Having a book launch at a bookshop is very common and tends to follow a familiar script: a crowd assembles, hemmed in by mountains of printed titles at every corner. Then it’s a case of musical chairs – there are never enough of them, so you have to factor in the probability of standing up for the duration of the one-hour-plus event.
Sometimes there are nibbles – cheese and wine, biscuits and cupcakes – but otherwise the rundown is the same: a host poised to interview the chuffed but slightly stressed writer, a scattering of questions from the audience and everyone clapping politely before exiting with their signed copy.
Some authors, however, have launched their titles in places that may be related to their books and hence more meaningful, as well as memorable. ArtsHub reached out to a number of writers who have opted for launches that are, in the immortal words of Kath and Kim, ‘noice, different, unusual’.
Simon Smith’s book, A Man of Honour, a lyrical reimagining of the life of Henry O’Farrell, was launched at the Cell Block Theatre at the National Art School, which was the Darlinghurst Gaol for the first 100 years or so of its existence. This was a most apt venue as O’Farrell was Australia’s first potential political assassin, and consequently this location was where he was imprisoned.
It was O’Farrell who attempted to shoot Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh at a society charity picnic at Sydney’s Clontarf, in March 1868. He was also, as it happens, Smith’s great-great-uncle. ‘I believed that he had got a bad deal from history. I was determined to right that. So I began to write. I’d never written anything in my life! But I have been a documentary cinematographer, so I’ve heard a lot of great stories, and told other stories through images,’ says Smith.
Smith tells ArtsHub that rather than calling it a ‘launch’, he decided to call it a ‘release’, as a ‘nod to all the souls still possibly in torment there’.
‘Di Smith, a friend, did a reading from the book in O’Farrell’s voice, and Sara Grenfell, another friend and actress, flew from Melbourne to perform an affecting rendition of ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story. “There’s a place for us”, I felt, spoke for all the prisoners who suffered within those walls.’
For her middle grade novel, Zany Circus: Paradox, Nanci Nott held her book launch at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre in WA on World Circus Day in 2017. They had rigging (for the aerial silks, trapeze and lyra [aka aerial hoop]) and room for giant board games, live music and a fairy floss stall.
‘The legends at Pulse Circus offered to perform some acrobatics/aerials in return for us promoting their circus school, which was amazingly generous of them. Pros? Lots of room, plenty of cross-promotional opportunities, space for fun activities. Cons? Tight time-frame, not much room for error, very hectic with so much going on at once!’
Spinifex publisher Susan Hawthorne also recalls launching a book called Women’s Circus: Leaping Off The Edge in the Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria in 1997, ‘with performers on the ground floor and the balconies’.
Dee White’s K9 Heroes: True Tales of Real Rescues is, as the author says, ‘a celebration of dogs and how amazing they are, and so I wanted dogs to be able to come to the launch. I asked the Goldfields Library Woodend branch (where I live) and they were very happy to have the launch in the grounds outside the library.
‘There were prizes for smartest dog, dog most like its owner, hero dog and dog with the biggest smile. We had quite a big crowd. Lots of kids and lots of dogs. I wasn’t too worried about the weather because it’s often cold in Woodend and people are used to it and the weather doesn’t keep them away from events. And people here really love their dogs.
‘I made the cake and the dog themed biscuits and the library provided a few refreshments too. They didn’t charge for the hire of the grounds, so really the only costs I was up for were for the baking and the prizes for the dogs,’ White says.
Meanwhile Helen Patrice’s A Woman of Mars: The Poems of an Early Homesteader, a book of linked poems about homesteading on the red planet, was launched at the Reno World Science Fiction Convention back in 2011. ‘It seemed like a golden opportunity to get the book into hands that would be hungry for such a story,’ says Patrice.
It also made perfect sense for Meg Caddy to launch her YA historical fiction, Devil’s Ballast, at the Pirate Bar in Perth in 2019. ‘Pros were plentiful! We could have live music; they had a sound system and a screen, kids were welcome, people could get drinks if they wanted. We paid for pizzas and some nibblies and I believe a small charge for the use of the space that was offset by the food costs. My publisher helped to pay for it.
‘My brother and his mate dressed up as pirates (as did most of the attendees). The MC did a short speech, so did the launcher (AJ Betts) and we physically launched the book with a small catapult,’ says Caddy.
Although her books (The Furies and Wild, Fearless Chests) aren’t about the night scene, Mandy Beaumont celebrated both of their arrivals in Melbourne bars. ‘I’ve heard lots of other people talk about a launch being “for your friends and family” and I actually don’t subscribe to that,’ Beaumont says, explaining to ArtsHub that bookshop launches were too formal and constrained for her liking.
‘While friends and family did come to the bars, a lot of people I didn’t know came also. It was an opportunity to sell books and I had great sales at each event. At The Furies launch at Purple Emerald in Northcote, dream girl Jacinta Parsons was the MC and interviewer. Lady Choir sang a rendition of “Flame Trees” as the sun set. My pal DJ Hot Wheels was also on the decks inside and played all my favourite Aussie rock tunes.’
Samantha Tidy has launched books in many different places. ‘I like to look for something a bit different in a venue that provides “edutainment” for those attending, while also providing a potential untapped audience to a venue,’ she says.
Her children’s book Cloudspotting was launched on a boat. ‘The two-storey MV Southern Cross (complete with toilets and a bar) remained docked during the event and everyone felt safe, but was able to experience something really different.
‘We had to limit tickets to 80 people. Interest was [high] and tickets sold out in three days. We had to run a waitlist, which Eventbrite is great for. The boat owners did a roaring trade in fish and chips later from their dockside restaurant, as people were already parked and we timed the launch to end right on lunchtime.
‘An event has the potential to bring new audiences to a venue, and if my book connects with a museum exhibition then it’s a win-win, as I write non-fiction narrative kids’ books. I launched Our Bush Capital in the National Capital Exhibition in Canberra, which gave 110 people an opportunity to self-tour the exhibition.’
One of her books, Wollemi: Saving a Dinosaur Tree is due out later this year. Tidy says, ‘It’s a no-brainer to launch it outside, in a forest at the National Arboretum in Canberra – they have a stand of rare Wollemi pine, and the venue has its own history of regeneration after fire. People may even be motivated to buy one of the Arboretum’s fundraising seedlings and plant it at home.’
Another title, When Grandma Burnt Her Bra, is a picture book history of women’s rights (told using dinosaurs) and is due out in September. ‘I aim to ask a federal female MP to launch that at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Punters can grab a book, tour an exhibition on women’s rights and meet someone who lives and breathes equality. What better way to share the book’s message with young people?’
Read: Moving book launches online
Tidy has some advice for those wanting to stage a book launch in an unusual place. ‘There are more unknowns. You may need to provide extra information, so be clear with parking or venue entry fees, and have a bad weather alternative up your sleeve. I always produce a banner for every book launch that can create a backdrop in a jiffy.’
If you are thinking of hosting your own event for a book launch, it pays to be imaginative and to reach beyond the norm of a bricks and mortar store if you have the time and energy to plan well ahead. But, as Beaumont stresses, a book launch is a group effort, ‘So get your crew together and all contribute. It’s so doable!’