What Happens at a Book Launch?

When you think of a book launch party, do you imagine a New York City penthouse with waiters, stacks of the book, cigarette smoke, fantastic food, champagne and perhaps dramatic evening wear?

Maybe a party like the type Nick and Nora Charles used to throw?

When we planned the launch for my Bridging Two Hearts, I thought it would be fun to throw a party like that. I sketched the idea to my husband who shook his head. “Your book is about a Navy SEAL and a massage therapist. They’d be drinking beer and sparkling water, not champagne.”

He had a point.

So I regrouped.

I hadn’t had a party in a while, and decided to invite anybody I thought would be interested. I posted the invitation on a bulletin board at church, mailed it to friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, emailed it to anybody living remotely near me, talked it up with my hairdresser and passed out copies at my Zumba class.

It was Saturday night. We had a lot of fun.

The invitation reminded guests about our hero and heroine’s occupation and told them we’d be giving out prizes to those who came in the best costume: “dress like a SEAL or as if you were going to a massage.”

Several clever persons suggested coming dressed as an ocean seal, one wanted to wear her seal hat, and one nervously explained she didn’t wear anything when she had a massage. I suggested a bathrobe . . .

You can see my brother-in-law chose to put on his scuba gear; those flippers were very popular, though he didn’t wear them long. I’m the one on the left wearing a kimono-type robe: pre-massage wear.

A number of children attended the party, and we had special favors for them.

Some of the children were hard to see.

We included food pertinent to the story. Amy bakes Josh chocolate chip cookies after one difficult encounter. My famous chocolate chip cookies were on the table.

We served MREs–meals ready to eat–which is what the SEALs ate on their mission two-thirds of the way through the story. Because Amy worked at the gorgeous Hotel del Coronado, we also featured a baked brie with crackers, assorted cheeses, quiches, fruit and a vegetable tray.

Drinks? Beer, punch, wine and bottled water–as you can see in the photo.

These were not “real” MREs, I selected desserts to make them more palatable to my guests. But, they got the idea of what military members eat when they’re in the field. The box reminded us the food was good for five years . . .

The party included opportunities to purchase copies of Bridging Two Hearts, of course, and I happily autographed away.

We held drawings throughout the evening which featured book theme-related prizes: a SEAL hat, a balaclava, lotions, scented candles.

Midway through the evening, I gathered my guests together and made a small speech thanking, among others, my personal patron of the arts: my husband.

He and I then did a dramatic reading from the book.

We began with the opening chapter. My husband, of course, read all Josh’s lines as well as those of the other male characters. I had Amy’s part. As we read, I was surprised at the many times we had to wait for laughter to die down. I hadn’t realized how witty the opening was!

Authors work alone. Unless you think to read your story to your long-suffering family, I don’t know when you get to hear audience response.

We then moved further into the book and I got the “props.” My neighbor gasped when I entered: “You’re going to do that scene!”

Passion fruit gelato cones play a major role in one of the combative scenes of Bridging Two Hearts.

In the story, Josh purchases the cones from Bottega Italiana on Coronado Island. For my party, we bought passion fruit sorbet from Screamin’ Mimi’s in Sebastopol.

When the right moment came . . . you’ll have to read the book to find out what happened.

But our guests all laughed.

Afterwards, they all got passion fruit sorbet cones, too. A splendid way to end the evening.

How do you envision a launch party? What “props” do you think would work well in launch parties for famous books? What’s your favorite gelato?

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