteer Grandparents (The Wrong Bus) and The Red Rose School, Kibera (The Paper House) so I wanted to engage launch participants, too. Everyone will get a poker chip to ‘donate’ to one or another of those organizations and I will donate $2 for each chip contributed. In addition, I will suggest that anyone wanting to made their own donation will be welcome to throw in a loonie or two. So I also had to organize poker chips, donation boxes, and a sign with info. about each organization.
11. Stay on top of everything else – As the time goes by, I keep thinking of something else I need to do, buy or add to the growing heap of stuff cluttering up my study. But I’m almost there, with only cookies to cut, bake and decorate, food to pick up, and the place to set up about an hour or so before the event.
Wish me Luck.
Here’s hoping that “If I Build it, They Will Come.”
Pics to follow.
