Congratulating a new author?

[Shopaholic]

My husband's aunt recently published a poetry book.
I received an email inviting me to the book's launch party. I suspect I got it as part of a mass email to all her email contacts (I sent her some family photos once, so she has my address).
Usually with these kind of extended family events I am informed by one of my PILs.

I will not be attending this party, neither will my husband or anyone in his immediate family - for various reasons.

I do think it would be nice to send her a note of congratulations via email, and am looking for some help with wording.
Thanks in advance!

[weeblewobble]

"Dear Auntie,

Congratulations on publishing your first book!  We're so proud of the creativity and hard work you've put into this project.  We can't wait to see what you write next!

Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend your launch party.  We hope that you have a wonderful time.

Sincerely,
Shopaholic"

[Surianne]

Weeblewobble's wording is great. 

Also, if you like her poetry, purchasing a copy and asking her to sign it or write a note in it for you would be a very nice gesture.  (I wouldn't fake it if you don't like her writing -- I'm an author too and I prefer a heartfelt congrats, like Weeblewobble suggests, to someone pretending to like my stuff.)

[Slartibartfast]

A genuine note and your regrets for not attending is perfectly fine.  One of the big things they tell you when you go to publish (especially self-publish) a book is to not be surprised at how many of your wonderfully supportive friends and family . . . don't buy it.  It's not a personal slight and they're not obligated to spend money to support your career.  That catches a lot of new authors by surprise - they think "I have 500 friends on Facebook!" and then they're shocked when all 500 friends don't buy multiple copies.

[Surianne]

I didn't mean to imply the OP should buy the book if she wasn't genuinely interested in it.  Sorry if my post wasn't clear on that -- I definitely would never expect friends or family to purchase a book I wrote just for the sake of doing it. 

I used to be involved in theatre and I see it as similar to actors always expecting friends/family to come to their shows -- very frustrating and entitled.  An artist's work should stand on its own and not just be successful because of people who feel "forced" to attend a show, buy a novel, etc.

[blarg314]

I didn't mean to imply the OP should buy the book if she wasn't genuinely interested in it.  Sorry if my post wasn't clear on that -- I definitely would never expect friends or family to purchase a book I wrote just for the sake of doing it. 

I used to be involved in theatre and I see it as similar to actors always expecting friends/family to come to their shows -- very frustrating and entitled.  An artist's work should stand on its own and not just be successful because of people who feel "forced" to attend a show, buy a novel, etc.

And then, if the actor/writer/artist gets mainstream popular - movies or broadway shows, mainstream publishers - you get friends popping out of the woodwork wanting free tickets/copies/invitations....

But yeah, if you're self publishing (or in theatre, or music, or art) it's fine to let people know what you're doing, but you shouldn't expect the people you know to support you monetarily, any more than you should plan on having all your friends and family patronize you while starting a home business.

[atirial]

WeebleWobble's wording seems fine. Purchasing a book would be a nice touch, but only if you like her writing.

[BeagleMommy]

POD to Weeblewobble's wording.

[djinnidjream]

I have an old college friends who has published a book series- the first book in the series happened to catch my eye in the store.  I sent him an email congratulating him on his remarkable achievement.  Doesn't need to be wordy.