Book Launch - #2 with Robin Mellom

What a perfect day to post my interview with Robin Mellom, because it's her birthday! I had a fun time at her book launch in San Luis Obispo at the B&N. Make sure you check out the book trailer for The Classroom.

Heeeere's Robin!

I’ve had the fortune of planning two book launches in six months—one for my teen book, DITCHED, and the other for my middle grade novel, THE CLASSROOM. It definitely was easier the second time around since I knew what to expect (somewhat), but the planning that went into each one was definitely different.

For DITCHED, I knew most of my audience was going to be adults (friends, family, fellow writers) so I tailored the party to them. It was held at an indie bookstore, Diesel, in Los Angeles, and it was catered with light appetizers and cake. In my speech, I talked about my road to publication and how my writing dream finally came true. Was I nervous? Good grief, yes. But I decided it would be best to not have any notes in front of me and sort of “wing it.” I knew the few stories I wanted to tell and I just let myself tell them in a natural, conversational way. I think it was more entertaining for the audience and it was much easier for me to simply TALK than to worry about following a speech.  Plus, if I’d had notes I would’ve just dropped them since I have an issue with being a dork.

For THE CLASSROOM, there were many kids there and I made sure there were things at the party that would appeal to them. Before I spoke, I walked around and gave out wristbands that said “Be Epic” and at the front of the room I had an animated book trailer playing for them to watch. I kept my speech conversational (and notecard-less again) but this time I focused more on the writing of the book itself. I read some passages from the book but made sure they were pretty short and funny (hopefully!).

Mostly what I’ve taken away from these experiences is to keep your audience in mind and tailor the presentation to them. Then be prepared to think on your feet and change things up if you need to…at THE CLASSROOM launch I had planned on reading three passages but ended up cutting one during my presentation because I could sense my reading was getting too long. So sometimes you just have to “wing it” the whole way through! 

http://www.robinmellom.com/blog/

   

 

Bio: Robin Mellom used to teach middle schoolers and now she writes about them. (Any resemblance between fictional characters and real-life students is purely coincidental. Probably.)
She is also the author of Ditched: A Love Story. She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California. Learn more at www.robinmellom.com and follow her on Twitter (@robinmellom).