A launch in lockdown
Kate Beal of Muswell Press on her
experience of launching a book during the pandemic
For a tiny indie, this was going to be our biggest launch yet. Actor Dugald
Bruce Lockhart’s The Lizard is
a fabulously pacey thriller set in Greece in 1998. We had already had
splendid endorsements from William Boyd and Charles Cumming and had lined up an
exclusive edition for a WH Smith travel promotion, strong advance orders from
the trade, author appearances at multiple festivals including Edinburgh and a
major promotion from Bloomsbury Australia—not to mention a launch party at
Daunt Books with 120 guests. Then, at the very point of release, lockdown
was announced. Festivals were cancelled, promos were postponed and orders were
scrapped.
The books were printed and sitting in the warehouse—so what could we do? We
got feisty and we got online. We asked the Muswell Press family of authors
and freelancers to support us by ordering the book, recommending it to their
friends, tweeting and Facebooking about it. As one of the May titles on
NetGalley we had plenty of advance reviews that we added to online retailers’
sites, along with audio clips. We moved to a digital launch party on Facebook,
which thanks to Dugald’s acting skills was a huge success—despite hisyoung son appearing halfway through
to announce that he needed a poo!
The book is hitting the
sweet spot with reviewers: a major feature in the Times Crime Club last week, a confirmed review in the Guardian and others in the pipeline, a
blog tour and interest from film and radio. Physical sales are lagging behind, the warehouse is
working fewer shifts and bookshops are still shut—but we are determined not to
let this brilliant book down. WHS Travel will promote it when the airports
are operational, and when shops open again we will embark on another round of
publicity. Shops in Australia are still open, and Bloomsbury is doing a
fantastic job. We remain ever confident that this brilliant story will
ultimately get to the audience it deserves. As one reviewer said this week,
it is ‘pitch perfect escapism’—which frankly is what we all need right now.
Kate Beal is co-owner and director of Muswell Press.