Behind The Scenes: Book Launch

It all started with a dream. When I say that, I do not mean it figuratively. It was quite literally a dream. The process of transforming the story snippets into a book will probably be a longer tale to tell. But the process to unveil it to the world (in a broader sense) was no less of a dream (figuratively).

It all started with the important decision: whether to have an offline book launch event or not. I mean there already had been an online launch. Would it feel redundant to have it again? There were a lot of apprehensions. However, the decision weighed in favor of having it, and thank goodness it happened so.

I think it was towards the later-third of July (probably July 21) when the planning phase started. First step was to search for an optimal venue - a place which would look apt irrespective of the number of guests in attendance. We needed a place which would not look too empty if none of the guests turned up but should also be sufficiently big to seat all the guests. That was the toughest decision probably. So, appointments were taken, and some 10 or 12 venues were visited. After multiple discussion sessions, both on call and offline, it came down to two venues. Keeping convenience and ease of travel in mind, the final decision was made. It took almost a week for it. However, as soon as the decision was made, the previously fogged up path became much clearer, and the sun shone with a new vigor and enhanced brightness. Who knew a single decision would have that kind of power?!

While deciding the venue, a tentative menu was taken into account. However, it needed further scrutiny. After all, food is of paramount importance! Ask a foodie, and they will sing ballads on it. So, on July 30th, my friends and I went on… for a proper taste test. We ordered the shortlisted options. I was still on an outside-food-quarantine phase, if that term makes any sense, and hence, very benevolently my friends accepted to carry on the test. Lots of parameters were considered, and post an intense examination session, we decided on the menu. However, we did not inform the venue of our decision immediately. We allowed some time to ruminate over it properly. Anyway, we still had time to convey them of our final decision.

Two big points had been ticked off from the To-Do list, which was a big relief at that point. The pace of the rest of the preparations should have been kept steady. However, there were a lot of other things to take care of too (some book related and some not). Ergo, the pace reduced, though it only became a tad bit slower. Initially, the event was planned on August 19 (August 18 was also an option under consideration), however, owing to multiple reasons, the date had to be shifted to August 24, Wednesday. If the books would reach me before 18th or not was one of the reasons. Having a book reveal without books was a stunt I was not ready to pull. To add on, that week had an abundance of holidays, which was a rare occurrence (rarer than the blue moon, I would say), and that meant no one would be available. So, we decided to wait.

During this time, that is the first 10 to 12 days of August, design phase took over. The process was almost similar to the design phase of the online event, though the magnitude was a few times higher. Unlike the online event, there were more stuff to design, and printing time also had to be taken into consideration. It started with designing the monogram for the book. Getting the right kind of image was key, which included the aesthetic value and of course properly managing the copyright and ownership of the images. Poster, Invitation, monogram, three different bookmarks, and the background banner for the stage was designed. As expected, I had created multiple options for each. My friends, again, came to the rescue. They not only entertained my quirks, but also gave their time, effort, and most importantly patience in giving their feedback and input for the designs. One of my friends also designed a book signing poster for me.

In parallel, photography team was also finalized, of course after having talks with multiple vendors. Similarly, the printing place was also decided. Call it coincidence, or Destiny, even the books reached me on August 12, Friday. On August 16, one of my friends and I went to the venue to confirm everything. The next day, I received all the printed stuff the from the printers. Then, for almost three days, inviting process went on.

It also included putting up posters at different places. I knew it was going to be tough, but it ended up becoming tougher. Of the 20 plus places I visited, most of them denied putting up posters in their premises. It was a tough toil. By the evening of August 17, I was barely left with an ounce of hope, or less. I did not have an emcee for the event, I still was figuring out how to communicate with the chief guest, I had scanned almost all places known to me, but I was not getting the flowers I wanted, and to add on to the despair, the incessant rain and an exhaustive day had depleted all my energy. However, the very next day, the 18th (of course, it had to be 18), Destiny shined upon me. It was a new day, literally and figuratively. One of my friends (so considerate of her) spoke with me and agreed to be the emcee. There could not have been a better choice than her! In addition, I figured out a way (or the cosmos led me to it) to contact the chief guest, and he too very graciously agreed. It was the cosmic will for sure.

In the next three days, because of the long weekend, there was little to no progress. I just designed a few additional printables, like socials poster, note-cards/ message cards, and so on. On the 22nd, I winded up the poster placement task and the invitations. The flowers were also finalized. Though I did not get all the flowers that I would have liked, I got the pink carnations. Nothing expresses gratitude better than pink carnations. By then, I had realized about one thing, or rather it was indicated by my friend. After I realized, everything has been in shades of blue and pink, without much of my intervention, I decided to play along… and have the “meant-to” palette take over. The printables, and even the cover of the book was in the destined shades… blue and pink, unintentionally. Subsequently, conscious decision was made towards that ... while selecting flowers for the bouquet and the centerpiece, for book wrapping covers, ribbons, and even the pens too. Almost everything was taken care by the end of the day.

On the morning of 24th, the D-Day, I visited the venue to oversee the arrangements. Though most of it had been done, there were still a lot to be taken care of. I dropped off the books and some food stuff at the venue, requested them to take care of the rest of the things as discussed, and then went off to collect the additional stuff from the printers. By the time I reached home… (all drenched, courtesy of the rain)… there were barely a couple of hours left to the hour by which I was expected to be at the venue. Thankfully, it all worked out fine. My friends too reached by 6pm (the event was at 6:30pm), and all hands aboard, we managed to setup everything on-time.

I fell short on so many aspects, but they were there to take care of everything. The event will always be a memorable one for various reasons: for every guest who was there and showed support, my friends who co-hosted the event (and managed me), for every team (venue, photography, et al) who fared their roles nicely, and the unveiling of my maiden book “Inexplicable Distances”.

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P.S. There are still a lot of things that have not been mentioned here, like the prep-time just before the launch, the after-launch tasks, or the music selection process for the event (I will probably release the song list, and the reasons thereof, on a later post). Even with these and a few other omissions, the post has been a long one.