Out of Her Hands Launch Party

Another great night! Another wonderful time spent with friends and loved ones.
With my sweeties!

Daughter #1 and the boyfriend.

Hmm. Don't know this guy, but he has great taste in fiction!

My honey and daughter #2.


What a moment! My friends celebrating with me.

The Words For The Journey gang.

Yes, even men like women's fiction.

My beautiful girls. 

With Michelle the director of WFTJ Rocky Mountain Region.

My sweet friend Leah.
My good neighbors Deb and Terry.

HIS Writers (Denver ACFW) Margie and Jill.

Danica and her sweet girls.


And we had some cake left over . . .

You're Invited!

Mark your calendar now! 

The book launch party for Out of Her Hands will be held October 4th in, Elements, the bookstore located in my home church. Come and mingle with editors, agents, authors, friends and family. We're going to have a great time!

I'll even be giving away one gift certificate to the Gray Pony Inn AKA The Warhorse Inn in downtown Parker.

Make a Big Splash ~ Book Launch!

I am currently presenting some posts on marketing. Also check out the previous posts.

If you want to generate excitement, you need to make a big deal about the book you’re promoting.

 One way to announce that your book launch party is a big deal is to have custom invitations created. This goes hand-in-hand with my post of 8/14 that speaks about presenting yourself professionally.

I sent invitations everywhere I could think: 

• bookstores
  
• newspapers
• magazines
• local authors, agents, and editors
• radio and television stations
• libraries
• churches
• I even sent an invitation to the mayor of Denver. We're a very literate city, and although he didn't make it, I was flattered that it was under consideration by his office.

The image above is the front and back of the invitation. See the tower on the invitation? That's the D&F Tower. The party was held on the floor behind the clock face and the floors above. Like my bookmarks, I also carried around a handful of invitations in case I ran into someone I wanted to invite.

A word about your book launch party: the reason for the event is not to celebrate with friends and family, as much fun as that is. The reason is to generate publicity for your book.

I live in suburban Denver, and I could have found a nice venue in which to hold my party. Fortunately a friend offered me the use of the top floors of the D&F Tower, an historic building on the 16^th Street Mall in downtown Denver. 

The reason for using a fabulous venue is to lure people to the party who might have declined the invitation had it been held in my local rec center. Mission accomplished! Three different editors of local magazines came to the party as well as book store employees who received the invitation.

Another consideration was the day and time of the party. I held it on a Thursday evening because professionals who are not acquainted with me (editors, bookstore employees, etc.) might be more likely to attend a function on an evening that doesn't cut into their family time. That's why the party started at 6:00 p.m. as well. 

If you're curious and want to see more posts about my book launch party go here. The night was perfect and ended all to quickly. Sigh.

Currently I'm planning my book launch party for Out of Her Hands. It's going to be a very different type of party. I'm doing a charity tie-in to help increase awareness of my books. I'll let you know about it in a little while.

More party photos

My friend Jan posted a slide show of photos from the launch party. Click here: Bold & Free to check it out.

More Launch Party Photos

Here are some more photos of my launch party.

A poster of the book cover greeted guests.


Eric & Beth Jusino (my agent from Alive Communications), Auna Louisa Jornayvaz (Junior Editor, Denver Magazine) and me.







Heather and Michele.










My darling daughters.

A view of Denver at night.

This is a photo of me autographing a copy for the editor and publisher of Buzz in the 'burbs Magazine. In the photo are Lisa Brady and Cheryl Perri. The party was on two levels, this is the one below the observation deck. The gold glow behind Cheryl is the lighted clock face. Isn't that cool?

I was happy to see my friends from work show up. This photo makes me laugh because I was telling my boss that I nearly poured a glass of wine on her head and also because she has three hands in the photo.

My agent extraordinaire, Beth Jusino, with me and Carl.

Alice, Tiff, me, Jan, Heather, Stacy.

Me, Beth, Eric, Sharen, Jan.

Jerry & Paula.

Kim, me and Keri share a laugh with my dear father-in-law.

More people I love.

P~A~R~T~Y!!!

It was totally fitting that I partied the night away up in the sky with my family and friends to celebrate my book/career launch.

The snow storm halted, and the clouds parted to reveal the beautiful Rocky Mountains resplendent with a new coat of dazzling white snow.

The evening couldn’t have been more perfect. I was surrounded by family (even four of my beloved DiMarias who flew in from NY), friends and member of the Colorado writing community.
Most of my guests took advantage of the location and were brave enough to climb up and up to pop out beneath the bell of the clock tower where the party was held.

The photos are the one’s my friend Jan from Bold & Free sent to me. I love the one with the setting sun reflecting on her face. That’s so Jan!

I'll post more photos a little later, and actually include one of me!

Book Launch Party Day

Have I mentioned that I've dreamed of being a published novelist since I was a teen? Have I told you how gracious God is to grant me this dream? Have I told you that because this is a dream my family knows I've had for decades, we decided to kick up our heels and REALLY celebrate?

The book/career launch party is being held in one of the coolest venues in Denver--the D&F Tower. Yesterday we went downtown to decorate and prepare.

This is the weather that greeted us this morning.

This is one of the tables that is all ready for the party.

This is what I dreamed the day would look like.

It's okay, though. The Lord's reminded me that I was married in a blizzard, and that's turned out wonderfully. :)

Let the Planning Begin!

My dream of being a published author is coming true!

On March 26th I found out that Tyndale House Publishing was offering me a two-book contract for women’s fiction. My first book, Searching for Spice, will be released in April 2008, and the second book will hit the shelves in October 2008.

Well, since I’ve been waiting practically f-o-r-e-v-e-r for this dream to become reality, we’ve decided to go all out and CELEBRATE in a big way. Today I went to downtown Denver to check out the venue for my book launch party, The Daniels & Fisher Tower! I can’t wait.

Can you see the clock on the top of the tower? The party will be held on the floor above that, and there's an outside observation deck that surrounds the building. The views are to die for.

I’m planning for it to be a gathering of book lovers. In addition to family and friends, I’m inviting local authors, editors, agents, bookstore PR folks, and radio, television and newspaper media. I’m thrilled that my editor from Tyndale, Jan Stob, will try to come as well as my smashing literary agent, Beth Jusino. Goodness, I even introduced myself to the Poet Laureate of Denver and invited him. Since this is my first book launch party, I’m open to suggestions on making it a smashing success. Please leave any ideas in the comment section.




The D&F Tower is a well-known, historic building that sits on the 16th Street Mall in Denver. It is a replication of the famous Campanile in St. Mark’s square in Venice, and was built in 1911, becoming the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The tower originally anchored both sides of a department store that has since been demolished.

And, PS: Yes, the sky really is bluer when you're a mile high.