Throw Your Own Launch Party

I wasn’t a kid who dreamed of my wedding. I was a kid who planned my book launch party. This was definitely in the nineties, because the boy guests I imagined all had spikey hair and the girls wore shiny metallic dresses and super shiny lipstick. There would be thousands of guests and I would have the casual ‘no-big deal’ attitude about publishing the most brilliant novel since Midnight’s Children. I even practiced my signature, but to no avail. My penmanship is still terrible.

Eventually, my eye would be caught by the band’s bass player who would have both spikey hair, shiny metallic pants and a British accent. We would rush out of the party, fall madly in love and escape to an island via my private plane because somehow the book had already sold millions of copies before it published and I had a plane at the ready. Bear with me, I was a kid.

In movies and television, launch parties always seem like very staid affairs. There are books on tablecloths, flowers, speeches and polite, sort of bored attendees sitting around tables. Two months before publication, I burned out. I was tired of writing and hunching over my computer 24/7 neglecting my woodworking and gardening hobbies. My dog had passed, the finalization of my divorce was imminent and the news was really glum. Best time to throw a party! My friends aren’t techie people for the most part. Some of them aren’t book people. However, they all love to celebrate! Birthdays, anniversaries, Westminster dog show, new episodes of Dexter, anything!

I decided to throw my own launch party, partly to give myself a deadline to complete what felt like an endless manuscript, but also to just blow off some steam. I couldn’t have a Salesforce themed party because I’d be dressed up like Astro and everyone else would just be confused. I ended up choosing the Matrix. Everyone dressed up like characters from the Matrix, except for one person who dressed up like a Toyota Matrix.

We had green and red Jello shots, a red carpet with a matrix theme backdrop and everyone got hand drawn temporary tattoos from an enterprising 8-year-old. I should state that I didn’t meet the self-imposed launch date. We just turned it into a “pre” launch party. Nobody cared, we all celebrated and had an evening that lifted our spirits.

No publisher or agent? Throw your own launch party!

Woman and child holding drinks and smiling at the camera