Book Unboxing: Create a Fun Experience

Book Unboxing: Create a Fun Experience

Thinking about how to create a fun book unboxing? Writing, marketing and promoting your book as a self-published author means you wear many hats: author, social media guru and bookseller to name a few. Some readers may find your book on the shelf of their favorite bookstore or snag a copy at a book signing or other promotional event, but many readers will order a copy from an online platform without ever having held one in their hands before it is shipped to them.

For these readers, opening up their book shipment will be their first introduction to this book and possibly to the author themselves as well. Just like the anticipation of opening up a birthday present, readers eagerly look forward to the arrival of a new book. With a little creativity and planning, authors can take advantage of this excitement and create a unique book unboxing experience that will be worth all of the effort.

What is a Book Unboxing?

Luxury brands are well-known for their attention to detail when sending products to customers. They create gorgeous product containers like branded cloth bags or beautiful custom boxes to encase their product within the outer shipping container to create a lux, one-of-a-kind experience for the customer, delighting and surprising them with often extravagant layers to unwrap before finally uncovering the long-awaited product.

The strategy of building an unboxing experience for the product buyer when opening up a purchase can be elaborate or simple, but the result is the same: customers remember it. Authors can create a book unboxing experience for readers, too, with a little creativity and planning, which will create a buzz around your book and your brand as an author.

Create an Book Unboxing Experience That Will Wow Your Readers

Most of the time, when we order something like a book online, our expectations for its delivery are pretty basic: a shipping box encases the book, and most likely little if any packing materials are included in the box or envelope the book arrives in. But self-published authors have the opportunity to create a more impressive experience for a reader, as both a thank-you for buying their book as well as a way to contribute to how the reader should feel about the book and the author’s brand.

Authors can add little touches to their book shipment that readers will love, don’t take too much time or money, but can make a big difference in how readers think about the book and the author. By curating a handful of details that make sense with your book, topic and author brand, you can create a book unboxing experience that will delight your readers and help you build a lasting audience for your work.

Book Unboxing: Make It Personal

Even the most famous writers sign their name to some of their books for fans, attending book signings or sticking in an autographed book into a shipment as a surprise for a lucky reader. Self-published authors can also create this personalized experience for their readers through both signing books purchased online and by including other personalized notes along with a purchase.

Surprising your readers with a note or signature direct from the author is a great way to show readers you appreciate their purchase and you are thrilled to have a potential new fan.

• Sign their book’s inside cover, including their name and a brief note of thanks for reading your book.
• Include a pre-printed note of thanks to readers that you personalize with a handwritten portion that includes their name and your autograph to make it special and personal.
• Create branded notepaper that you can use to write a brief note to each reader to include with each shipment.
• Place the notes either on top of the book cover for the reader to see immediately upon opening the package or slip them inside of the book’s front cover as a surprise to be discovered when they first flip through the pages of the book.

Book Unboxing: Appeal to the Senses

Opening a package that includes a book can be a little boring and doesn’t connect with our other, non-touch senses. Psychology tells us that when we can engage all of our senses – touch, smell, taste, sight and sound – we have a higher likelihood of remembering or imprinting on the experience. Use this fact of common human experience to create a book unboxing that will be memorable and maybe a little bit surprising for your readers. If your book lends itself to a scent or taste connection, hint at it in your book’s package by slipping in a treat for the reader.

• Include a stick of the brand of gum or candy that your main character loves in your story inside of the box’s packing materials, as an easter egg that your reader will only discover and understand as they dive into reading the book.
• Put a light spritz of a scent that evokes the essence of your story on the packing materials for your book, being careful not to douse the book itself so scent-sensitive readers can still enjoy the book long after the book unboxing. Using a tropical, coconut elixir to enhance a beach read set on the coast or a musky, rich scent to introduce a romance book will be memorable and thrilling for a reader to inhale as they open up a book’s packaging, building their anticipation for the story they are about to read.
• Wrap your book inside of a beautiful, silky tissue paper to create a luxurious experience for readers, subtly encouraging readers to connect that unexpectedly extravagant paper with the book they are about to begin reading.

Book Unboxing: Include Customized Packaging

In addition to the sturdy box or bag that your book is normally shipped to readers inside of, you can make your book unboxing memorable by using custom packing materials. Not only will your book stand out from other book shipments a reader has received, but it will also give you a chance to tie in your branding, the book’s theme or other content tied to your book that will enhance and deepen the reader’s connections with the story.

• Create branded notecards, paper or stickers to use on notes.
• Use a color, design or shape of tissue paper that uniquely reflects your brand.
• Develop a signature look for your packaging, like the use of a unique fold to the tissue paper or placement of a logo sticker on the book’s inner wrapping to declare your brand’s feel and intention.

 Why Self-Published Authors Should Create a Unique Book Unboxing

Take advantage of every opportunity to make your book and your brand as an author stand out to your readers. Since you only have one chance to make a first impression, developing a book unboxing experience that will make an impact on your readers is the perfect opportunity for a self-published author’s book to stand out from the crowd. And making an unboxing that is hard to forget gives self-published authors three tangible benefits, too.

1 You can use the unboxing to build your brand. Whether you are a new author or you have published multiple books already, a memorable unboxing helps you develop how readers see you and know your brand as an author. They will connect the sensory, exciting and surprising experience to your brand, and give them a great idea of the kinds of thrilling content that they can expect from your brand.

2 Great unboxing experiences build loyalty. Providing readers with an amazing unboxing lets them participate in the book experience, building your fan base in the process. They will excitedly anticipate future unboxings and know that they have been a part of a unique and fun experience with each book.

3 A fun, memorable or surprising unboxing encourages readers to use social media platforms to share their experiences. One of the hottest trends on visual platforms like TikTok or Instagram is to bring viewers along for the ride on unboxings of all sorts. Book unboxings are just as thrilling for readers and genre enthusiasts, so developing an experience that readers will want to share online can help you increase your readership, create buzz about your book and ultimately will contribute to growing your fan base.

A Memorable Book Unboxing Begins with a Beautiful Book

Partnering with an experienced printer like Publishing Xpress can help you make sure that your book looks perfect when you begin to plan for your reader’s unboxing experience. From using quality materials to working with a cover design expert to craft an appealing book cover, choosing a printer who can bring your vision to life for your readers is the first step in showing your readers who you are as an author and introducing them to your characters and story in a way that they will love to love.