How to create a memorable and meaningful book launch party (celebrating OVERRIDE!)

In launching my first book, OVERRIDE! What if there was another way? A pocket playbook for possibility, I knew I wanted to do something special to celebrate. Writing a book is no small feat. We deserve to celebrate the fruits of our efforts!

The idea of hosting an event can be overwhelming, but as I’ve learned from hosting my workshops over the years, the secret is creating something FUN for you! The kind of event where you love daydreaming about it and writing down sparks of inspiration as they come. Rather than doing something generic, PLAY with themes from your book, or one idea. When you get clear about what your event really is, it becomes much easier and more fun to plan.

Many factors helped inform my launch event so I thought it’d be fun to break it down and reverse engineer how it came together. When I decided to go ALL IN and really embrace the idea of a launch is when it truly came together. If we go into anything with wishy-washy intentions, that’s likely what we’re going to leave with. My book is about possibility and allowing ourselves to dream, so it was a good spirit to embrace.

Most of this post was inspired by my May 23, 2024 book launch party, as well as my first public book event on July 3rd, so you can get a sense of how some of these key ideas got translated.


How you gather matters.
I’ve been a big fan of the work of Priya Parker and her book, The Art of Gathering, for years which has helped me fine-tune my work as a facilitator and host. (She has lots of great resources on her website and in her newsletter. She’s been on Brené Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us, multiple times, and I highly recommend her first episode back in 2020 “Priya Parker on The Art of Gathering” and the episode “How to Host a Magical Gathering with Priya Parker” on We Can Do Hard Things).

I also was fortunate enough to hear Priya speak at an event in Paris as I was starting to dream up my launch event which helped make a few ideas click, so I thought I’d share a few of her key principles, and how I integrated them into my own launch. Priya talks about how all your decisions should come back to the purpose. What is the event? Why are you doing it? In her words, “purpose is your bouncer.”

In my case, I first and foremost knew it was to celebrate my book, and this massive feat I’d accomplished. I was “the quiet one” growing up and very much an introvert. I know this is common for many writers, and the tendency is to want to hide. The past few years and the work I’ve done on myself—and the book (it was extremely healing)—helped me really step into and own this project like I never have before. I’m damn proud of it, so I wanted to celebrate the fruits of a couple years of labor.

I also had the sub-theme of wanting to help connect the guests (hello, banana maps having yet another purpose—guests could use their bananas as an excuse to meet someone new. More on that later.).

Make it memorable.
Thinking back to my favorite birthday parties I’ve hosted, it’s when they had a theme. One of the best was probably my typography-themed birthday party (guests got really creative, and one couple—who weren’t designers—dressed up like the quick brown fox who jumped over the lazy dog!). For my 40th birthday on Zoom I treated it like a workshop and told friends they had to bring bananas, while keeping the list to 40 friends from different chapters of my life. Despite being a pandemic birthday, it was one of my favorites because how often can you bring together all your favorite people around the world without a ton of notice? Also, the party was ME and not some societally defined version of what a 40th should look like. (Hello, embracing OVERRIDE!)

It’s not that you have to go crazy planning and going over the top, or spend a lot of money. The secret is doing something that EXCITES YOU (no matter how niche or geeky it is). Perhaps you could think of foods that your characters would eat, or integrate props from scenes.

I think the fact that I started to dream about my book event in the final phases of edits of my book also helped it all come together. (It was also a welcome distraction from technical roadblocks.) Instead of separate things, everything I do is all part of the universe I’m creating and building. When you know where you’re headed it’s also easier to make decisions.

Pick a location.
Where to host the event was one of the biggest questions (and of course cost is a factor; ultimately I decided it was worth the investment). The venue I picked was central, spacious, and had a great shop front window (you better bet I put posters in the window for passersby). Space is always limited in Paris, so it was important for me to have my event at a place where people could move and breathe. The best reason was that SAFE Urban Concept was the right event location for me was the deeper personal meaning as one of the places where I spent HOURS working on my book. Getting to know the super-friendly owners, made me excited to help introduce my guests to a cool, independent shop in Paris. Oh, and as a perk the tables are black and white.

My first public event was at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, a new shop in Paris run by a friend. It’s a far more intimate space and worked perfectly for that gathering. It was a great excuse to get people into the store a month after it opened so it was a win win.

I love that the location or venue you choose can help you adapt your approach to the event. There’s no right or wrong direction to take, and sometimes it’s about getting creative or taking advantage of spaces available to you.

Pick a date.
There is no perfect day/time, so sometimes you just have to go for it. An author friend who also has an event background told me Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, or even Thursday are generally good for book events, because people are more likely to be available mid-week, rather than a weekend.

My official launch party was on a Thursday night (May 23, 2024). There are so many holidays in May in France I tried to pick the one week that did not have a holiday, or school holidays. I may have heard there was good astrology that day too, so I decided to roll with it. Writing a book is hard enough, I figured I’ll take any support I can get.

Guests need at least a month notice for a bigger event (smaller events can be a couple weeks). The best part was that I needed that deadline to get everything else done. Don’t underestimate the time that goes into coordinating the different pieces. Having a date set/deadline also was great for keeping my focus.

As a warm-up, I also hosted a private online weekend secret pre-launch party for all Mapping Your Path alumni. This was good to help me gather my thoughts and practice what I wanted to say at the main event. Also, these are already my superfans, so it felt fun to host something special for them as I wouldn’t be what I’m doing without their support. (I made a doodle and created a GoogleForm—no time lost to getting fancy!).

Give it a name.
Inspired by my dress code (and a dose of Priya Parker), and some working copy on the back of my book (that got cut), I decided to play up the theme and call it the ‘BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE BOOK BASH Launch Party.’ There was some nice alliteration happening, it reminds people of the theme, and really my book seeks to get people to think beyond the binary so the name is part of the message.

The name is something you can have fun with. Don’t be afraid to get a little silly. It’s only going to help your book if you host an event that people talk about.

Also, note, I specifically didn’t call it a book signing. I’ve been to launches where authors are seated behind a table all night, and for me that wasn’t appealing to me, especially if I was investing so much time and money into it, and this was the kick-off. Pay attention to the language you use to talk about your event because it will shape it.

My second event, which was my first public event, I clearly called it a book signing & banana mapping event. It’s all about setting the stage.

The event starts with the invitation.
While counter to every piece of advice in the publishing world, I did not tell anyone (or very few and mainly in person) that I was writing a book, so the invitation to my launch party was the first time many people heard about my book. I wanted the invitation to be a taster.

I made a fun visual to go with the book (it helped that I did all the visuals in my book, and even drew the lines and type on the cover). I sent a two line message with a link to a short GoogleForm with a bit more information (I even named that if they didn’t know I was writing a book, they weren’t the only one) where they could RSVP.

It was a great way to manage expectations too. I made it clear that there was a dress code and that books would be available for sale that night. I asked people RSVP as this was a private event rather than one open to anyone who wanted to join.

The invitation helped get people excited! I sent a reminder the day before the event reminding people of the dress code and address, and to be on time because banana mapping would start promptly at 7:30pm. I put an end time as well so people would make an effort to come early.

The invitation also involves discernment about who is on the guest list. I’m fortunate that I know some really amazing humans. Many of them are well-connected and social media savvy friends, but honestly, you never know who will be your best advocate. I want this book to be about word of mouth, so everyone is fair game. I used the event as an excuse to reach out to people from different chapters of my nearly 15 years in Paris, so there were some I’d only met once, others who I’d not seen in years, and still others who I had only just met. It was a fun mix.

I practically invited everyone I knew in Paris (over 130 people and I’m very guilty of forgetting some too). Even if people couldn’t make it, it was still a perfect PR excuse, where even if people couldn’t join, they now knew I was writing a book. In the end, I think there were around 60-75 people who came, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve come to trust whoever needs to be there will be, and it’s never personal if someone can’t make it.

Some people have official invite lists. I ended up texting, emailing, and DMing folks the graphic and link as I thought of them. It allowed me to go off script, which was right for me, and felt more personal. (Note, for all events you host you have to be your best advocate and encourage/invite/nudge people to come. We live in a busy world and people need a reminder.)

For my July 3rd public book event I put it on Eventbrite, but most of the folks who joined came through my and my hosts network. Once again it was important to have a graphic/doodle for announcing the event.

Create rules to guide you.
I’m a big fan of rules thanks to my Write Your Own Rules workshop. Rules serve as guidelines that help priorities and decision-making, serve as a creative constraint for getting creative, and can even help create connection and meaning. (Priya Parker discusses rules in her book too.)

For me, my rule was that you need to wear black and white (all black or all white is fine too). Of course, this wouldn’t work for every book, but for this project it was an obvious fit.

It seemed like an accessible task for my invitees to do, and remind attendees that they’re walking into a different experience. We’ll quickly notice if anyone is trying to crash the party!

It was fun for me to have people message me, “I know exactly what I’m going to wear,” and I definitely gasped at how great some of the outfits were. Guests embraced the assignment. It was yet another way that guests were encouraged to engage with each other, and the book.

My hope is in the future folks will naturally decide to wear black & white to events. I know I already have a few outfits in my collection.

Own the theme head to toe.
Over the years at talks and conferences I’ve always loved dressing like my slides or a nod to the topic I’m presenting. At the time I think it was a nod to Miss Frizzle of The Magic School Bus. More recently I think I was subconsciously I was inspired by Taylor Swift and all her fans embracing dressing different eras when they go to concerts (so much creativity!). There’s no shame in being over the top and doing something that makes you smile.

For me my look started with a pair of shoes (there’s a whole back story that is very funny) that resembled the lines on the cover of my book, hoop earrings with white pearls that are a nod to the white circle on the cover of my book (I bought them from an indie designer at the shop where I worked on/hosted the event, making them even more meaningful), wore a black jumpsuit (I had other options that were black and white but wanted the book to shine, and on a practical level to have pockets. I added an embroidered banana pin to the jumpsuit as a nod to banana mapping. And most people never saw them, but as a joke while I was working on the book a friend gifted me socks with my face and bananas on them so I thought it would be the perfect excuse to wear them!

Integrate meaningful details.
Several months before I launched OVERRIDE! I needed a little extra motivation to keep going. Someone I know happened to share a button-maker online, and I had a ping of insight that I needed one too. So yes, I bought a button machine. One of the exercises in OVERRIDE! invites readers to draw (and press) their own override button, so I loved the idea of having buttons to give out to promote the book, while also being very on theme (PRESS THE BUTTON!).

My machine ended up having a couple of missing pieces (it was a dud!), but I was able to make enough buttons for photos. I realized that often we don’t need all the things we * think * we need, but I will say dreaming up that detail helped me get more creative in my entire approach. So don’t be fooled by having to spend a ton of money, but invest where it feels right and relevant to your book. Embrace the theme!

I was also lucky to have a pastry chef friend, Jenni of Twelve Cakes Paris, who made me cookies for the event. Her “oreos” which she calls “lulus” (the name of my printer/distributor!) seemed perfect for the black and white theme. They’re also one of my favorite things she makes! She was excited to experiment with printable paper, so I sent her the files and let her get creative.

Details also become very shareable for folks at your event to share with their network. They are yet another way to talk about your book, and get other people who see them curious and intrigued.

Of course, these details and connections were never obvious to most attendees, but I found delight in pulling the event together because all the pieces “made sense” and felt linked to me and my story. (That’s not always the case or necessary, but again, it made sense for this book.)


Find YOUR signature move.
I started to ponder what an event could look like where I gathered “my people” around my book. I have some super fans of my work even if most of my friends have no idea what I actually do, so I embraced the mindset of SHOW, DON’T TELL when it came to my book. I recalled an early interaction with my developmental editor who said “more of this, move it forward” in the chapter of my book where I shared an exercise inviting people map on bananas. Aha! Banana mapping would make a launch event very different, and very me. Not only am I known for banana maps (they are my signature move), they’re memorable, shareable, and naturally get people talking. Oh, and they’re included in the book! I mean, how many book launches have you gone to where you’ve mapped on a banana?!?!

Someone could share a picture of my book, or a banana. Either way, it could get someone curious. It sounds like a gimmick, but banana apps are actually my favorite unlocking tool when I’m facilitating workshops, and when strangers show someone else their banana, suddenly walls come down. (I’m also lucky that posts I wrote years ago make my name a top Google hit when you look up “banana maps,” “banana mapping,” and “map on a banana.” Ironically my book, shares a title with other books—just the first part—so someone may be more likely to find me through bananas, than trying to find my book.)

If you are thinking, great idea! I should include banana maps at my book launch, take a pause. I’m not saying don’t, I’m saying what is YOUR VERSION of banana maps? What links to your book? Your characters? Your background? What fits into my story, may just seem like a weird gimmick to others. Whatever your “thing” is EMBRACE IT. I recommend thinking back to what you loved as a child to see if you can put a creative spin on your ideas.

I’ve imagined my other public events as BYOB—Bring Your Own Banana. It will be easy to find folks coming to the event or connect with others attending if they’re carrying around a banana. Humor is huge when there’s so much to be done, I’m grateful I’ve found little ways to keep things light. I also hosted an online book launch party with banana mapping, so I was grateful to have a concept that could translate to virtual spaces as well.

ENJOY yourself.
As a host who also is a skilled facilitator, I know it could be tempting to try to control the whole night, but I knew I want to ENJOY and CELEBRATE the book (I told people in the invitation to come early if they wanted books signed). This I learned meant doing less than you think. For me, creating an inviting environment where people could meet each other and talk helped a lot.

I told people to arrive on time as I’d present the book 30 minutes later. I stood up where I allowed myself to be in the spotlight (I literally stood where I knew there was a big gold circle on the wall behind me.) I also wanted to ASK FOR HELP (writing a book is not for the light of heart) with specific ways people can help. I also made sure to stick one on the door to the bathroom knowing people would be queuing to get into the single bathroom. (Gotta think strategically!)

You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a good time.
I’ve never been huge into “marketing.” Instead, I like sharing my ideas through this Biz Blog, my newsletter, and social media. I never get millions of likes or shares, but I find that word of mouth gets me to the best people. I wanted to create an environment where I felt connected to people, and they could be my buzz agents.

The catch was that I didn’t want to expect them to share, I just wanted to create a great event that they were excited to share. They far exceeded my expectations! I think it helped that I wasn’t fixated on the outcome. I just wanted to focus on being present and enjoying the event. Part of the reason I had a good time is because I saw everyone else having a good time. Friends later told me “that was so fun. Your friends are awesome. You need to bring people together more often.” (Now that’s a barometer for success!).

I will admit that hosting the event was a bit of an investment namely for the venue (which included a minimum spend for drinks), in addition to the cost of printing books. I decided to justify it by the fact that I didn’t host a birthday party this year, or have some other expenses because I was busy with the book. Honestly, my book party is what set my book into the world and way more people shared it than I expected (you can see the night on Stories; that day was the first day I announced my book at all).

Self-publishing is an up front investment, but this event definitely paid off. My next two events (one online, one in person) were zero cost to me, so it all evened out.


Keep it simple.
While I had other ideas in mind like putting posters on the wall and in the plant for conversation starters, ultimately I decided less is more. A few nice touches go far, You don’t have to do it all. Chances are you can do less than you think you need to.

Rather than having a formal queue to buy the book, I decorated the room with books (with the help of a few friends who volunteered), and printed out a QR code where people could buy it (I created it in the Stripe app and it was super easy, and then created a 1/2 size sheet of paper which I placed around the room). Because I knew almost everyone coming to this event, I decided to trust and go by the honor system. Sure a couple books may have slipped through payments, but honestly it made my life SO much easier, and attendees loved how easy it was. Do what you can to make your life easy!


Determine your own barometer for success.
You probably want me to share stats, data, and ROI to prove to you this event was a “success.” But that’s also not what my book is about. My book helps us measure success on our own standards (there’s a whole chapter in the book on it!). Was it a joy and delight to put together? YES. Was it a lot of work? YES (and also highly rewarding). Was the event itself fun? HELL YES. Am I still glowing as I write and talk about it now two months later, YOU BETCHA I AM!

As writers, we can be solitary beings, but this allowed me to feel connected. Every step of OVERRIDE! was a masterclass in stepping into myself and feeling proud of the work I do. I didn’t just write a book, I’ve been quietly building a universe.


Keep celebrating.
Events may not be for everyone. My events have taught me that I LOVE doing these events. Not only is it rewarding for me to connect with readers, but it turns out people who attend the events also love it.

This also means documenting it. It was a last-minute decision to hire a photographer. I’m so glad I did. (Nicolas of Your Paris Photograher was awesome, and he totally followed the brief and dressed in black and white!)

It took a lot of pressure off and allowed me to be present. It also means I have so much content to share in the months to follow post-launch to keep the momentum going. Because I’ve worked a lot of events in the past when I worked in communication and di social media, I knew it helped to give him a shot list (I did this as a GoogleDoc so I could share it and update it as I had new ideas.)

My friends all took pictures too, and I asked them to share. The event was also so fun, that people naturally posted it on social media. (You can see the night captured on Instagram, which is saved on my Instagram Highlight. Some people even got parts of my welcome speech captured.).

Just go for it!
Hosting my event was a great way to prototype and test out my ideas (another concept in the book) in front of actual people who I know have my back. Sure it created buzz, but really it helped me build confidence that I can do this.

Launching a book into the world is only step one. Books need to be nurtured to make their full mark and impact on the world. HAVE FUN with it. You never know what it may lead to.

At my second event at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, a fabulous new shop in Paris, it all happened because I popped by to congratulate Nessy on the shop. She promptly asked if she could sell my book (she quickly became my first retailer—in Paris—which is so exciting!). We did an event—the first for the shop—less than a month later and one of the women who came to the event (that was open to the public) invited me to be on her wildly popular podcast. That was all just a bonus. Bringing people together to banana map and celebrate my book was the real win. (Nessy created a fun video of the event and I shared more pictures in this post—it was her idea to make a true banana phone! It was different from my official launch event, and so fun in its own way.)

Enjoy the journey.
Find a way that feels true for you to celebrate your work. Make it something that excites YOU. Don’t be afraid to get creative. You never know which superpowers you have from past experiences may support you moving forward. (And don’t be afraid to call in your friends to help.) Your book deserves to be shared with the world, so throw it a party!

Permission to override how you think things need to be done.

Get a copy of OVERRIDE! at override-book.com. Follow @overridebook + @pretavoyager online for more book updates, and subscribe to my companion website at override-book.com/conversation to help continue the conversation.


Photos by Your Photographer in Paris.