If you’re an independent author, the more eyes you can get on your books, the better. If your author events are limited to small venues, or even your home, you can still have thousands of people “attend” your event by watching you stream it live on Periscope. Here are some tips for streaming a live author event on Periscope.
Get interactive
While you’re addressing your audience, you may get questions via the comment boxes on Periscope. If you can, answer a few of these, so your online followers feel like they’re part of the event.
Go behind the scenes
Give online viewers a sense of what the event is really like by taking a walking tour of the venue. Don’t forget to show little details like images of your book and even the snacks you have on hand for the actual visitors to the event.
Share tips with other authors
If you find any aspect of your author event particularly successful or unsuccessful, share it with your Periscope followers. Chances are, some of them are fellow authors looking for tips on how to host their own successful author event.
Get permission to show your event visitors on camera
You need to let your venue and the guests know you’ll be scoping, even if you don’t plan on showing any of them. It’s a good courtesy, and you may find that the venue is happy for the free publicity.
Look for interesting or unusual venues
Does your book have a very specific setting, Try to replicate this in your author event. For example, if your book is a ghost story, try to find a spooky setting for your event. Any time you can tie the author event venue into the actual story, it increases the interest for your attendees and your online viewers.
Save your scope and use it later
Don’t forget to save your video and use it on your blog or upload it to YouTube. Periscope deletes all videos after 24 hours, so you’ll want a record of your event for future fans to view.
