Wow, wow, wow! The Nexus Crest Book Launch Party was a success!
I feel positive about it. Maybe if you were to ask me "How was it, pick 1 out of 10", I’d say… 7. My husband would say that’s a cop-out, but it feels like a solid 7. Not the greatest (100+ people was my hope), but not bad at all (50+ attended).
The people that showed up were such an amazing surprise! I never would have guessed, and it was so, so cool. I’m actually hoping to do more just for that purpose. Such a nostalgic feeling, in the best possible way.
I made more sales than I thought I was going to make. I was expecting to only sell 40, but I sold more than that. So, I mean… in the grand scheme of things maybe that’s not the BEST, but this is a new novel, I’m a new author, and no one knows if this is going to be good or not… idk. Am I kidding myself… who knows. But I feel happy about the sales. I feel happy about the night. I feel happy about my speeches. All around, it was a great night.
Food! My mom made these little flourless chocolate bites and OMG, I popped like 10 of them in my mouth after everything. I didn’t eat the entire time, I was too busy! Those little things went quick too. I’m happy I told her to make a double batch. I sound like a teenager whose mom just made her food for her first big birthday party, lol. I did have meat and cheese, everyone seemed to eat that. I mean, who doesn’t like meat and cheese? I also had blood bags that were filled with virgin Shirley Temples. I had bought 100 but only filled 50 of them. THEY SUCK. No wonder I never see them at parties, they are literally the worst to fill. Never again. If anything, I’ll have them purchased pre-filled because that took 2 hours of my time just to fill 50! But I was very happy that only about 7 were left at the end of the night and that people actually took them. So again, very happy about the food choices and how much was eaten! My mom (haha) also made my BITE ME cake. THAT WOMAN MAKES A MEAN RED VELVET CAKE. She dyed it black… but omg, it was to die for. Sad that no one else got to eat it… not really, lol… but maybe I’ll have her make a bigger one for an even bigger event. She’s really gotten into baking professionally and I think it’s cool that she could do that. I do wish the cake bled more (video coming or already up on my socials). I was a bit disappointed in that. But otherwise… again, it was all great!
Some takeaways: I need to get better at marketing—using local forums and announcements, putting up physical flyers, posting more often, and maybe being more creative. I also need to choose a better time for each establishment. Mayhem seems to be busier during the day than at night, so being selective about that would help. Having two assistants would also be great. My husband was amazing and did so much, but having someone to delegate when I needed to focus would have been helpful. Having the photographer would have been great too; they fell through last minute, but thankfully my friends picked up the ball with that. So ideally, I’d have someone to complete purchases, someone to delegate (manage me), and definitely a photographer. I’d also schedule the reading a little later. It seemed like people stayed for the reading and then left, so that was more of an incentive than the raffle—which is surprising because the prizes were pretty awesome in my opinion.
Oh, the reading!!! It was great! My friend says I need to slow down, and my husband said I need to be more expressive. Great advice for next time! I was a bit intoxicated from the one glass of mead I had. I could also see my father-in-law sitting right beside me and kids right in front of me playing a board game… and I had to read a part where the character confesses that she’s dripping wet. So, it was a bit awkward. Definitely something to work on—focusing less on who is in the crowd and more on just reading.
Oh, I forgot the music! I created an entire playlist for the night and completely forgot to play it… ugh. It’s on my YouTube, so if you’re interested in the vibes, go check it out here. I tend to like to mix it up when I listen to it, but then sometimes I enjoy listening straight through. Towards the end is my favorite.
Drinks afterward were great, but I think I’m old now and can’t handle my liquor, lol. I had a glass of wine while signing and was swimming. Then I had a shot at the bar… well, let’s just say I’m not built for the bar life anymore.
Overall, the night was a success. I would have done a few things differently, and I need to get better at advertising. I wish I had more photos, and I wish there had been more time—it felt like it flew by. I'm very excited for my next book signing, but that won't be for a little while. I want to focus on learning how to advertise better, focus on shipping out books, and writing book 2. Hehehehehehehehe.
Happy reading y'all :)
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