Pre-Release Book Reception

I had my pre-release book reception yesterday at the Country Inn & Suites hotel here in Conyers, GA.  I wanted this event to be a celebration of this accomplishment and to get the word out about my new book.
I send out about about 60 invitations - I used evite  - to friends, co-workers and neighbors and about 35 people showed up.  We had a blast.  I gave a little speech about my book and read an excerpt from it. I then had a question and answer session about the book. A wonderful experience for me because I got to practise speaking about my book and delivering the message of the book to others. I even had a guest who was staying at the hotel to stop and ask questions about the event which I felt great about.  At the end of the night I sold 20 books. Thank You Jesus.

I tried not to overspend on the function so I only served light refreshment of cake and drink.  I had a local printing company to make a  banner and a blown up cover of the book.  They did an excellent job.  Now I will be able to use them whenever I have a book signing. They added to nice touch to the room along with balloons.  For a giveaway I had some mouse pads with the book cover on it.  I need to order some more of those - they are a great give away item.  I had also ordered some pens to give away but they did not come in time yesterday.  I got them today in the mail so I will have them for the next time.

The only thing I did not have that I wanted was media coverage. In the small community that I live in I probably would have gotten it too. My marketing rep went on vacation and even though he got my event listed on Tate's Event Calendar, I was not contact by my assigned Publicist. I am waiting to speak to my marketing rep to see what went wrong there. 

I enjoyed the evening and I would advise authors to go ahead and have one.  Getting the word out is important and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.