How to Plan and Host Worthwhile Online Book Events | Jane Friedman

First, decide what you want from the event.

Former literary agent Mary Kole (who runs the Good Story Company) says you need to decide if you want readers or if you want sales-the two are not necessarily the same thing. "By hosting a great event where you have hundreds of attendees-but no sales-you have maybe gained some readers. They came, they saw, they enjoyed, they maybe signed up for your email list. Is this enough?" Sometimes it is, Kole says. But you need to be clear about what you're hoping to achieve so you can adjust how you frame the event from the start and what you ask people to do.