Watch book designer and author Andrea Schmidt unboxing her upcoming book, Almost Done Writing: Now What? A Guided Workbook for Self-Publishing Authors (Nonfiction)!
When my daughter was around 7, she started watching close-up videos of hands unwrapping plastic eggs with toys inside.
At first, I was mystified! But watching those hands carefully removing the crinkly plastic and then slowly revealing the little surprises inside turned out to be way more fascinating than I would’ve imagined.
A quick search for “unboxing videos” reveals 102 million results. Unboxing videos are a huge and fast-growing trend for a reason: they ignite curiosity!
In the lead-up to your book’s launch, ideally you are igniting excitement about your book and its upcoming availability.
By leveraging curiosity, “unboxing” might be one of the easiest and most effective ways to build excitement for your upcoming book.
Have a great book that’s been professionally edited and designed (a given, I hope!)
Be in communication with your potential readers
3 Easy Steps to Make the Most of Your Book’s Unboxing!
When you receive your first box of books in the mail, make sure to take advantage of the opportunity.
Step 1: Gather Some Fun People
Unboxing is just way more fun and exciting if you have some people gathered around you!
Invite a few people over and make your unboxing into a little mini-event. Alternately, simply incorporate this into an event that is already happening.
Step 2: Record the Video
Of course you are probably capable of arranging your phone in such a way that you can record the video yourself.
But if you have some people with you for the unboxing, ask someone to help you. If you’re like me and find it challenging to ask for help, good practice.
Step 2: Share the video
Upload it to your social media channels and share with your potential readers. Don’t forget to remind people when your book launches and whether there’s a pre-sale campaign happening.
My own unboxing video was recorded by Mike Jones on my cell phone. Then I uploaded it to my google Drive, posted it on Youtube and voila!
What do you think? :)
Andrea Schmidt is award-winning nonfiction book designer and author of upcoming Almost Done Writing: Now What? A Guided Workbook for Self-Publishers (Nonfiction) which launches July 13, 2021. She loves exclamation marks and coffee. In her spare time she bakes bread and plays disc golf in the woods.