The Monsterbet Book Launch Party

Last Saturday, we threw the party of our lives to officially launch our second book, The Monsterbet! We had coloring pages (<—they’re free on our website), drawing prompts, a mix and match monster felt wall, monster puppets and pencils, build-a-monster creations, bookmarks, snacks, tattoos, and the rockingest photo booth our town has ever seen. I’ll take some time at a later date to talk to authors hoping to host a successful book launch and give a behind-the-scenes look into what worked, what didn’t, and how you too can launch your book (without breaking the bank), but this post is just to celebrate a big party with great people.

Miss Stephanie from the library greeted every single person who entered
(all 177 of them!), and you know she knew most of their names.

(I was seen there a few times…but only to use the bathroom. Hehe.)
These cute kids here were the winners of the signed and framed picture with the author and illustrator!

My mom, sister, and college bestie guided all who attended through
the raffle process, helped place tattoos on little hands and arms,
invited them to sign up for my writer’s blog or new releases, and
overall made everyone feel welcomed into our crazy active space.

My personal favorite station was the felt wall. Two of my sisters imagined and cut
out every.single monster accessory for this wall. It was such a big hit, I’m convinced
I’m going to place it in our basement play space for the foreseeable future. So if your
kids didn’t get enough of the Mix & Match Monsters, invite yourselves over!

Kids and parents previewed the books while snacking on Monster Munch.

Mr. Duane worked his trigger finger magic, helping document the whole event.

Of course, we sold books and posters!
Jon & Sam were quite the duo, as were my dad and Matt.
We sold out of Shoephabet hardcovers at our previous event,
so we took pre-orders for our next batch…and sold a bunch!

Of course, if you buy a book straight from the author,
she’ll sign it for you! As did the illustrator. #warsawcelebrities

The Shoephabet illustrator (aka my hubby) even did some signing!

But mostly,
we played.
And crafted.
Colored.
And glued.
Scribbled.
And markered.
Created.
And destroyed.

And after all that messiness,
folks took pictures.
Lots and LOTS of pictures.

Here are a very few of the HUNDREDS of photos that were taken at our photo booth.

college roommates forever

my adorable parents. many hearts.

had a blast connecting with an instagram friend and fellow writer!

my baby’s not scared of the abcs
(although he may be…of that goofy illustrator!)

couldn’t have thrown this party without these SISTERS

Miss Stephanie and Mr. Duane of the Warsaw Community Public Library!

What’s a book launch party without reading the BOOK?
A couple kids already had our book memorized (be still my heart!),
but even our first timers loved shouting, “THE ABCS DO NOT SCARE ME!”

When it was not reading time, the reading circle became the
balloon throwing circle. I’m not sure why I didn’t plan for this myself.

And at the end, we drew names for the winners of
the $100 Visa card,
2 Wagon Wheel tickets,
and a personalized monster.

We had many witnesses, so no worrying about cheating. 😉

And I leave you with this picture.
The team behind The Monsterbet.
Daniel: illustrator
James: designer
Sarah: author
Jessica: photographer, craft show partner, brainstormer, etc.!

When something works, it works.
And this
works.