Well, it’s official—The Song of Orphan’s Garden, my very first book baby has been born! And what a long labor it was! I got my publishing offer for this book at the end of August 2022!! For those of you who’ve been part of this blog for years, thank you for all your support. For those who’ve joined more recently, welcome! I’m glad you’re here!
I just had to write a post about my launch party because it was seriously so far above my expectations (or even my dreams)! The only thing that would have made it better is if my book blogging community lived nearby so you guys could have been there too! So I thought I’d share as much as I can with you. I have lots of fun pictures and a few stories, and I hope this gives you a little taste of the fun!
First off, I’ll confess that I almost didn’t have a launch party. I was honestly convinced no one would come—people are busy, not many of my friends and family live super close to me, and I just wasn’t sure many people even understood the crazy amount of work (and luck!) that goes into getting a book traditionally published. I was considering just scheduling a little signing and leaving it at that. But I did have a few people asking me about a launch, so I decided I should just do it—and be content no matter how many people turned up. I figured it wouldn’t be many.
Well, I was wrong. Like, so wrong.
Let me start at the beginning: my first impression of the day. By then, I thought about 25 people were going to come, and I was really happy with that. I wasn’t going to face an author’s worst fear: a sea of empty chairs. I walked into work, happy and cautiously optimistic. I even wondered if I might possibly run out of books, so we had a backup plan, just in case.
Then I stepped into the breakroom to clock in. You guys, this is what greeted me:
@nicolemhewitt Launch Party Surprise! I have the very best coworkers in the universe! They truly decked out the breakroom on the day of my book launch event (I didn’t even get all of it in this video). The day was wildly better than I ever imagined it would be!! authorlife booklaunch middlegradereads thesongoforphansgarden
And that fear that no one would come? Well, 65 people showed up! Author friends–and a few authors I didn’t yet know–came. A few kids who found my book in the bookstore came. Family I only typically see at weddings and funerals came. (Yay! A book launch ranks right up there with a funeral!) Friends I haven’t seen in twenty years came. My very best friend from high school/college who I lost touch with and haven’t talked to in ten years happened upon my husband’s LinkedIn post the day before the event (even though he’s normally not on any type of social media or LI at all), and he drove an hour to come see me. I was truly and utterly astounded!
We didn’t have nearly enough chairs, and we did, in fact, run out of books—so it’s a good thing I had a backup plan! I ended up selling my author copies on consignment and ordering a few extra books for people to give to them later.
At the event I told people about my inspiration for the book, did a reading, attempted to play the ocarina (badly), answered questions and did a signing. I had a craft for kids, but I’ll confess that I only passed them out to the first kids who arrived because once so many people showed up I just got overwhelmed and forgot about them! Everyone did get my pre-order goodies though! Oh, and at the signing, I had everyone sign my personal copy of the book—I plan to bring this book to all my events and have people who get a signed copy sign mine!
One of my favorite experiences of the launch was talking to a boy who’d already read the book. He was SO excited to meet me and tell me how much he loved it and how he read it as fast as he could! He was also already ready for a sequel. 😆 He even asked a (very thoughtful) question during the Q&A. This was my first actual kid-reader encounter, and it absolutely melted my heart!!
Below I have just a few of the many (many!) pictures my husband, mom and coworkers took of the event. I could have shared about a thousand more, but this is a nice overview. (Check out that empty shelf at the end. 😂)
Basically, the event went so far above and beyond my expectations, and I am just eternally grateful to everyone involved, including all of you who were cheering me on from the internet! Getting a book published is a dream I never thought would become a reality, and this launch party made the dream complete!
Have you ever been to a book launch party? Is there one you wish you could attend? I wanna know!
These are lovely. Congratulations, Nicole!
Thank you!!!!
That was just such an awesome thing for your coworkers and friends and family to do! What an awesome sounding event.
It was really wonderful! A fantastic day!
I’m so glad you had such a good book launch event. I wish I could have come.
It’s wonderful having friends all around the blogosphere, but I do miss them at in-person events! Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be a big enough author to do actual tours, and I can meet all of you!
Nicole, I’m so thrilled for you! And your friends are amazing. Congratulations!
Thank you so much, Lory!
Congratulations Nicole! I’ve never been to a release party but they look like a lot of fun 🙂
Nicole, congratulations! This is so, so, SO incredible, so proud of you. I’m so happy for you!! <3
What a lovely experience!! Congrats on such a stellar launch 🥳